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－IRAN PHOTO EXHIBITION－ MESSAGES FROM BAM 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
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