Geneva hosts the world première of exhibition by photographer Zalmaï at the Bâtiment des Forces Motrices from 10 to 23 May 2004.

Photographer Zalmaï, an Afghan refugee and today a Swiss citizen, is an example of successful integration. Recognized not only in his country of adoption but also worldwide, he has been awarded several national and international prizes. His photographic exhibition, a marvellous account of both the suffering and the hope of exiled populations, is presented for the first time in Geneva and will travel for almost two years to Kabul, Sydney, Tokyo and Washington D.C. at the National Geographic Explorer Hall and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

His life history, as well as the quality and human dimension of his photos, gave birth to the idea of a collaboration with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and to follow the return journey of some of the three million Afghan refugees, illustrating also the patient and arduous reconstruction of a country devastated by more than two decades of war.

As Zalmaï says, "My project tries to capture the determination and the courage of a people that has rarely known peace, their optimism against all odds, and their worry that Afghanistan could still return to the nightmarish condition it is trying to escape."

In 2001, after the fall of the Taliban and with the hope of a new beginning, Zalmaï returned to Afghanistan, with the help of UNHCR, after 22 years of exile. This return to his country of origin has produced some remarkable photos, tracing the first hesitant steps towards reconstruction of a devastated country still under the menace of violent factions, poverty and the threatened return of the Taliban.

A traditional user of black and white photos, Zalmaï explains in his book why, for the first time, he chose colour: "I felt that now, after such a long time, there was hope again for Afghanistan. It seemed to me that colours were returning and that they would be those of a peaceful country. And so I set out to find this hope, with — for the first time — colour film in my camera."

The Aperture Foundation of New York, which specialises in art and photography books, responded to the outstanding and striking images by publishing a book dedicated to Zalmaï's work, a contribution to heighten public awareness to the Afghan cause and to the determination of refugees worldwide to go back to the land of their ancestors. The book will be available in Switzerland in June 2004.

To provide protection and assistance to the world's refugees and to find permanent solutions so that they have a chance to start a new life is all part of UNHCR's work, and Afghanistan has been one of the most important operations in the history of the agency. During the last two years, UNHCR organised the return home of more than three million persons, and this figure is bound to increase in the coming months. At the height of the Afghan crisis in the 1990s, more than six million persons were forced into exile.

Zalmaï's exhibition debut is in Geneva, a highly symbolic city because of its role in peacemaking initiatives and host to the headquarters of UNHCR. The exhibition has been produced with the kind support of the Musée de l'Elysée in Lausanne, the Geneva private bank Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch & Cie, the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, the Swiss Federal Office for Refugees, the city of Geneva and the Aperture Foundation in New York.