Exhibition ‘’Living with Land Mines’’

The exhibition ‘’Living with Land Mines’’ was opened on 14 May 2007 at the Institute for Rehabilitation of the Republic of Slovenia in Ljubljana. In collaboration with the International Trust Fund for Demining and Mine Victims Assistance (ITF), the Institute for Rehabilitation of the Republic of Slovenia (IRRS) and Embassy of Canada the main objective of the event was to confront viewers with devastating consequences of land mines around the world.

Mr. Robert Cugelj, the Director of the IRRS, H.E. Robert Hage, Ambassador of Canada and Mr. Goran Ga?nik, the Director of ITF, gave the opening address where they emphasized the importance of the awareness that mines can be removed, however, a mine victim stays a mine victim for life. The show will also be on display in the National Assembly of Republic of Slovenia from May 24 to June 2 and in the Slovenian Ministry of Defence from June 3 to June 14.

The significance of these words were also presented in picture through 16 life-size portraits of Toronto-based V. Tony Hauser depicting Cambodian children who have suffered the effects of land mines. 

V. Tony Hauser build his reputation on his thirty years long professional career as an expert in black and white photography technique. Beside his basic profession he is also a member of ‘’PhotoSensitive’’ organization which tries to channel the power of photography through expanding horizons and contributing to education relating to broad social issues. Mine victims’ assistance, without any doubt, falls into this category.

Mine victims assistance programs still face the problem of insufficient donor interest. However, problems of those affected by mines stay one of the key factors when it comes to normalization of living conditions. In the region of South East Europe the contamination with landmines and unexploded remnants of war still remains high. According to researches conducted in the region the data shows that still more than 3.200 square kilometers of land remains contaminated. Based on assumptions of ITF and with the strong support from the donor community the problem could be solved by the end of the year 2010. Since the establishment of the ITF in 1998, 219.8 million US dollars were raised, more than 73.7 million square meters of land cleared and 927 mine victims underwent rehabilitation programs organized at the Institute for Rehabilitation of the Republic of Slovenia and other centers in Bosnia and Herzegovina.