2009-09-10: Human Rights at The Central Station
The world was shocked by the events of September 11 2001. It shook our values and respect for fundamental human rights was in many cases set aside. With this background Civil Rights Defenders asked photographer Elisabeth Ohlson Wallin to interpret human rights in a contemporary context. The result is a collection of ten pictures that will be exhibited at the Central Station in Stockholm on September 11.
The photographer Elisabeth Ohlson Wallin, who previously made the exhibitions Ecce Homo and In Hate We Trust, describes the collaboration with Civil Rights Defenders as a dream project.
I work with these issues all the time. Sweden is a country where we might not think that we have democratic problems. We easily forget that democracy is something we have to fight for.
After the terrorist attacks of September 11 people around the world were subjected to grave human rights violations. Fundamental rights, like the absolute prohibition of torture, were watered down. Even in Sweden many principles were set aside.
Now it is our duty to regain lost ground and reinforce the values of human rights that existed before September 11, 2001, says Robert Hårdh, head of Civil Rights Defenders.
Until September 11, 2009, Civil Rights Defenders worked under the name Swedish Helsinki Committee.
We changed our name and became a global actor, but we will stay on the course. From now on we will transfer our knowledge to those parts of the world where human rights are the most neglected, says Robert Hårdh, head of the Civil Rights Defenders.
Appearing on the pictures are models from Funkisbyrån, which is Sweden’s first model agency for people with disabilities.
- Funkisbyrån is working to broaden the concept of diversity to include people with
disabilities and the models’ participation in the exhibition is an illustration of what we are working for, “says Lou Rehnlund, project manager for Funkisbyrån.
The exhibition is shown at Stockholm Central station September 11-13, Book and Library Fair in Gothenburg, 24-27 September and the Human Rights Forum on the Stockholm International Fair 16-17 November
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