The Nobel Peace Prize Exhibition 2016: Hope over Fear

This year’s Nobel Peace Prize exhibition is a strong portrait of President Juan Manuel Santos and the Colombian people. On commission for the Nobel Peace Center, Danish star photographer Mads Nissen and journalist Dorrit Saietz traveled around Colombia in the weeks following the announcement of the Nobel Peace Prize. By using a camera and a pen, they created an intimate and powerful portrait of the Colombian people, tired of war and violence, longing for peace but also building it day by day.

“This year’s Nobel Peace Prize Exhibition has a tremendous power. Nissen’s photos express both a strong will for peace and the courage to do what it takes for the process to succeed”, says Executive Director Liv Tørres at the Nobel Peace Center.

The Nobel Peace Center’s team met deminers who are working side by side with FARC soldiers to clear areas for landmines. They met coca pickers, who earn twice as much picking coca as picking coffee. And they have been to the FARC camp El Diamante, where approximately 400 of the remaining 7-8000 FARC members are living. They are preparing for the transition to civilian life, waiting to be transferred to the transition camps where they will hand over their weapons.

Two-year-old Sara Manuela, photographed while taking a nap, represents a promise of peace. Having children in a FARC camp is usually not allowed. But her parents took the risk. If the peace process fails, she will be handed over to her grandmother.

“In the course of three short weeks, I’ve tried to get all over Colombia. From the rain forest to the mountains. From the presidential palace to the slums. Everywhere, I met people who longed for peace, progress and social justice. This makes me optimistic”, says Mads Nissen.

In the exhibition we also meet the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, President Juan Manuel Santos, during the hectic weeks before the new peace treaty was signed in Colombia. In a video interview for the exhibition, he states:

“Making war is easy, but making peace is much more difficult. I would not have forgiven myself if, at the end of my life, I thought that I had the opportunity to bring peace to my people, and I didn’t take it.”

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Hope over Fear is the twelfth consequential Nobel Peace Prize Exhibition at the Nobel Peace Center. The exhibition is made in two hectic months, from the announcement of the Nobel Peace Prize laureate in October, until the exhibition is opened by the laureate on December 11^th.

The Nobel Peace Prize Exhibition opens to the public December 12^th at 12.00 and is in display through November 2017.

There will be a closed press viewing on Friday 9 December from 10:00 to 16:00.

Press Photos are attached - contact Ingvill Bryn Rambøl at ibr@nobelpeacecenter for high res photos. 

FACTS ABOUT THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE EXHIBITION:

• -Hope over Fear is a photo exhibition about President Juan Manuel Santos and the Colombian people.
• -The exhibition is made by the Nobel Peace Center in cooperation with photographer Mads Nissen and journalist Dorrit Saietz. Design by Christine Lohre.
• It comprises 25 photos (the largest ones being 200 x 150 cm), video interviews and a text folder available in English, Spanish and Norwegian. It is shown on the second level at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo.
• It is opened by the Nobel Peace Prize laureate on December 11^th. It opens to the public on December 12^th at 12:00 and is on display through November 2017.