“What are human beings and what are they entitled to?”
A question societies have asked themselves for centuries – was not seriously addressed at international level until after the Second World War. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights which the UN General Assembly solemnly proclaimed on 10 December 1948 “as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations” gives a clear answer to this question: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood”. Everyone is therefore “entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status”.
The human rights set out in this Declaration encompass different categories of entitlements, ranging from basic guarantees relevant for the protection of life and limb including the prohibitions of torture or arbitrary detention and the right for a fair trial, to various freedoms such as freedom of opinion, assembly and religion to a whole range of economic, social and cultural rights, including the rights to work, food and health or education. In drawing up this list, States provided, in an international document and for the first time in the history of mankind, a definition of the main entitlements human beings need for an effective protection of their dignity as persons. Although the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was not a legally binding document but merely the outline of a “human rights project”, it became the starting point for the contemporary human rights protection that is now firmly established in a wide range of legally binding conventions.
It has been nearly eight decades since the adoption of the “Universal Declaration of Human Rights”. The text has lost none of its topicality. However, at the beginning of the 21st century, in view of the many continuing instances of genocide, torture and oppression of minorities, the question arises as to whether international efforts to protect human rights have failed. It therefore remains an educational challenge to make an understanding of the basic rights of every person accessible to the larger public, notably to the younger public.
The main objects in this exhibition are photographs. The pictures come from the archive of the Magnum Photos Agency, which has been committed to the universal validity of human rights from its founding in 1947. Those images are intended to serve as the reason for a discussion, the subject of the discussion and as a possible documentation to re-kindle a discussion of the meaning of the topic “human rights” for the 21st century with the public.
This exhibition is curated by Emin Özmen.
