A 2-week photo exhibition to be held simultaneously in all six cities, between the 24th of April to the 9th of May 2010, where the work of the respective artists from those countries exhibit faces, places, scenes from everyday life, monuments and traditions common to all Mediterranean countries and their heritage. The aim of the exhibition is to introduce these places and their culture and heritage highlighting commonalities of the ‘other’ by provoking their audience to stop and reflect on the message of the photo and, in the deliberate absence of tags, to wonder about their origin.
In the spirit of the Anna Lindh’s vision, this common project of six of its Mediterranean member states (Athens, Beirut, Nicosia, Podgorica, Belogradchik, Zagreb), aspires to improve perceptions, celebrate cultures and deconstruct stereotypes of the Mediterranean South and of South East Europe, as a way to promote social cohesion. Yet, this is not a passive effort, as it seeks to accomplish its aims through a simple interactive process, where visitors will be asked to write their impression on note books and blackboards, over their feelings, thoughts or ideas of the location of each respective photo.
We start from the generally accepted reality that there is an overall lack of cultural knowledge and understanding among the Mediterranean peoples about their neighbours and especially of the immigrants from the Euro-Med area. Ignorance leads to misperceptions which foster prejudices and stereotypes, often leading to tragic events including violent reactions against immigrants. As a reaction to that, the project will bring to the respective people the face of their neighbours, by providing them with the opportunity to visualise, to wonder and to learn about the ‘other’. Targeting particularly the youth, it seeks to trigger their response and encourage them to actively participate in a creative dialogue with the youngsters from the other side of the fence, whether this is within their country, or elsewhere.
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