UN in Belarus > Topics > Chernobyl > Chernobyl: 20 Years Later
Chernobyl: 20 Years Later
 |
Children's photo exhibition |
Children's photo exhibition
 On 19 April, the
Palace of the Republic picture gallery will play host to an exhibition of
photos taken by twelve children from Belarus, Ukraine and Russia who live in the area hit by the Chernobyl disaster. This tragedy is not just statistical numbers for them, but the day-to-day habitual and routine life. During the exhibition we will see how they live – study at school, have fun, communicate with friends, and help parents.
The exhibition on the occasion of the International Conference “20 Years after Chernobyl: Strategy for Recovery and Sustainable Development of the Affected Regions” was prepared during a creative master-class which was jointly organized for children from the affected areas by the Committee for Dealing with the Consequences of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Accident (Chernobyl Committee) under the Council of Ministers and the UNICEF Office in Minsk at the beginning of March 2006.
The master-class was conducted by a
specially invited UNICEF photographer Giakomo Pirozii, well-known due to his
projects involving children (the Beslan and tsunami events make a part of his ample portfolio). The children together with their trainer were gathering “pictures” of the Luninyets district life, where two of the participants come from.
The master-class participants arrived in Luninyets on that very day when the inhabitants of that town contaminated with radionuclides were celebrating the Shrove-tide. “That was a huge must, for we got bright, cheerful and colorful pictures”, an Ukrainian participant Miroslava Apanasenko admits. “But it was impossible to take joyful pictures at the children’s section of the rehabilitation center near Minsk, where kids with serious diseases are treated. The eyes of the sick children were reflecting their feelings and fears. It was hard to look at them. Tears were welling up. But we did not stop photographing….”.
On the eve of the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster those pictures will be seen not only in Minsk, but also in Kiev, Moscow, Geneva, and at the UN headquarters in New York.
     >>>
|
