Exhibition: World Science Day for Peace and Development - Science, a Human Right

A photographic exhibition to celebrate "Science, a Human Right", marking the 70th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration for Human Rights and the 2017 UNESCO Recommendation on Science and Scientific Researchers.

This year the World Science Day is celebrated on the theme "Science, a Human Right", marking the 70th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration for Human Rights, and the 2017 UNESCO Recommendation on Science and Scientific Researchers.

On UNESCO Headquarters’ fences (Suffren side), between the end of October and November, a photographic exhibition will show the link between science and human rights. The exhibition will include pictures taken during scientific experiments that will be matched with a selection of articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

“Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits”, states Article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, proclaimed in 1948. This article alone upholds many of UNESCO’s values. Culture, art and science are side by side because together, they contribute to the emancipation of peoples and nations.

Dedicating the 2018 World Science Day for Peace and Development to the 70^th anniversary of the Declaration is an opportunity for UNESCO to champion every person’s fundamental right to participate in and benefit from scientific progress, while highlighting the close ties that bind science to all human rights.

This exhibition draws attention to the fundamental, natural beauty hidden in research laboratories. By revealing the invisible, playing with scales of observations, these scientific photographs bewilder and spark the imagination. They are filled with a sense of mystery, yet they expose an indisputable truth.

The exhibition links scientific photographs with some of the articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as an invitation to reflect on the social dimensions of science. We hope that these images will bring to light the beauty of the pursuit of knowledge through research. These parallels were defined together with AiR - Art in Research, an art gallery dedicated to scientific photography.