IRAN PHOTO EXHIBITION

MESSAGES FROM BAM
A Report about Bam 8 months after the earthquake -

  

INTRODUCTION

 On December 26, 2003, at 5:26AM (local time), a destructive earthquake hit the city of Bam in southeastern Iran, killing many people. The ancient citadel of The Arg-e Bam, which was a candidate for registration as a world heritage site, was severely damaged and more than 80 percent of it was destroyed.

 

Even before the earthquake, Ryo Aoyama, a Japanese photographer had been taking photos of Iranian daily life and the city of Bam. In January 2004, the ICHO (Iranian Cultural Heritage Organization) asked him to send them his photos of the pre-earthquake Arg-e-Bam. He decided to go to Iran again with Keizo Oku, the author of the book "About Iran - Meeting Eight Iranians" (published by Shinpu-Sha) which explains the true condition of Iran before September 11th.

 

They took with them not only the photos of Arg-e-Bam but also encouraging messages for the children of Bam written by Japanese children from Takarazuka, a city that suffered a great deal of damage in the great Hanshin-Awaji earthquake. In Bam Aoyama and Oku visited Fatemia Primary School where the children had to take lessons outside. The teachers made a speech expressing their thanks and the children wrote messages and drew pictures for the Japanese students as tokens of their gratitude.

 

After returning to Japan, Aoyama and Oku quickly organized charity photo exhibitions entitled “MESSAGES FROM BAM” in Osaka and Kobe, which took place during February and March 2004. This summer, in August, they visited Bam for the third time and held an exhibition entitled “MESSAGES FOR BAM FROM JAPAN” in Tehran, the Iranian capital city. At the same time, they took photos to show how the people and their city were getting on. 

In the city of Bam, the rubble of smashed buildings still remained where it had fallen. More than six months had already passed but we felt that no progress had been made on reconstruction. On the other hand, many shops had opened on the main street: not only those selling daily necessities, such as groceries or beverages but also toy stores, boutiques for women, barbershops, and so on. Seeing this, we felt that the people of Bam were full of energy for getting back to everyday life. 

This time we visited “AHKK”, the tent facility for Bam children which was built with the support of Japanese NPOs including CODE (Citizens towards Overseas Disaster Emergency) and NVNAD (Nippon Volunteer Network Active in Disaster). Children can visit any time they wish and learn music, Karate, painting and other activities. With the children running around beside us, the devoted Iranian staff and teachers said smilingly, “We are here thanks to the support of the Japanese people”. We recognized that Japanese support was very important for Bam. 

The path to reconstruction is still long, but this time we felt that the people of Bam really had the energy to move forward. In this exhibition we want to show not only Arg-e-Bam and the city, but also this energy that the people of Bam have to put into reconstruction for their future. 

In conclusion, we would like to add a word of gratitude for everyone who has helped us with this project.

Thanks a lot.

 Octobet 31, 2004 

                               Ryo Aoyama 
Keizo Oku 

 

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