- Return, Afghanistan exhibition by Zalmaï
- World tour of Return, Afghanistan
- News
For over a quarter of a century, Afghanistan has been devastated by war, drought and famine. Her people have been displaced, and her culture eviscerated. The world renowned photographer Zalmaï, a former refugee from Afghanistan, now Swiss citizen returns after twenty-three years in exile, to re-discover his homeland at a crucial moment of transition. Working in rich color, and frequently using a panoramic format that embraces the vastnessof the sky and sand, Zalmaï immerses us in the ravaged landscape and the bustle of reconstruction.
"My project tries to capture the resilience of a people who have rarely known peace, their optimism in the face of overwhelming odds and the very real worry that the country remains on a knife-edge and could easily slip back into a nightmare from which it is still trying to escape."
At the same time, the work reflects the relief of a long-awaited return home and hope for the future. His work in Afghanistan has been supported by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The book "Return, Afghanistan", published by Aperture, a not-for-profit foundation dedicated to advancing fine photography, features a preface by High Commissioner Ruud Lubbers, and an introduction by an award-winning journalist, Ron Moreau, which discusses the undertaking of reconstruction and the psychology of return.
President Karzai at the opening of "Return, Afghanistan" July 2004 Kabul ,Afghanistan
Angelina Jolie with photographer Zalmaï at the "Return, Afghanistan" photo exhibition in Washington, D.C.'s National Geographic Museum. © UNHCR/H.Farhad
The "Return, Afghanistan" exhibition began its world tour in Geneva in May 2004 with the support of Aperture foundation, the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, the City of Geneva, Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch & Cie, the Swiss Federal Office for Refugees, Fedex Express. The exhibition was displayed in June in Washington, DC at the National Geographic Museum and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts with the support of Aperture. The exhibition, "Return, Afghanistan", opened at Kabul's Amani High School in July with the support of UNHCR and the Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It was an emotional experience for the photographer, Zalmaï, who had fled the country in 1980 and was now returning to share with his compatriots his vision of a long-lost homeland through photos taken after the fall of the Taliban in 2001. Among the guests was Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who said, "You showed this country as it is today. These images tell the truth, and that is why they are important."
Zalmai's work reveals the continued need for the world's focus on this region and in particular to assist Afghanistan in its endeavor to reconstruct itself despite serious odds and difficulties. More than 3 million persons have returned back to Afghanistan under the auspices of UNHCR making this its largest repatriation operation ever. However, much more needs to be done to assist in the reintegration of returnees, through the reconstruction of destroyed houses and livelihoods, and restoration of devastated land and infrastructure.
The exhibition will travel internationally to Berlin, Boston, Brussels, London, Milan, New York, Ottawa, Paris, San Diego, Stockholm, Sydney, Toronto and Tokyo.See also UNHCR web site
World tour of Return, Afghanistan
The Geneva exhibition served as a launching pad for two world tours with the collaboration of UNHCR, the Aperture Foundation in New York and the Musée de l'Elysée in Lausanne, as well as the support of the Center of Competence for Cultural Foreign Policy of the Swiss Federal
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BFM Exhibition Geneva ,May 2004
Department of Foreign Affairs. Fedex Express will provide worldwide free transport for the exhibition. The world tours are taking place over a period of at least two years.
The European and Asian tour produced by UNHCR in collaboration with the Aperture Foundation and coordinated by the Musée de l'Elysée in Lausanne, started in Kabul, Afghanistan, the first of its kind to be presented in the country after the fall of the Taliban. From there it returned to Geneva to be shown at the Palais des Nations (25 September - 15 October). The exhibition next travels to Australia, Japan and other European countries.
The U.S. tour, produced and coordinated by the Aperture Foundation with the support of UNHCR, started in Washington D.C. at the National Geographic Explorer Hall and also at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on World Refugee Day, 20 June 2004. The exhibition will then proceed to Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco and other American cities.See also UNHCR web site
Amani school, Kabul july 2004
The National Geographic Museum ,Washington DC, USA June 2004
See also for the exhibition:
ECLIPSE , MUSEE DE L'ELYSEE
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
1988 16/25 Gallery, Lausanne, Switzerland.
1989 Focale Gallery, Nyon, Switzerland
Photoforum, Lucerne,Switzerland .
1990 Terrasse Gallery in Sierre, Switzerland
Am Stram Gram Theatre, Geneva, Switzerland.
1991 Musée de l’Elysée, Lausanne, Switzerland Audio-visual “Obligatory Passage”, Calcutta Rickshaw Drivers.
1992 Musée de l’Elysée, Lausanne, Switzerland Audio-visual “Memories of Man”, dedicated to the Pygmies .
1995 Focale Gallery, Nyon, Switzerland “Mutilated Hope”, reportage from Afghanistan.
1998 2000 Switzerland, Germany and Austria: Salzburg, Innsbruck, Durbin, Wien, Bochum, Mainz, Leipzig, Munich, Dsseldorf and Hanover “Afghanistan”, produced by and for ICRC, German and Austrian Red Cross, ECHO and Information European Commission.
2001 New York, Lincoln center “ Forgotten hostages “ by Human Rights Watch .
2002 New York, St. Lawrence University's Richard F. Brush Art Gallery "War and Peace"
2002 Ethnographies Museum ,Geneva, Switzerland " Forgotten hostages “
2003 Musée de l’Elysée, Lausanne, Switzerland « Eclipse »
2003 Bordeaux ,France “Eclipse »
2003 , La Monte Gallery, New York Name of exhibition ?
2004 Bâtiment des Forces Motrices BFM, Geneva , "Return,Afghanistan " produced by and for UNHCR
2004 The National art club New York, USA , "War and Peace"
2004 Kennedy Center, Washington DC , , “Return,Afghanistan " produced by and for UNHCR and Aperture New York.
2004 National Geographic Museum, Washington DC, USA, "Return,Afghanistan .produced by and for UNHCR and Aperture New York.
2004 Amoni School Kabul, Afghanistan, "Return,Afghanistan . produced by and for SDC and UNHCR
2004 United Nations Head Quarters, Geneva, Switzerland "Return,Afghanistan” .
2005 De Paul Art Museum, Chicago , USA "War and Peace"
2005 The Laband Art Gallery at Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles ,USA "Return,Afghanistan "2005 Artspace, Dubai
JOINT EXHIBITION:
New York show at: Gallery FCB from FEBRUARY 28-APRIL 30 2008