On Saturday 12 August, the Tūmanako 2023 Impact Project group welcomed over 100 people at Auckland University of Technology (AUT) and successfully launched the opening ceremony for the Tūmanako Art Exhibition.

The purpose of this event is to inspire hope and action for a nuclear free and peaceful world. Through this project, students wanted to educate the public (especially youth), on the history and the effects of nuclear weapons, the importance of achieving a peaceful world, and how we can help work towards this goal.

This exhibition started in Wellington, and in 2017 two ASHS students, Kelsey Cornthwaite and Sunny Lee gave Auckland the chance to experience Tūmanako. Students from ASHS have been organising and curating this event ever since. This year there were 137 artworks and poems being exhibited from 70 schools across Auckland.

Tūmanako could not exist without help from key sponsors Soka Gakkai International of NZ, ASHS, AUT, and project stakeholders the Peace Foundation, Nuclear Weapon Free Zone, Gordon Harris and representatives from schools across Auckland.

With all this support we commemorated the 78th anniversary of Hiroshima Day and the 36th anniversary of being nuclear-free in Aotearoa. The community peace builder award from ASHS was presented to Dr Daisaku Ikeda, in recognition of his leadership and encouragement for ASHS’s peace-promoting journey.

Congratulations to Ethan Liu, ASHS Year 13 and AJHS Alumni, who very capably MC’d the opening ceremony of the Tūmanako Impact Project.

(Article written by Ethan Liu, ASHS Y13 student.)

Dr. Daisaku Ikeda, the President of Soka Gakkai International receiving his ASHS Gold award for his work as a Community — Image by: Koji Murata

Tūmanako Opening Ceremony at AUT — Image by: Koji Murata, photographer of SGINZ

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