Saturday, 15.07.2017 – Sunday, 13.08.2017
Exposition
The SDC is involved in rebuilding and recovery efforts in northern Mali after the political and security crisis in 2012-13. In this exhibition, seven photographers from Mali give a voice to the women and men who are gradually rebuilding their lives in the towns of Timbuktu, Niafunké and Youwarou.
Location: Ethnographic Museum of the University of Zurich
Nicknamed the ‘pearl of the desert’, Timbuktu was severely affected by the political and security crisis in 2012-13 which saw repeated acts of violence committed by armed groups in Mali. The repression against people living in northern Mali and the destruction of their public buildings and cultural heritage have left deep wounds.
After Timbuktu was liberated in January 2013, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) was one of the first development agencies to respond to the immediate needs of the people caught up in the conflict. The SDC developed a programme for socio-economic recovery together with the local authorities, helping to rehabilitate public infrastructure and restart trading activities.
To document these rebuilding efforts the SDC invited seven local photographers to spend a few days in three locations in northern and central Mali. The result is a breathtaking exhibition of photos which will be shown in Zurich after its tour around several towns in Mali.
The local people captured in these images speak of the hope and self-confidence they have regained, of happiness in carrying out ‘everyday actions’ again, and of their dreams of lasting peace.
