Palestine: MdM photography exhibition ‘Palestine through my Eyes’ in Nablus
What do you see when you are a 12 year-old child living in Occupied Palestinian Territory?
A photography exhibition by the children of the Nablus area that depicts their daily living environment
Opening ceremony: 11am on Monday 15th October 2012
Zafer Al-Masri Auditoriums, Old Campus, An-Najah National University, Nablus
What is it like to be a child in Occupied Palestinian Territory today? This and many other questions are asked and pondered as part of the photography exhibition ‘Palestine through my eyes’, organised by MdM on the old campus of An-Najah National University in Nablus.
A total of 90 images taken by twenty children from the villages of Ureef and Einabous will be on display to raise awareness of the difficulties the children face living in and around Nablus – a town surrounded by military check points, roadblocks, and settlements. The twenty children who took the pictures one year and a half ago will be present during the opening ceremony to share and comment on what they tried to express with their pictures and on their experience as ‘photographers’.
MdM, in conjunction with the community in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, with the support of the European Commission Humanitarian Aid & Civil Protection department (ECHO) and in cooperation with the Palestinian Ministry of Education and Higher Education, invited the children of Nablus to participate in a series of photography workshops to help them express their feelings and thoughts on what it is like to live in such a challenging environment. Using a camera as their ‘tool of expression’, the children took over 6000 pictures of places, people and objects that held significance in their daily life, or were part of a dearly held childhood memory.
The photography workshops are one of the innovative approaches implemented by MdM, as part of its psycho-social project in the Nablus governorate, to help the children express their feelings and experiences resulting from their harsh living conditions. In connection with World Mental Health Day, 10th October 2012, the opening of ‘Palestine through my eyes’ in Nablus will also be an occasion to inform the public on access to mental health services and mental health issues.
“I used to play in this park. It was the only place where I could have fun outside. But I can’t go there now because the settlers destroyed it. I even got attacked when I went there to take these photos. It will remain in my memory forever.”
Raed, 12 years-old,
Médecins du Monde Photography Workshop Participant
“We are not living like other children in the rest of the world. They have rights and we have rights as well. Palestinian children have goals too, but we can’t achieve them easily as other children in the world”.
Shatha, 13 years-old,
Médecins du Monde Photography Workshop Participant
The exhibition ‘Palestine through my eyes’ will run from Monday 15th October until Monday 22nd October 2012 (except Friday and Saturday), between 9.00 am and 3.00 pm.