It doesn’t seem a year ago that Moving Walls 16 was with us (because it isn’t?). Anyway, whatever the timing of these things once again we are shown a variety of images, both old and new addressing issues close to the heart of OSI. This year two of the sets focus on Burma – a timely inclusion given the forthcoming elections there later this year (plus OSI’s on-going Burma Project).
The piece by Christian Holst – ‘In the Quiet Land: Life Under the military regime in Burma‘ – is a mixed bag. Personally, I would have liked more along the lines of the photo below – particularly after bumping into 40 odd Burmese 20-somethings kitted out with well cool hair cuts and well cut jeans at Bangkok airport a few weeks ago. A few less monks would not go a miss in order to give a more balanced picture of life in Burma and the shape of its future. I also got the impression that many of his images were ‘stolen’ moments rather than consented and substantial interactions?
Saiful Huq Omi’s photos of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh – ‘The Disowned & Denied‘ – are all very well. Though by the end of the slide show I was asking myself whether the world needed yet another set of images of Rohingyas in Bangladesh? In my opinion Rajib Islam’s photos are better at providing a more personal insight into the life of the refugees. Having said that, more of Saiful’s photos appear in the rather good ‘Stateless’ project, giving a much more rounded feel to the set.
Also worth a mention for trying to tackle enforced disappearances differently (i.e. not having someone holding up a photo of the disappeared person) is Mari Bastashevshi’s ‘File 126 (Disappearing in the Caucasus)’. It doesn’t always work (empty chairs only go so far) but focussing on the loss of the individual was the rights way to go.
The bed of Apti Zainalov abducted from the Atchko-Martan village hospital, Chechnya.
Filed under: Photography Tagged: | Bangladesh, Burma, disappearances, exhibition, Myanmar
