Hiroshima/Siesta

This project is inspired by the practice of painting white outlines of people lying on the ground to commemorate the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, in August 1945.
These white outlines, or “shadows,” symbolized how many of the bomb victims were vaporized leaving little traces of themselves.
The shadows also represent people asleep. Hiroshima/Siesta is about remembering the disasters that human beings inflict on one another. The piece is about sleep, and about the hope that we discover in our dreams.

Bryce Kanbara, 2009

-Before arriving in Cienfuegos, I did not know for sure if my planned public intervention would be permitted, if Cubans would participate, or if the locations I had in mind were available. Despite language difficulties and differing modes of doing things, all these items were resolved and the project actually expanded in its scope. The Shadow Project lent itself to spontaneity and so, after the "official" shadow-painting intervention at noon outside the University of Cienfuegos cafeteria, another session was quickly set up next day in the poverty-stricken community of Reina, located in a former heavy-industrial zone. What made the experience thoroughly rewarding was doing it in an unfamiliar (Spanish-speaking) context and having it understood and appreciated. Young Cubans knew what the meaning of Hiroshima was, and described the project as important and poetic.
Another gratifying and surprising aspect of the project was the mutual support and assistance of the Canadian artists. It was a rare experience to work in shared purpose with artists whose personalities and practices are quite diverse. My thinking about public and community art methodology has been given a good shake.

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Funded in part by OAC (Visual Arts Projects, International Touring and Exhibition Assistance Grants), Canada Council (Visiting Foreign Artists and Visual Arts Travel Grants)

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contact: Hamilton