Zalmaï exhibit on Afghanistan

Briefing Notes, 7 May 2004

This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Peter Kessler – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at the press briefing, on 7 May 2004, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

If you're interested in that country and/or photography, you won't want to miss the world première of a stunning photographic exhibit, "Return, Afghanistan," which opens in Geneva on Monday (May 10) at the Bâtiment des Forces Motrices. You may have read about the photographer, Zalmaï, who is an Afghan refugee and today, a Swiss citizen. His photography is recognized not only here in his country of adoption, but worldwide.

After leaving Geneva, this exhibition is scheduled for a two-year world tour that will include Kabul, Sydney, Tokyo and Washington, D.C., where Zalmaï's work will be displayed at both the National Geographic Explorer Hall and also at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

After 22 years in exile, Zalmaï returned to Afghanistan with UNHCR help after the fall of the Taliban in 2001 and has spent months photographing his homeland. Like his photographs, his story is quite exceptional.

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