In a quadrangular gallery, people walked quietly along the walls, covered with photos, telling the stories of migration. The pictures portrayed different dimensions of life; people running, sitting, or standing, some living in cramped, dark houses or crammed into a small vehicle, racing down a dusty street. With its soft sound of footsteps and intermittent chatter, the quietness of the room seemed to silently convey the weight and depth of the stories behind the photographs.
This exhibition is the outcome of the UNESCO Regional Office Abuja training workshop through its implementing partner Arts for Humanity on ethical photojournalism held in Benin City, Edo State of Nigeria in April 2021. The exhibition presents the creativity and skills of photojournalists and contributes to the discourse on migration through images. The images are documented stories on migration presented by the participants.
Aderonke Alade, like the other artists of the event, stood next to her collection of images and shared detailed description to the visitors on what she saw and thought when she pressed the shutter;
The three-day event, which held in the serene city of Abuja, Nigeria saw a continuous influx of visitors with some using their smartphones to take their own exhibition selfies. It was an event of education and informal discussion for stakeholders and partners on migration coming together to enjoy the images and discuss ways of addressing the issues of irregular Migration.
I knew that migration has different faces but the experience while taking the images for this exhibition made it a reality as I was able to feel the diverse faces of what migration entails
Ozavogu Abdul, a guest at the exhibition said, “The exhibition was a fantastic look into Migration. I think the different perspectives of the artists help shed more light into the reality of migration such as the causes, the victory, and losses, most importantly that migration aren’t always a one-sided story”.
This activity is part of an ongoing project funded by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS) through the ‘Fondo Africa’ of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Development Cooperation (MAECI). The project aims at empowering young men and women to make informed decisions on migration issues through better access to quality information (SGD16.10). It is hoped that these images will contribute to the needed paradigm shift in the narrative about migration stories in Nigeria.
