The untold miseries of the Rohingya people, a minority ethnic group of refugees in Myanmar have been captured
through lenses of two photographers.
40 such photographs have been displayed at a month-long duet exhibition titled No Place To Call Home at the Athena Gallery
at Badda in the capital.Greg Constantine and Saiful Shafiq Huq Omi have displayed an equal number of images each at the exhibition sponsored by European Union and UNHCR – The UN Refugee Agency.
The origin of the Rohingya people is disputed with some saying they are indigenous to the state of Rakhine (also known as Arakan, or Rohang in the Rohingya language) in Burma and others contending that they are Muslim migrants who originated from East Bengal, later Bangladesh, and migrated to Burma sometime during the British rule ea. Condemning them as intruders, the local Burmese people deny their right to stay in Myanmar, often kill them in riots and drive them out of the country.
Omi has photographed the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, Malaysia and the United Kingdom while Constantine has documented their condition in Myanmar during his travels to the Rakhine State in 2012 and 2013. All the images are untitled and in black and white.
Women and children living in shabby huts have been captured in one of the images by Constantine. The image depicts women with small children on their laps, huddled together in a tiny room crowded with household utensils including pottery, jars, bowls, plastic buckets among others. Clothes for drying can also be seen hanging in the room. The innocence as well as fear in the eyes of the children touches the hearts of the spectators. A teenage girl and an elderly man sitting helplessly inside a refugee camp have also been brilliantly arrested by Constantine in another snap.
Omi, through his lens, has secured a Rohingya man in action-arduously digging a well revealing the continuous hardship of an average refugee to satisfy fundamental needs. Another photograph by Omi portrays an old Muslim man doing adulation in an open air washroom before saying his prayers while a small child right beside the man, is showering using a small pitcher. Despite all the struggles and hardships those unfortunate people have to endure, the smiling face of the child reveals Rohingya people’s continuing hope for a better, respectable life.
Inaugurated on May 11, the exhibition will remain open for everybody from 12:00 to 8:00pm till June 11.
-With New Age input
