‘WOMEN of Concern’ is a touring photographic exhibition that launches at Hunt Museum on Tuesday March 8 to mark International Women’s Day. The show will be opened by actress and writer Amy Huberman, an ambassador for the developing world charity, at 6pm and its month-long run in Limerick is free to all. Concern and its enormous vivid prints tell an immediate, direct story of the aid agency’s work with women in three continents.
Women of Concern sees Limerick based contributor Marie McCallan of Press 22 ranked with two other of Ireland’s leading female photographers – Brenda Fitzsimons of The Irish Times and Kim Haughton (www.kimhaughton.com). In January 2010 they were selected by the aid agency to visit Bangladesh, Haiti and Ethipia respectively to make this visual narrative of Concern’s development projects for women and children.
Marie McCallan travelled to Bangladesh, a country where only a third of women can read and write. In October 2006 Concern began a five-year education project titled Amader School (Our School) and now c.60,000 children benefit annually.
“Concern is in Bangladesh since 1972 and was one of the first of few aid agencies there. The other project they asked me to cover is Amrao Manoush which means “we are people, too”, the name chosen by these street dwellers who are a huge community over there. The Bangladeshi are totally unlike the homeless here. Every woman I met worked three or four jobs such as collecting rubbish, firewood or had to work in the sex trade”.
The women’s fear that their children will be taken from them is constant.
“It’s the worst thing that can happen to them. Children are stolen and sold for use as drug mules or into the sex trade. The street dwellers are people who have no rights…but that is changing. Awful as their lives are, the main thing I came away with is a lot of hope. The women I met made me so welcome, were so kind and generous to me”.
Travelling on foot allowed for no heavy lighting equipment to help Marie and shooting around Dhaka city railway station at night made for photographic challenges. Having shot 1000s of digital images over 10 days in Bangladesh as witness to women and their families affected by Concern’s work, Marie McCallan reurned to Press 22’s offices in Nicholas Street to edit her 13 best prints for Concern’s exhibiton to rank with the other photographers. The show began tourng last year to raise awareness of the enormity of the challenges faced by these Third World countries and aid agencies’ ongoing work.
“I’m delighted ‘Women of Concern’ has come to Limerick for the centenary of International Women’s Day, Tuesday 8 ,” Marie says, “I really am”.
It’s free for everyone to see in Hunt Museum until April 3. See website www.concern.net/womenofconcern.
