A re-enactment of the atomic bomb being dropped on Hiroshima is to take place in Bradford as part of a human rights project.

The stunt, involving children sitting in the centre of a surround sound and video installation, will mark the start of an exhibition on Japanese girl Sadako Sasaki who died as a result of the bombing.

More than 100 Bradford schoolchildren have been trained as ‘ambassadors’ for the exhibition, Kokeshi: Stand Up, Speak Out, Make A Difference, linking Sadako’s story with today’s human rights issues.

Sadako was two, living in Hiroshima, when the atomic bomb was dropped on August 6, 1945. Nine years later she died, aged 11, of leukaemia.

Sadako’s schoolfriends formed a committee called Kokeshi, meaning ‘little doll’, and raised £36,000 for a peace park in memory of her and all the children who had died as a result of the atomic bomb. Sadako became a symbol of the Japanese peace movement.

The exhibition, from March 9 to 31, has been set up by Education Bradford’s diversity and cohesion team, which has produced an education pack for primary and secondary schools. It follows last year’s Stand Up To Hatred project, focusing on Anne Frank, which involved Bradford children creating a human rights pack, taken up by education authorities across the UK. The youngsters were later honoured at the House of Commons.

“The pupils – from Laisterdyke Business and Enterprise College, Queensbury, Thornton Grammar, Parkside, Tong High School, Bradford Academy and Keelham and Home Farm Primary – were keen to continue their human rights work,” said Diane Hadwen, manager for diversity and cohesion. “Together they decided on the theme ‘Stand Up, Speak Out and Make a Difference’.

“Like Anne Frank, Sadako inspires them because she was a real child they can relate to. The exhibition links her story to the present. It’s open to schools and the public; 130 young ambassadors will act as guides. We hope it will raise awareness of human rights as a means of reducing violence, extremism, racism, hate crime and community tension.”

She added: “We’d like to do a similar project annually, focusing on periods of history and children’s experiences.”

The exhibition, supported by the Hiroshima Peace Museum, features music, DVDs and artwork by Bradford schools, and photographs telling the story of Hiroshima and the ‘Kokeshi-no-kai’ peace campaigners.

It is at Yorkshire Craft Centre, Bradford, where the atomic bomb re-enactment will take place on Monday. For more about the exhibition and school resource Kokeshi: Stand Up, Speak Out, Make A Difference! visit cohesionbradford.org.