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Australia: 150 years of humanitarian action – photo exhibition

22-10-2013 Event

ICRC’s anniversary exhibition marking 150 years of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement will be on display at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre, Darling Harbour In November.

Event Info

Afghanistan War, 1979-1989. Parachinar, Pakistan, 1986. Afghan mujaheddin take a first-aid course run by the ICRC

Where: Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre

When: 11.11.2013-18.11.2013

Containing a moving compilation of 40 historic and contemporary images from the ICRC’s photographers in the field, the collection spans the Spanish-American War of 1898 through to the two world wars of the twentieth century and the current conflicts in Afghanistan and Syria, among others.

It charts the evolving challenges faced by the movement over the past 150 years, from reuniting family members separated by war to delivering health care and protection for people suffering the effects of armed conflict and other violence.

The photo exhibition will be in Sydney as part of the bi-annual meetings of the International Red Cross Red Crescent Movement, being hosted for the first time by the Australian Red Cross. It will be displayed as part of a special 'humanitarian village' at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre showcasing the work of Red Cross and Red Crescent national societies from around the world.

 


A selection from the photo exhibition

 


The Spanish-American War of 1898. A surgeon from the United States army medical service (recognisable by his red cross) treats a wounded soldier in a field hospital. ICRC/Speiser, W.


The interwar period. Nancy, France: A group of nurses during an air-raid drill. National Red Cross Societies had to adapt their activities to the technological developments that emerged during the First World War, particularly air raids.


Vietnam War, 1964-1975. Saigon, 1969: An ICRC doctor visits an orphanage. Throughout the war, the ICRC was only able to work in the Republic of Vietnam (or South Vietnam), despite repeated appeals to the North Vietnamese government.


Liberia, Monrovia central prison, 2006: ICRC delegates visit security detainees. Detention-related activities remain a priority for the ICRC.


Disturbances in Kyrgyzstan, 2010: An ICRC delegate delivers a Red Cross message to a woman from her brother, who has been detained by the police. Red Cross messages are a lifeline for families desperate for news of a relative who has been imprisoned or displaced in connection with a conflict. In 2010, the ICRC distributed more than 145,000 Red Cross messages worldwide.


Syrian conflict, 2011 to present. The Al-Ghuta neighbourhood of Homs, 15 February 2012: Volunteers from the Syrian Arab Red Crescent and local residents unload food supplies. The ICRC often works closely with the National Red Cross or Red Crescent Society of the country in which it is operating.