An exhibition "Nowhere People: Unwanted and Stateless in Asia" by Greg Constantine

Nowhere People: Unwanted and Stateless in Asia

An exhibition by Greg Constantine
This exhibition is sponsored by the U.N. Refugee Agency.

Opening Reception, Friday, September 7 at 7:00 pm
Exhibition Hours: Monday-Friday 10:00am-11:00pm
for the month of September


It is estimated that some 13 million people worldwide are affected by ‘statelessness’. They are denied the fundamental right to citizenship, have no recognized nationality, are refused most social, civil and economic rights and have been forced to live in the margins of society. Statelessness removes people from the protection of laws and leaves them defenseless against harassment, exploitation and human rights abuses. Stateless people are the unwanted and the unwelcome and are some of the most vulnerable, disenfranchised and invisible people in the world, especially in Asia.

Nowhere People is an on-going project from photographer Greg Constantine that exposes the “human face” of statelessness and documents some of the most desperate stateless groups in Asia: the Bihari in Bangladesh, the Rohingya from Burma, stateless children in Malaysian Borneo and the lower caste Dailts or ‘untouchables’ in the Terai of southern Nepal. It explores how statelessness and the denial of citizenship perpetuates extreme poverty, forced migration, landlessness, illiteracy and women’s rights, as well as a number of human rights abuses. Moreover, Nowhere People calls attention to an issue that is shared by all stateless groups: they are all victims of a radical form of exclusion that has left them voiceless, invisible and paralyzed by poverty, discrimination and an absence of power and choice.

As democratic and multi-ethnic societies continue to reshape cultures around the world, citizenship and the basic rights afforded from citizenship have never been more vital to one’s participation and security in society. Yet, for ethnic minorities around the world, this fundamental right to citizenship has never been more fragile and at risk.

This exhibition is sponsored by the U.N. Refugee Agency. More information on the artist is at: www.gregconstantine.com


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