A new exhibition that chronicles the stories of Taiwanese women forced into sexual slavery by Japan during World War II, known as “comfort women,” is to open in Taipei next week.
The exhibition starts on Tuesday in conjunction with International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, according to the Taipei Women’s Rescue Foundation, which is organizing the exhibition.
Highlights of the exhibition include artwork by Hong Kong artist Phoebe Man (文晶瑩), the foundation said yesterday.
Among the exhibits is an animation titled One Person, One Heart, along with related installation pieces by Man that are based on hundreds of messages or pictures from the public that lend support to the comfort women, with the material collected by the foundation over the past few months, it said.
The event will also showcase historical photographs and documents featuring difficulties the comfort women faced and their decades-long fight for justice from the Japanese government, the foundation said.
Clips from two documentaries on the comfort women that were produced by the foundation will also be screened at the event, with some of the women telling their own stories, it added.
The exhibition is to run through Dec. 10, which is Human Rights Day, at Bopiliao (剝皮寮), a historic area in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), the foundation said.
Over the past two decades, the foundation has been dedicated to helping Taiwanese comfort women cope with mental anguish and seek compensation from Japan. It has launched many initiatives in this regard, including documentaries and art exhibitions.
More than 2,000 Taiwanese women were forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II, according to the foundation.
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