Invitation to exhibition ”Liberty” by photographer Ron Haviv
It is our pleasure and privilege to invite you to the opening of the photo exhibition entitled “Liberty” by the American photographer Ron Haviv.
The exhibition will be presented in the premises of the Croatian Journalists’ Association, Perkovčeva 2, Zagreb, on Wednesday, September 27, 2023, starting at 19:00.
Ron Haviv is one of the most important photographers today. He worked in 100 countries around the world and photographed more than 25 war conflicts. His work has special weight and significance when it comes to scenes recorded during the war years in Bosnia and Herzegovina, especially in the area of Prijedor, Banja Luka, Mostar and in central Bosnia.
The exhibition is organized by the office in Bosnia and Herzegovina of the German organization Forum ZFD, , in partnership with the Foundation for Building a Culture of Remembrance from Prijedor, Documenta – Center for Facing the Past from Zagreb, and the VII Foundation.
The photos, which will be shown in Zagreb touch upon all aspects of the war. They are authentic documents, were created to cause immediate change and stop the violation of human rights. Now they exist as evidence, visual documents of the recent past and should be a reminder of how important freedom is.
In the 1990s, Ron Haviv photographed wars on the territory of the former Yugoslavia, and as a valuable testimony about that time, he published the book ”Blood and Honey”. His photos, which are kept in famous museums and galleries have won numerous world awards, , and were used in the court proceedings of the Hague Tribunal.
Visitors to the exhibition will be able to see photos that were created in extremely dangerous circumstances for the photographer, in camps, places of exchange of prisoners and other war situations. Haviv’s photographs follow people from the moment they lost their freedom until they were freed again. People in war first lose their freedom, and Haviv’s photographs show the most extreme situations of loss of freedom, capture and detention in camps.
This exhibition is a dedication to human freedom and the wars being waged at the moment sadly made it gain sudden relevance again. “War reminds us how fragile we ourselves are and to what extent the idea of freedom can be temporary for all of us,” Haviv wrote about this exhibition.
You have the opportunity to see it in Zagreb, from September 27 to October 6, 2023, on weekdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Attached is a text by Ron Haviv written by the author as an introduction to the exhibition.
