Remembering in Peace: A Visual Exhibition from the Imphal Peace Museum

The Northeast India AV Archive, in collaboration with the Imphal Peace Museum held a two day exhibition in St, Anthony's College, Shillong on the 26th and 27th of March, 2026.

“Remembering in Peace” foregrounds a significant body of Japanese material preserved at the Imphal Peace Museum, bringing into view archival fragments that speak to memory, loss, and reconciliation across borders. Drawing from photographs, personal effects,postcards, Paintings, currency, cartography and artefact documentation associated with Japanese soldiers and civilians, the exhibition repositions these materials not as distant historical artefacts, but as intimate carriers of lived experience during the battles of Imphal and Kohima in 1944.

By situating these Japanese narratives alongside local histories, the exhibition opens a space for reflective dialogue—one that acknowledges the complexities of wartime encounters while fostering empathy and mutual recognition. These materials, carefully preserved and shared, become bridges between nations, inviting audiences to engage with histories that are at once painful and connective. In doing so, “Remembering in Peace” transforms archival presence into a gesture of peacebuilding, where remembrance is not only an act of looking back, but also a commitment to cross-cultural understanding and a more compassionate future.