The global roadshow of this year's prize-winning photos of the Andrei Stenin International Press Photo Contest started on Friday in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the contest organizer, Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency, said
KINSHASA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th December, 2020) The global roadshow of this year's prize-winning photos of the Andrei Stenin International Press Photo Contest started on Friday in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the contest organizer, Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency, said.
The Free University of Kinshasa hosted the opening of the exhibition with 60 photos taken by the world's best young photojournalists and winners of this year's prestigious contest with the support of the Russian Embassy in the DRC.
"An exhibition of such scale is being held for the first time in the history of diplomatic relations between Russia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which is important in the year marking their 60th anniversary. Photography as a tool of modern media is the most objective way to help people in various parts of the world see the truth about current events," Russian Ambassador to the DRC, Alexei Sentebov, said during the opening remarks.
The roadshow features works by photojournalists from Russia, South Africa, Spain, Italy, France, Israel, Syria, Belarus and Kyrgyzstan, and includes photos from all six years of the previous contests.
"We are happy that the contest, which commemorates a Russian journalist, Rossiya Segodnya photojournalist Andrei Stenin, receives great new submissions every year. ... And we wanted people in Kinshasa to see as many of these photos as possible. This is why our display includes photos by winners from the contest's past years," Sentebov added.
The exhibition's themes center around global humanitarian challenges, the environment, social challenges and national identity.
"For the university's administration, this exhibition, organized with support from the Russian Embassy in the Congo, serves as an example for southern universities on how to open up to the world and meet today's challenges," Joseph N'sa Yombe, the head of cooperation at the Free University of Kinshasa, noted.
In her online remarks to guests of the opening ceremony, Oksana Oleinik, the contest's curator and the head of the Visual Projects Service of the Rossiya Segodnya United Photo Information Directorate, recalled that African photojournalists were among most active participants of the contest.
Oleinik also thanked the Russian embassy for helping to organize the exhibition.
This year's edition of the Andrei Stenin photo contest roadshow will head to other countries once the COVID-19 travel restrictions are lifted. Meanwhile, the exhibition in Kinshasa will run until December 24.
The Andrei Stenin International Press Photo Contest was launched in memory of Russian photojournalist Andrei Stenin, who was killed while covering the conflict in eastern Ukraine, on August 6, 2014, after his car was shot at and burned on a highway. Its main goal is to support young photographers and draw public attention to the challenges of modern photojournalism.
