Author(s):
Karolina Guay <karolina@icbl.org> .
Wednesday 23 November 2005
A 44-picture exhibition by photographer John Rodsted will be presented at the 6th Meeting of State Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty (Zagreb, Croatia), from 28 November to 2 December 2005.
Through his 25-year career, renowned Australian photographer John Rodsted has documented the devastating impact of landmines on people and communities in some of the world’s most war-torn regions. His powerful images illustrate with striking realism the complexity of the landmine problem. “Survivors” and “deminers” get a name and a face, th
Malic was curious of what had happened to his home when the war finished. He went back to his village to see for himself and walked on a landmine in front of his house.
Credit: John Rodsted
eir story is told through their image – and often their own words are even printed beside the photograph. At the 6th Meeting of the States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty, these pictures act as a reminder of whom delegates and diplomats should really be working for in the assembly room next door.
In Halfway , Bosnia, 10 years after the war, we see scars of war slowly disappearing behind new houses, businesses and playgounds in Sarajevo. We see an ex-soldier who helps clear the very mines that he has laid during the war. We see two sisters who survived a mine explosion; they express with a deeply moving simplicity what kind of assistance
Ten year since the end of the war, Malic’s hopes for rehabilitation and social integration have not been fulfilled. The assistance that is available is generally very small or inappropriate.
Credit: John Rodsted
they would really need. These stories are about a country where, over a decade, great progresses have been made to overcome war devastation. But a country where many of the poorest and most vulnerable people – among which many mine survivors and people with disabilities – are still struggling every day only to survive.
“Bosnia is a clearance project that has come halfway. International commitment and dedication need to be maintained to see the job through to the end. Only then will we be able to label this piece of history as finished.”
– John Rodsted
And of course this could be said about so many other countries around the globe.
The exhibition can be visited daily from 9h00 to 18H00, until 2 December 2005.
View some pictures at www.icbl.org/news/mediaroom
For more information contact Nancy Ingram at +385 (0)98 958 7256 or media@icbl.org.
