People After War – third installment of Nepal conflict books

In 2008 Nepa Laya and Kunda Dixit (of Himal Media) published a photo book, ‘A People War‘, on the internal conflict in Nepal (1996-2006). The book took a people centric focus, rather than a military one, looking at how they were impacted by the ten year Maoist led ‘Peoples War’. I interviewed Kunda Dixit on the project earlier this year to learn how the project had come about.

The photos were taken on a successful national exhibition tour resulting in a second book, ‘Never Again‘, consisting of just some of the hundreds of messages left in the exhibiti0n visitor books. At the same time a documentary film was released called ‘Frames of War‘ by Prem BK and Kesand Tseten based on the ‘A People War’ book.

This week sees the publication of the third and final book in the series, ‘People After War‘. Through painstaking research and help from journalists and the public the publishers tracked down 50 of the individuals who featured in the original book to find out what had happened to them in the intervening years.

I managed to get hold of a copy of the book yesterday and can highly recommended it. The original photos are placed with new photos of the people they managed to find and are accompanied by an update on their lives. There are some fascinating stories, both inspiring and tragic.

The books and touring exhibitions have had a powerful resonance with those who have seen them. The projects evolving aim is one of promoting non-violence and historical documentation, and appears to have worked very well on the level of awareness raising and sharing of common experience. What the project could or should achieve beyond this poses an interesting question. The photos raise questions, emotions and awareness – there is cause for reflection on what happened on a national, local and individual level. But how this inputs into the current political impasse and continuing violence in the country is difficult to assess. ‘Never Again’ may be a cry reflected across communities nation wide but the political reality cannot be ignored – peace remains fragile, justice distant, and reconciliation difficult without both of these. Despite the mass public support for peace in 2006 the movement has failed to sustain itself as a unified presence, dividing along political lines. This comes as no surprise, after all when there is a common enemy we can easily forget our differences. But as King Gyanendra reliquished power those who found it convinient to join forces divided back into their various factions. So, there may be a common call for ‘Never Again’ but there is little unity on how to resolve why it happened in the first place.

We should not expect too much of photographs, though we often do. It would be nice to think that this project could do more to sustain peace if integrated into a national campaign to put pressure on politicians. But without such a campaign this remains a project appreciated by the people but ignored by those who can ensure a peaceful future for those in Nepal. If there is a criticism of the book it is not on the photographic level, but in regards to how it fails to address the difficult question about the legimate use of violence against the state, and that ‘getting on with development’ ignores the fundamental imbalance of power relations within the country.

The photos are currently on tour in Nepal and will be on permenant exhibition at Madan Puraskar’s library at Patan Dhoka, Kathmandu.

Photography as Advocacy – a half century of oil and misery in the Niger Delta

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Open Society Institute Documentary Photography Project and Revenue Watch Institute hosted a panel discussion on oil in the Niger Delta and the use of photography in advocating for social change. Ed Kashi and Michael Watts discussed their new book Curse of the Black Gold: 50 Years of Oil in the Niger Delta.

Click here to listen – Photography as advocacy – a half century of oil and misery in the Niger Delta

Click here to view the excellent multi-media feature by Ed Kashi and Asume Isaac Osuoka. Would be great to see such work combined with Amnesty International’s campaign on this issue.

Thanks to duckrabbit for bringing this work to my attention.

Avaaz.org put full page add in PM Taro Aso’s favourite comic book on climate change

Azaaz organized several intiatives around the G8 meeting last week aimed at robust targets to tackle climate change. One of interest was hooking into Japanese PM Taro Aso’s love of manga by placing a full page add in his favourite comic book.

Full page ad aimed at Japan's PM in his favourite comic book

Full page ad aimed at Japan's PM in his favourite comic book

Although over the last couple of years I have come across a small number of good campaigns using illustrations / cartoons, they are few and far between. An underused format? If you know of good examples please send my way.

