On February 25th, the photo project “Life”, which is part of the program “Art for the inclusion of persons with disability”, opened in the National Library.
The protagonists of the photo exhibition are the only Belarusian model with cerebral palsy Angelina Uelskaja and the actor with Down syndrome Andrei Gorbatenko. They both are talented, open and sincere, being the example of an incredible courage and beauty. However, there is a big difference between them – Angelina grew up in a family that lavished her care and love, while Andrei’s parents abandoned him at birth, he grew up in boarding schools, and now he lives in a residential care home of a psycho-neurological boarding.
The authors of the project invite you to have a look at the portraits made by the photographers Ivan Bieser and Andrej Kazieka with the aid of the cameraman Aliaksandr Piatroǔ and the professional visagiste Maryja Darapievič. These photos will let you understand the inward life of the protagonists.
The event organizers want to draw attention to the lives of people with different abilities – people whose existence many of us prefer not to remember. In many countries, people with cerebral palsy and Down syndrome are not excluded from society and live a full life, dream and develop professionally. The main thing is the support of society and the strength of their character.
The theme of disability often scares and embarrasses us, and we often do not know how to behave and what to say. It is in human nature: something unknown, special, different makes us fear and "go to the other side of the road." What should ordinary people do to remove the sense of discomfort, rejection and desire to turn the page: not to read, not to see, not to talk?
The answer is obvious at first glance: it is necessary to get closer to this theme, to study it, to make it familiar and normal so that a meeting with a person with disabilities won’t become a shock or revelation.
The photo exhibition “Life” is part of the project “Art for the inclusion of persons with disability” which purpose is to form a positive attitude towards persons with disability. The program is carried out by the Belarusian Association of Help to Children and Young People with Disabilities with the support of the Agency for International Development USAID.
For more info, please, call: (+375 17) 293 28 33, 293 27 56.
Е-mail: pr@nlb.by
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