Animator Amber Cooper-Davies & Setsuko Thurlow
Youth Arts New York Hibakusha Stories believes in the power of art to move and motivate. Throughout the years we have been involved in several art for disarmament endeavors including:
Our concert WITH LOVE to Hiroshima and Nagasaki at New York Society for Ethical Culture in May 2015 to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Students creating Kamishibai based on Hibakusha testimony — SEE BELOW
Our collaboration to bring the extraordinary Hiroshima Panels to Pioneer Works in Brooklyn — SEE BELOW
Our interactive workshop/dance/live music performance, inspired by the Hiroshima Panels, at National Sawdust in Brooklyn — SEE BELOW
Filmmaker/Artist Cynthia Madansky
Teaching Kamishibai
Teaching Kamishibai
Kamishibai, which translates as “paper theater”, is a Japanese form of storytelling with a narrator and a miniature stage on which a set of illustrated cards is paired with a scripted performance. Its earliest origins were with Buddhist monks in the 8th century. Kamishibai continue to teach, enlighten and entertain people to this day. This section contains a PowerPoint on how your students can create kamishibai and gives several student-generated examples.
Students creating Kamishibai
The Nuclear Age in Six Movements
The Nuclear Age in Six Movements, animated by Amber Cooper-Davies is a beautifully rendered film that traces the history of the nuclear age, from the Manhattan Project to build the first atomic bomb to the present efforts to achieve a treaty banning all nuclear weapons. Poignant and uplifting, it is both an educational resource and a work of art.
Animations: Amber Cooper-Davies
Producer: Kathleen Sullivan
Composer: Sam Sadigursky
Sound mix and recording: Blaise Dupuy
Clarinet and winds: Sam Sadigursky
Violin and erhu: Meg Okura
Additional clarinet: Marianne Gythfeldt
Vocals: Michael Leonhardt
DVD authoring: Michael Grenadier
Consultation: Tim Wright
Translation: Yuko Tonohira
Special thanks to Youth Arts New York/Hibakusha Stories for the original commission of Amber’s animations created for With Love to Hiroshima and Nagasaki: A Concert for Disarmament We dedicate our work to all hibakusha everywhere.
National Sawdust Music Performance
In October 2016 we produced an arts for disarmament event as an homage to the Hiroshima Panels exhibition at Pioneer Works using film, dance, live improvised music and hibakusha testimony — with artist Cynthia Madansky, dancer and choreographer Eiko Otake, pianist Dan Tepfer, violinist Meg Okura and mulit-reedist Sam Sadigursky at National Sawdust in Brooklyn. 75 students from the NYC i-School and Brooklyn High School for the Performing Arts participated. Also in attendance were 12 atomic bomb survivors who were in New York with Peace Boat’s Global Hibakusha Voyage.
WITH LOVE to Hiroshima and Nagasaki: A concert for Disarmament
Recorded Saturday, May 2, 2015, at the NYC New York Society for Ethical Culture. Hosted by Clifton Truman Daniel, grandson of US President Harry S. Truman with animations by Amber Cooper-Davies. Written and produced by Kathleen Sullivan & Robert Croonquist. An Ethical Event produced by Youth Arts New York/Hibakusha Stories in collaboration with Peace Boat US.
Concert Part 1: Gratitude
Concert Part 3: The Moment
Concert Part 5: The Power and The Waste
Concert Part 2: The Manhattan Project
Concert Part 4: The Bomb Today