The opening of the exhibition of photography by Olivier Toscani, entitled “Thought is forbidden: the face of repression in Cuba”, will take place on 9 December 2006 at 7.30 p.m. at the club M25 located at 25 Miñska Street in Warsaw. Its organizers are the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, the organization Hands Off Cain and the club M25. (9-DEC-06)
Written by Marta Lempicka / HRH Warsaw.
The exhibited works depict members of the Cuban opposition arrested on 18 March 2003 and sentenced to long-term prison terms based on “Law 88”, widely known as “the gag law”, enacted in 1999, but never applied in practice until 2003. “Law 88” sought to shut up the voice of individuals working in support of human rights in Cuba, as well as independent journalists, by penalizing the exchange of information and opinions with sentences of up to 20 years in prison.
More than a year later, when information began arriving from Cuba about the difficult conditions, under which the convicts were detained (inter alia poet Raul Rivero, trade unionist Pedro Pablo Alvarez and journalist Ricardo Conzalez), the organization Hands Off Cain and the Italian Helsinki Committee organized an exhibition of photos by the famous photographer Olivier Toscani, intended to draw the public opinion’s attention to repressions and violations of human rights in Cuba. The display was presented in Italy, Spain as well as Hungary. There will be an opportunity to see it in Warsaw between 9 and 11 December 2006. The exhibition will be accompanied by screenings of films concerning the violation of human rights in Cuba.
The exhibition is a supporting event to the International Film Festival “Watch Docs: Human Rights in Film”, organized by the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, Spoleczny Instytut Filmowy and the Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art on 8 – 17 December 2006.
