(Polski) Wystawa "Ja i Ty – W poszukiwaniu nowej solidarności "

ME and YOU – In search of a new solidarity

Zabrze, Dom Muzyki i Tańca, ul. gen. de Gaulle’a 17
September 14th – October 25th 2017
exhibition open day-and-night, admission free

Culture takes diverse forms across time and space. This diversity is embodied in the uniqueness and plurality of the identities of the groups and societies making up humankind. As a source of exchange, innovation and creativity, cultural diversity is as necessary for humankind as biodiversity is for nature. In this sense, it is the common heritage of humanity and should be recognized and affirmed for the benefit of present and future generations.
Article 1 of UNESCO’s Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity, Paris, November 2nd 2001.

Following the great success of the open-air exhibition “EARTH FROM ABOVE” (2002-2009), showing the diversity and beauty of our planet as seen from the air, which was viewed by over 2 million people in six Polish cities – and 120 million people worldwide, we today propose a new series of exhibitions entitled “ME and YOU – In search of a new solidarity”.

This French-Polish project consists of 80 large-format photographs, taken over a period of more than 30 years around the world by Olivier Föllmi, one of the most prominent representatives of the humanist photography movement, accompanied by 20 information boards featuring texts by such authoritative figures as Pope Francis, the Dalai Lama, Albert Einstein, Father Józef Tischner, and Ryszard Kapuściński. The aim of the exhibition is to encourage us to reflect more deeply on our relationship with the reality surrounding us – with that other, that stranger, Earth and the world of nature – so that we appreciate the common destiny of all people and find a new global solidarity.

Launched in Krakow just after World Youth Days 2016 and now being continued in Zabrze (Silesia), the project “ME and YOU – In search of a new solidarity” is planned as a transnational event. But it’s here, in Poland, that it takes its moral stance, aiming to become a stimulus for dialogue, cross borders and barriers, so as to help make the idea of solidarity and peace a reality.