World Press Photo exhibition highlighting universal human rights and fundamental freedoms opens in Kyrgyzstan
BISHKEK, 10 January 2015 – The World Press Photo traveling exhibition, gathering 140 pictures by the winners of the prestigious 57th World Press Photo contest, is being held from 10 to 22 January 2015 at the Kyrgyz National Museum of Fine Arts “Gapar Aitiev” in Bishkek.
The exhibition is supported by the OSCE Centre in Bishkek and the diplomatic missions of both the Netherlands and Canada in Kyrgyzstan.
“The OSCE Centre in Bishkek is honored to be a part of this very important exhibition, which emphasizes the importance of universal human rights and fundamental freedoms as well as the freedom of information in particular,” said the Head of the OSCE Centre in Bishkek Ambassador Sergey Kapinos. “The exhibition is opening a few days after the unacceptable and horrific attack at the Paris offices of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. Such an attack highlights even more the importance of fostering tolerance and protection of basic human rights and freedoms in our societies.”
The World Press Photo Contest is considered one of the most reputable annual contests for press photography involving photojournalists, agencies, newspapers and magazines from all over the world. Award-winning photographs covering the most topical events of the previous year are exhibited in Amsterdam for two months and then travel around the world. The winning photos are judged over a two-week period by an independent jury, who look through more than 103,000 photo entries sent by 5,666 photographers from 124 countries.
Representatives from the Government, Ministry of culture, information and tourism of the Kyrgyz Republic, the World Press Photo project manager Erik de Kruijf, the Honorary Consul of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the Kyrgyz Republic Elena Yun, the Ambassador of Canada to the Kyrgyz Republic, Shawn Steil, journalists and members of the public participated in the opening of the exhibition.