Porto-Nagasaki celebrate town-twinning anniversary calling for nuclear disarmament

In the framework of the forty years of twinning, Porto and Nagasaki have created a store of relationships based on the values of friendship and cooperation. Porto City Hall, jointly with Nagasaki City Hall, have organised a display on the topic "A- Bomb Exhibition, Hiroshima and Nagasaki" to commemorate this long-standing and fruitful relationship.

The exhibit is curated by the Nagasaki National Peace Memorial Hall Museum for the Atomic Bomb Victims, and Mika Matsuo, the Museum vice-president recalled that this event was created not only to honour those who have suffered with the nuclear bombing, for more than 70 years, but also to strive for peace.

This exhibit will be on show at Porto City Hall till 30th November, and it can be visited from Monday to Friday, between 9 am and 5 pm. Entrance is free.

The main focus of the exhibit is the continuous fight to raise awareness on the dangers of nuclear weapons. "We struggle to keep the memory alive as we don't want anybody to suffer what we did", as stated in the exhibition.

"I am not here to talk about the past, but rather about the future", as "the goal of the twinning between Porto and Nagasaki is to seek a world of peace", declared the Mayor of Nagasaki City Hall, Tomihisa Taue, during the official opening of the exhibit.

Nevertheless, "the display showcases something atrocious, something that we all have to commit to not letting happen ever again", Rui Moreira, the Mayor of Porto said, and furthered that it is itself a declaration of political commitment. Besides, "the twinning of both cities is an act of peace between foreign lands and peoples, it represents our efforts to get to know each other better, and this also includes sharing the best and worst of times".

Mika Matsuo enhanced that "Nagasaki profoundly admires the city of Porto", and the Ambassador of Japan to Portugal, Jun Niimi, restated "all best wishes for health and development to the people of Porto".

In turn, Rui Moreira expressed his hope that "everyone feels at home here in Porto", also whishing that "all those who visit the exhibition may feel a Nagasaki citizen and take part in striving for a more peaceful world".

"A- Bomb Exhibition, Hiroshima and Nagasaki" features posters and photos, written accounts of survivors, audio-visual production regarding the bombings, a nuclear bomb model, objects such as tiles retrieved from the bombing sites, and also messages of peace and paper cranes, to raise awareness on the dangers of nuclear weapons and representing Nagasaki and Hiroshima's prayers for peace.

The exhibit is on display from 2 October till 30 November, from Monday to Friday, between 9 am and 5 pm. Entrance is free.