A successful Journey to Freedom, nsw, Amnesty International Australia

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A successful Journey to Freedom

Published on 8/09/2010
NSW Artists Network

Richard
Richard Wainwright
Ed Giles

Earlier this month the NSW Artists Network held their inaugural event, the photo exhibition 'Journey to Freedom', at Carriageworks, a centre for contemporary arts. The theme of the exhibition was the many stages of the journey of refugees and asylum seekers from refugee camps to - for some few - a new life in Australia. The exhibition was also the launch of the NSW Artists Network, our new action group.

The event featured the work of renowned photographers Richard Wainwright, Ed Giles, Hamish Gregory and Alanta Colle. Richard and Ed were present on opening night on 1 September, and also gave a short presentation sharing their experiences as photographers covering Human Rights crises in Africa and the Middle East respectively. Alex Pagliaro, refugee specialist, was the third speaker on behalf of Amnesty International Australia. Those who attended opening night also had the opportunity to enjoy the music of Llew Kiek and Andy Busutill, a Macedonian duo who entertained the audience with their unique samples of world music.

Besides being an awarded photojournalist, Richard Wainwright has been a Human Rights activist for more than 10 years. Originally from the Channel Islands but now residing in Perth, Richard has already been involved with Amnesty International, having created the Jersey Amnesty International Human Rights Film Festival, but this is his first involvement with our organisation in Australia. At 'Journey to Freedom', Richard exhibited his work with refugees in Darfur and Uganda. For more of his work, including the photos displayed in the exhibition, his website is richwainwright.com.

Ed Giles is a freelance photographer and his work has been published in Australia and internationally. Passionate about the Middle East, Ed travelled around Syria, Lebanon, Iran and Jordan covering the sensitive issue of the Iraqi refugees fleeing from the war in their homeland. His work reflects the drama of people who lost their family and possessions in a fraction of a second and are now in a limbo between the two worlds of their present life in the slums of a foreign country and the dream of returning to Iraq. For more information and photos, his website is edgiles.com.

The exhibition was the launching event for the NSW Artists Network, a platform for artists of all kinds to express their passion for justice as well as raise awareness of the important work of Amnesty International. The network will facilitate concerts and exhibitions and create links with existing events. It will also provide musicians and photographers for future Amnesty events.

In the words of Keyna Wilkins, Convener of the NSW Artists Network: “The exhibition was a great success, with a large number of attendees.” Hundreds of people signed a petition demanding the government end the freeze on Afghani and Sri Lankan asylum seekers, and the action group also recruited a number of new members. Keyna Wilkins promised more events from the group in the future. "We will have lots more events: photographic, film, dance, music; anything creative will be included."

The NSW Artists Network will hold their first meeting at 6:30 pm on Wednesday 22 September at the 'Well Connected' cafe, 35 Glebe Point Road, Glebe. Anyone who is interested is encouraged to come along, and you don't have to have a creative background to get involved.

More photos of the exhibition are available at our official flickr and facebook accounts.