BRAC University Hosts “Ek Khaale: Once Upon A Time” photo exhibition

BRAC University hosted a 10-day photo exhibition titled "Ek Khaale: Once Upon a Time", featuring the work of Greg Constantine, a Canadian-American documentary photographer, author and visual journalist known for documenting Myanmar's Rohingya crisis as part of his long-term project "Nowhere People", which highlights the struggles of stateless communities across several countries.

The exhibition, inaugurated at the BRAC University Exhibition Gallery, launched on August 17 and ran until August 28, featuring panel discussions, keynote speeches, guided tours, lectures, and presentations.

The Ek Khaale project, initiated five years ago through the voluntary participation of the Rohingya communities worldwide, aims to highlight the history, identity, and struggles of the Rohingya through visual storytelling. 

Constantine, reflecting on his work, said during an interview, "There's a much bigger story about the Rohingya than mere suffering and pain. That's why I decided to take a radical shift in visual storytelling, asking Rohingya all around the world to volunteer their old photographs for this exhibition."

"These old photographs, documents, and IDs tell a vivid story of the past lives and existence of this community. Some were lawyers, engineers, doctors, and students; they were middle class and upper class, even members of parliament," he added.

This exhibition is aimed at encouraging the visitors to challenge and see through the false narratives involving the Rohingya community and actively engage in dialogue about the crisis.

Thousands of participants, including students and faculty from notable public and private universities, as well as high schools, came to visit the exhibition.

Constantine emphasised that, as a neighbouring country of Myanmar and the North Arakan region, where the Rohingya are from, the people of Bangladesh need to see this work to change the way they—and, by extension, the world—look at the Rohingya community.

"I always imagined that the key audience for this exhibition would be the policymakers, diplomats or INGO officials. But later, I have come to realise there is a community that is more important – the students of this country," Constantine expressed.

The exhibition came to an end on August 28 with a closing ceremony featuring keynote speakers: BRACU Registrar Dr Dave Dowland, British Deputy High Commissioner and Development Director to Bangladesh James Goldman, Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner Mohammed Mizanur Rahman, and Centre for Peace and Justice (CPJ) Executive Director Manzoor Hasan, among others. 

The exhibition was organised by the Centre for Peace and Justice (CPJ), BRAC University, supported by the Office of Communications, Outreach Team, the Office of Co-Curricular Activities and Student Life, and Peace Café of BRAC University.