‘People War’ – Photographs of War to Promote Peace in Nepal

Photographic exhibitions of conflict, human rights abuses or poverty can be compelling and powerful tools to educate us on issues we know little about in places we may never set foot. All too often the awareness and empathy these exhibitions produce is left to dissipate, with no outlet or next step for the audience to take. In my opinion, advocacy campaigns need to channel this energy to be effective. However, when the images are closer to home and connect with our own lives then the outlet for action becomes how we live our own lives and the future choices we make. This is the case with the ‘People War’ exhibition that documents the so-called ‘Peoples War’ in Nepal between 1996-2006. Originated and produced by Kunda Dixit, Editor of the Nepali Times, the collection of 179 photographs focuses on the impact of the conflict on individuals rather than documenting the wars progression and battles. With the death toll reaching nearly 15,000, mainly civilians caught between the warring sides, it highlights the individual grief and loss, as well as the triumph of a people longing for peace.
peoplewar_cvr
Originating from a photo feature in the Nepali Times, the exhibition is a selection from 3,000 photographs submitted by journalists and photographers, both professional and amateur. The final edit, made by a panel consisting of Kunda, Shahidul Alam (Director of Drik photo agency) and Shyam Tekwani (war photographer), represents the work of 80 photographers. The exhibition toured Nepal, pulling in over 350,000 people from all sectors of society, before being developed into both high quality hardback and paperback picture books. The success of the exhibition is unprecedented in Nepal, attracting more visitors than ever before, and evoked an emotional outpouring against such violence engulfing the country again – recorded in nearly 40 visitor books.
nepa laya
Progressing from the success of the exhibition and book, Kunda Dixit and nepa-laya, publishers of the book, have produced the film ‘Yuddha Chitra – Frames of War’. Now touring Nepal the film focuses on the victims of the conflict in the same way the photo project did.
Frames of War
Entry to the film is free and the hope is that it will expand the reach of the project to a wider audience with the aim of promoting peace and non-violence.

In early March I talked to Kunda about the photo exhibition and his work as director of Panos South Asia (1997-2000).

Rob – ‘You returned to Nepal in 1996 after serving as Asia-Pacific Director of the Inter Press Service (1990-1996) to establish Panos South Asia. In your years working at Panos what in your opinion were the key developments in the use of photography as a tool to raise awareness on social issues?’

Kunda – ‘Panos South Asia worked on raising awareness in the media (not necessarily the general public) about issues like trans-boundary water, TB, HIV/AIDS, etc. We involved photojournalists in the field trips and workshops, and used their work in the books and briefing documents we prepared. We also did a workshop and a simulated newsroom on newspaper and magazine design and the use of photographs and info-graphics.’

Rob – ‘Panos gives training to the media – how does it approach topics such as representation – addressing clichéd or stereo-typical images with photo-journalists?’

Kunda – ‘In thematic areas like HIV/AIDS and public health it was especially important to sensitize journalists about stigmatisation, ostracization and sensationalizing victimhood — especially if pictures were taken.’

Rob – ‘The photo book you produced, ‘People War’, brings together a great variety of images from the conflict in Nepal and was accompanied by a photo exhibition tour of Nepal visited by 350,000 people. Where did the idea for the book come from?’

Kunda – ‘The book idea came from a pictorial retrospective of the war that we did at The Nepali Times timed for the 10th anniversary of the beginning of the conflict in February 2006. The publishers, nepa-laya, then approached me with the idea of expanding that work into a picture book. The idea was to use the impact of photography to show the public what the war had done to society—especially through violence against non-combatants.’

Rob – ‘The public’s response to the book and exhibition was beyond expectations. How does this response relate to your original objectives for the project and in what way have you been able to measure its impact?’

Kunda – ‘We just wanted to have a pictorial archive of the war in a book format. The overwhelming response from the public and the desire for peace took on its own momentum and turned the project into a peace movement, without us realizing it. Some visitors for whom the conflict had been distant were shocked when they saw the photos. Their response was, ‘Did this really happen in my country?’ For others who had borne the brunt of the violence it was all too real and was a very emotional experience.’

Rob – ‘Do you have any future plans to continue this project?’

Kunda – ‘Nepalaya is bringing out two sequels this year: one is a collection of testimonies from people who visited the exhibition and the other is a follow-up of about 50 people in the original book. We have tracked them down, interviewed them and found out what they’ve been up to and how they are coping. Kesang Tseten and Prem BK have collaborated with nepa-laya to make a brilliant documentary on the exhibition tour called ‘Frames of War’.’

To buy a copy of the book ‘People War’ follow this link http://www.rajeshkc.com/a-people-war.php

To check out some of the photos featured in the book and exhibition click here.

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