Japanese-American artist Yoko Ono poses behind the artwork 'A Hole' (a pane of glass with a bullet hole pierced through by a gun shot) during the unveiling of her installation 'Das Gift' (Poison) at Haunch of Venison gallery in Berlin. EPA/HANNIBAL HANSCHKE.

In 1989 the city of Hiroshima, first place in the world to suffer a nuclear attack, established the Hiroshima Art Prize with the object of promoting through art the "spirit of Hiroshima" that yearns for permanent world peace and prosperity for all humanity. The Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art is to stage an exhibition showcasing the work of the eighth prize winner, Yoko Ono.

Creating new, unfettered forms of artistic expression Sending messages of love and peace

In a creative avant-garde career spanning over half a century, Yoko Ono, born in Tokyo in 1933, has pushed the boundaries of art with her command of an abundance of media including visual arts, performance, music, film and poetry. Her works, which aim to stimulate the imagination and encourage viewers to take part in their actual production, have been highly acclaimed as pioneering examples of the conceptual art that has emerged as a current of contemporary art since the 1960s. Since then she has continued to create new forms of artistic expression unconfined to any specific genre.

In addition to her practice as an avant-garde artist, Ono became actively involved in the peace movement, staging numerous joint peace events and anti-war campaigns with John Lennon following their marriage in 1969, their message becoming symbolic of the international peace movement that spread across the globe in the 1970s. Ono has maintained her dedication to the cause of peace and love even after Lennon's death.

Repose for souls and hope for the future: Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and the Tohoku earthquake

Hiroshima and Nagasaki together constitute one of the greatest tragedies experienced in the history of mankind. Now we have the recent Tohoku earthquake that claimed the lives of so many. This exhibition taking Yoko Ono's message to the world will center on repose for the souls of those who have experienced these tragedies, and new installations setting out a path of hope for the future.

Past Recipients of Hiroshima Art Prize

Past recipients include: Issey Miyake (fashion), 1st Hiroshima Art Prize recipient; Robert Rauschenberg (fine art), the 2nd Hiroshima Art Prize recipient; Nancy Spero and Leon Golub (fine art), the 3rd Hiroshima Art Prize recipients; Krzysztof Wodiczko (fine art), the 4th Hiroshima Art Prize; Daniel Libeskind (architecture), the 5th Hiroshima Art Prize recipient; Shirin Neshat (fine art), the 6th Hiroshima Art Prize recipient; and Cai Guo-Qiang (fine art), the 7th Hiroshima Art Prize recipient.