ID :
200291
Wed, 08/10/2011 - 08:47
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/200291
The shortlink copeid
U.N.-themed photo exhibit opens in Seoul
(ATTN: RESTRUCTURES; ADDS quotes from opening ceremony, details)
By Lee Haye-ah
SEOUL, Aug. 10 (Yonhap) -- U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon joined other influential figures in Seoul on Wednesday for the opening of a photo exhibition aimed at rallying support for the United Nations' development goals.
Hosted by Yonhap News Agency, South Korea's key wire service, the show features more than 80 award-winning works by photojournalists and freelancers in 71 countries. Their depictions of human suffering and environmental threats serve to highlight the U.N.'s eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which include freedom from extreme poverty and hunger, achievement of universal primary education and the eradication of diseases.
The exhibition is the first of its kind to be held in South Korea and displays the winning entries from last month's Yonhap International Press Photo Awards (YIPPA), which received a total of 1,938 pieces, or 5,536 photographs.
Ban, who arrived in Seoul Tuesday, is visiting his home country for the first time since he was re-elected in June to lead the global body for a second five-year term. At the opening ceremony in Culture Station Seoul 284, he was joined by some 150 other influential figures, including National Assembly Speaker Park Hee-tae, Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik and Grand National Party leader Hong Joon-pyo.
"It is often said that a single photo can speak a thousand words," Ban said in his opening speech. "With more than 5,000 photo entries, I believe the message that today's event is able to deliver on the MDGs is truly remarkable."
The U.N. chief said the exhibition covers all the issues the MDGs aim to tackle across the globe, adding that the goals have been one of his top priorities since the beginning of his leadership. The MDGs were established during a meeting of world leaders at the U.N. Millennium Summit in September 2000. They agreed to meet the goals by 2015.
"All the exhibited works, including that of Emilio Morenatti of the AP, ask us the question of what we should do as members of the global community," said Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik during his speech. "I hope this exhibition will give people a chance to feel the urgency portrayed in these award-winning works and inspire them to fulfill their love for mankind."
Park Jung-chan, CEO and president of Yonhap, said his company hopes to contribute to achieving the MDGs.
"A single photo of poverty, famine or infectious diseases can be a catalyst for triggering a worldwide movement toward eradicating poverty," he said in his speech, adding that the same effect could be expected from a photo of environmental destruction.
The contest's top prize went to Emilio Morenatti, a photojournalist for The Associated Press, for his photos of cholera victims in Haiti last year.
Other winners included Mohammad Moniruzzaman of The Daily Samakal; Bethany Clark, a freelance photographer; Alex Masi of Corbis; Nicolas Asfouri of Agence France-Presse; Hiroto Sekiguchi of The Yomiuri Shimbun; and Cho Young-ho of The Hankook Ilbo.
Their work showed a child laborer in a paint factory, a mother with her ill infant, seal-hunting in Greenland's melting glaciers as well as other striking images from across the globe.
The exhibition will open to the public on Thursday free of charge and run through Sept. 30 at the same venue. Supported by the U.N., the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, it will also run from Aug. 22 to Sept. 9 at the U.N. Headquarters Visitors' Lobby in New York and tour seven major South Korean cities, including Busan, Daegu and Gwangju, starting later this month.
Yonhap said it plans to hold the exhibition biennially and donate its proceeds to U.N. funds for disaster and poverty relief and environmental protection.
By Lee Haye-ah
SEOUL, Aug. 10 (Yonhap) -- U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon joined other influential figures in Seoul on Wednesday for the opening of a photo exhibition aimed at rallying support for the United Nations' development goals.
Hosted by Yonhap News Agency, South Korea's key wire service, the show features more than 80 award-winning works by photojournalists and freelancers in 71 countries. Their depictions of human suffering and environmental threats serve to highlight the U.N.'s eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which include freedom from extreme poverty and hunger, achievement of universal primary education and the eradication of diseases.
The exhibition is the first of its kind to be held in South Korea and displays the winning entries from last month's Yonhap International Press Photo Awards (YIPPA), which received a total of 1,938 pieces, or 5,536 photographs.
Ban, who arrived in Seoul Tuesday, is visiting his home country for the first time since he was re-elected in June to lead the global body for a second five-year term. At the opening ceremony in Culture Station Seoul 284, he was joined by some 150 other influential figures, including National Assembly Speaker Park Hee-tae, Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik and Grand National Party leader Hong Joon-pyo.
"It is often said that a single photo can speak a thousand words," Ban said in his opening speech. "With more than 5,000 photo entries, I believe the message that today's event is able to deliver on the MDGs is truly remarkable."
The U.N. chief said the exhibition covers all the issues the MDGs aim to tackle across the globe, adding that the goals have been one of his top priorities since the beginning of his leadership. The MDGs were established during a meeting of world leaders at the U.N. Millennium Summit in September 2000. They agreed to meet the goals by 2015.
"All the exhibited works, including that of Emilio Morenatti of the AP, ask us the question of what we should do as members of the global community," said Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik during his speech. "I hope this exhibition will give people a chance to feel the urgency portrayed in these award-winning works and inspire them to fulfill their love for mankind."
Park Jung-chan, CEO and president of Yonhap, said his company hopes to contribute to achieving the MDGs.
"A single photo of poverty, famine or infectious diseases can be a catalyst for triggering a worldwide movement toward eradicating poverty," he said in his speech, adding that the same effect could be expected from a photo of environmental destruction.
The contest's top prize went to Emilio Morenatti, a photojournalist for The Associated Press, for his photos of cholera victims in Haiti last year.
Other winners included Mohammad Moniruzzaman of The Daily Samakal; Bethany Clark, a freelance photographer; Alex Masi of Corbis; Nicolas Asfouri of Agence France-Presse; Hiroto Sekiguchi of The Yomiuri Shimbun; and Cho Young-ho of The Hankook Ilbo.
Their work showed a child laborer in a paint factory, a mother with her ill infant, seal-hunting in Greenland's melting glaciers as well as other striking images from across the globe.
The exhibition will open to the public on Thursday free of charge and run through Sept. 30 at the same venue. Supported by the U.N., the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, it will also run from Aug. 22 to Sept. 9 at the U.N. Headquarters Visitors' Lobby in New York and tour seven major South Korean cities, including Busan, Daegu and Gwangju, starting later this month.
Yonhap said it plans to hold the exhibition biennially and donate its proceeds to U.N. funds for disaster and poverty relief and environmental protection.
