2019 Photo Exhibit

1. Life in Europe’s Last Dictatorship: Photos Taken in Brest and Minsk, Belarus (June 14-18, 2018) – Photographer: Ben Cooper

Vladimir Lenin overlooks the main square in Brest, Belarus. Lenin statues, still prevalent throughout much of Belarus, symbolize how the Western oriented world which interacts regularly through the internet and economic trade, has left Belarus behind. Despite the global vision for the world held by many in the West, President Alexander Lukashenko has created a socialist totalitarian state which has disregarded the local vision many Belarusian citizens had for themselves after the fall of the Soviet Union. This image of Lenin and the following images of Belarus’ Soviet past are still powerful symbols of Belarusian society today and of the inability for Belarusian citizens to access the globally interconnected society which many in the West take for granted.

The entrance to the Brest Hero Fortress Complex in Brest, Belarus. The man on the top right corner of the monument is employed by the government as a painter. In 2015, 39.3% of Belarusians were employed by state-controlled companies and 57.2% were employed by private companies in which the government has a 21.1% stake. This extreme government intervention in business creates an unproductive economy. During my time at the Fortress, this man was attempting to paint the entire top edge of this specific monument with a simple paint brush. This man is emblematic of the inefficient government employment system in Belarus where people are required to do monotonous jobs for very little pay.

The main monument at the Brest Fortress Complex, modelled after the image of a Soviet combatant, rises above the eternal flame and the memorial to the Soviet hero-cities (adorned by red flowers). The monument pays tribute to the Belarusian soldiers who fought honorably during the Great Patriotic War (World War II).

The entire Brest Fortress Complex with the main monument, the Bayonet-Obelisk representing victory over the enemy, and St. Nicholas Garrison Church (left of the obelisk) in the background. The “Thirst” sculpture sits in the foreground and represents the extreme suffering of the defenders of the fortress during World War II.

Members of the Guard of Honor, students of local Brest high schools, participate in the changing of the guard ceremony at the eternal flame at the Brest Fortress Memorial Complex. Students have been guarding the flame daily since 1972.

A soldier stands overlooking the Svislach River in Minsk, the capital city. It is not uncommon to see soldiers and cadets patrolling the city in groups. Men in Belarus are required to serve in the military for 18 months but this can be shortened to 12 months with a college degree. The allure of the military has waned since the fall of the Soviet Union and many Belarusian families pull strings and pay extensive bribes to get their sons out of the required service.

The Sons of Our Fatherland Monument erected in 1988 commemorates the soldiers who died in the Soviet Unions brutal and disastrous war in Afghanistan from 1979-1988. The monument is dwarfed by a contrasting Soviet style apartment building which is still used today.

A close up of the Sons of Our Fatherland Monument shows the grief of mothers who lost their sons during the Soviet invasion in Afghanistan. These mothers are emblematic of the dissatisfaction which many Belarusian people felt with the Soviet War in Afghanistan.

Ben Cooper is a Junior at Tufts University studying International Relations and minoring in Entrepreneurial Leadership Studies. Outside of the classroom he is a member of 180 Consulting and a manager of the Tufts football team.

Ben spent his summer abroad in Tbilisi, Georgia conducting research for a think tank. In his free time, he traveled throughout Europe and spent a weekend in Belarus. Ben chose Belarus as a side trip because of its unique cultural history and hermetic political system. Through his talks with locals, he learned that many Belarusians want a more open political system and greater opportunity to invest in the Western economy. At the same time however, they feel they lack the ability to create this change and are therefore unable to avoid government inefficiencies and political corruption that is rampant in the Belarusian state.

President Alexander Lukashenko is the de facto dictator of the country and has kept the country closely tied to the Russian economy to avoid integration with the West. He has been called “Europe’s last dictator” and uses his power to control every aspect of the Belarusian state.

Through his photographs, Ben captures small aspects of a bizarre lifestyle rarely seen by Western eyes. The combination of Lukashenko’s authoritarian government and the Soviet monuments shown in the photographs act as a medium for Lukashenko to stifle the interests of locals and ignore the globalized vision of the world which has developed since the end of World War II.

Email: Benjamin.Cooper600419@tufts.edu

2. Living in Isolation: North Korea | Photos taken at the DMZ, Pyongyang, and Tumen (May 2017) – Photographer: Jasmine Leung

Remaining as the world’s most heavily armed border, the 150-mile long Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) following the 38th parallel used to be established as a 2.5-mile-wide buffer zone between South Korea and North Korea, the living legacies from the Korean War. The Hermit Kingdom has not declared a formal end to the Korean War that divided the country over 65 years

Describing itself a self-reliant state under its tailor-made political ideology, Juche, the North Korean leadership has followed a hereditary dictatorship for three generations so far, beginning from the founding leader Kim Il-sung, to Kim Jong-il and today’s Kim Jong-un.

North and South Koreas agreed to detonate some of the guard posts from the Joint Security Area (JSA) after rounds of trilateral talks between the United Nations Command and the two Koreas last year.

The Mansu Hill Grand Monument is considered one of the sacred places in North Korea is where the bronze statues of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il are located at the centre of the square, accompanied with sculptures depicting the country’s struggles for independence during Japanese invasion and socialist revolution on both sides.

