The persecution of the Rohingya — Myanmar's religious and ethnic minority community — dates back to 1948, which the country achieved independence from its British colonizers. Ever since repeated pleas for a promised autonomous state have been contemptuously rejected. On the contrary, inhuman barbarism heaped on the Rohingya — consistently classified as "illegal migrants" by successive Myanmar governments — has increased, with 2017 witnessing the high point of barbarism unleashed by the Myanmar military. Over 700,000 Rohingya then fled to neighboring Bangladesh.Interviewed Rohingya'sRohingya's from Myanmar who fled to Bangladesh, most of them said that "we fled from our country with fear to save our children and lives. We came here to find freedom. We feel we're safe here".
About the Exhibition :
This part of the project was exhibited at Four Freedoms Park Conservancy & United Photo Industries for "Capture your Freedom" at New York, an outdoor exhibition.
This exhibition presented four large-scale photographic cubes corresponding to each of the four freedoms -- freedom of speech & expression, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. The exhibition is the first of its kind held at the presidential memorial.
A panel of 6 esteemed photo editors and human rights advocates selected work by 30 photographers from around the world, which UPI produced in the form of four large-scale Photo Cubes on the picturesque Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park.
The participating artists are Ruthie Abel, Inbal Abergil, Patricia Ackerman, Kisha Bari, Susan Barnett, Sara Bennett, Paolo Bona, Valeria Bove, Vidhyaa C, Argus Paul Estabrook, Tom Finke, Carlos Gonzalez, Eliza Hatch, Louise Hon̩e, Ed Kashi, William King, Ryan Koopmans, Gioia Kuss, Jason Little, Liu Liu, Jorge Lopez Munoz, Calli McCaw, Marla Mossman, Fabian Muir, Cletus Nelson Nwadike, Hector Rene, Whitney Welshimer, Emma Williams, and Mohammad Zoyari.
Four Freedoms Park Conservancy and UPI assembled a panel of esteemed photo editors and human rights advocates, who offered their time, energy, and years of experience to this monumental outdoor exhibition to curate this public exhibition. The selection committee for Capture your Freedom was comprised of Penny Abeywardena, Commissioner, New York City Mayor'sMayor's Office For International Affairs; Yvette Alberdingk Thijm, Executive Director of Witness; Nathalie Applewhite, Managing Director of the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting; Geoffrey Berliner, Executive Director of the Penumbra Foundation; Emma Raynes, Director of Programs at the Magnum Foundation; Maggie Soladay, Photography Editor at the Open Society Foundations in New York. Presented by Four Freedoms Park Conservancy in partnership with United Photo