Designed to honour its self-claimed success in fighting the United States and South Korea in the Korean War, the Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum displays the North Korean side view of the War, including the captured American navy vessel USS Pueblo.

Proposed by former South Korean president Moon Jae-in in 2004, the Kaesong Industrial Region was an inter-Korean jointly run project that was aimed to increase economic co-operation between the two Koreas. The pilot scheme was then shut down by his successor, Park Geun-hye, when the countries’ tensions escalated two years later.

The Pyongyang Metro is located around 360-feet underground which was among the deepest metro systems in the world.

People were seen outside a main bus station in Pyongyang.

Formal dress code is strictly enforced in the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, the mausoleum for the previous two deceased leaders.

China is so far North Korea’s largest trading partner, accumulating around $3 billion (in USD) worth of investment. The China-North Korea bridge in Tumen is constructed to increase the trade volume between the two communist parties.

Jasmine Leung is a senior journalism and global studies student from the University of Hong Kong, hoping to inspire people from her travel journeys and photographs.

Email: jasmineleungpaksee@gmail.com

Instagram: @_jasmineleung_

Website: https://getawaywjas.wordpress.com/

3. Where Old, New, Local, Global Coexist: Photos taken from Cologne, Germany (Feb 8-11, 2018)

The Cologne Cathedral

Farina-World’s First Cologne

Rosenmontag: Traditional-looking Attire

Convergence: Tradition (Walls and Horses) on Modern (Automobile)

Rosenquist in Germany

Chinese costume

Reflecting World Politics

Hae Eun Kang is an undergraduate student majoring in International Studies at Korea University, Seoul, South Korea. She always likes to meet new people and is open to diversity. She has had much global experience including a few years spent in Claremont, CA and recent exchange-semester in the University of Mannheim located in Mannheim, Germany. She is currently a student-mentor at the Institute for Global Education where she aids international freshmen.

Email: haeeunkang@gmail.com

SNS(Instagram): https://www.instagram.com/haeeun.kang/?hl=ko

4. Flying across borders: Trip to DC (2018) – Photographer: Maha Waseem

DC’s finest dumplings…indeed.

Georgetown Area, peaceful protest outside the White House!

Washington Mural Project – Logan Circle

Stumbled upon some Korean Aesthetics at the infamous Rice Bar near Downtown DC. Hands down the best Bibimbap I’ve had! Not only were the colors uplifting, but the burst of flavor was downright perfect. It was a spontaneously ideal ending to a long Hop-on-Hop-off bus journey; quite the cherry on top.

Renwick Gallery

Ten Principles of The Burning Man exhibited at the Renwick Gallery

A tourist’s favorite sign – Kudos to the Renwick Gallery

“Oh the places you will go” by Helen Zughaib exhibited at the World Bank. All 22 hand painted shoes are part of a series of artworks that started in 2010, in the wake of the Arab Spring, to visually record the widespread transformation. Inviting people to question their outlook on the refugee crisis and the stark reality our innocent children are forced to face!

Washington Monument!

Washington Monument!

The ideal find for every grilled cheese and dessert enthusiast in DC; The Cakeroom and GCDC!

The perfect way to kill time at an airport? Ponder around the BWI Art Exhibits! Baltimore/Washington International Airport had a wide variety of art pieces from artists all around the globe. This one in particular called “On My Way” by Sam Nandan He from China tremendously captivated me.

Made it to Ben’s Chili Bowl’s 60th Anniversary. This was my last stop from a Washington Mural tour on foot around Logan Circle. After witnessing the strong sense of community involvement reflected in the murals, it was enthralling to see the masses gather and enjoy an age-old legacy; nostalgia and a treat for the taste buds!

A glimpse of the past amid busy sidewalks around Downtown DC

Maha Waseem, while completing a cognitive neuroscience course at Washington University in St Louis, paid a visit to the capital! An avid traveler who thrives on chocolate cake, Waseem is also a poet, who desires to meld Psychology with Art.

Email: maha96@live.com

IG: mahawaseem

5. Many places, many people, one world: Photos from Santiago de Chile – Photographer: Veronika Konickova

All photos are taken by myself (using timer sometimes) during the last day in Santiago de Chile. I spent 2 weeks in Chile during January 2019 attending Institute for Leadership in Americas organized by The Fund for American Studies. In these two weeks, my peers and I were discussing many theoretical and practical problems about the world. On our last day, we made a trip to Temple Bahá’í, where these pictures were taken. The temple is a gathering place in Andes above Santiago and it is open to everyone as a House of Worship. Being there as the last thing done in Santiago, especially with my friends from all around the world, were incredibly peaceful and amazing experience that perfectly closed the two weeks of discussing world problems from not only Chilean, but all 18 attending countries points of view.

Veronika Konickova is 22 years old student of marketing communication and multimedia from Prague, Czech Republic. Her passions are photography and traveling. She is also very interested in educating herself and in the last year spent her time studying abroad in the United States, Turkey and Chile.

Contact: vk.veronikakonickova@gmail.com

http://veronikakonickova.cz

IG @veronikakonickova