Africa crisis: Exhibition depicting war devastation opens in Canberra
A photographic exhibition depicting the devastating impact of war and conflict on African women has opened in Canberra.
Kenyan news photographer Thomas Mukoya's exhibition, Women Together: Conflict, Courage and Hope, has opened at the Nishi Gallery.
The exhibition details the suffering of women in the Democratic Republic of Congo through decades of conflict.
Mr Mukoya said the media often stop paying attention to war-torn areas once the violence died down.
He said it was important to tell stories of the survivors and victims of war.
"After you cover the emergency, the disaster itself, it's time to go back and look at what next," he said.
"At the height of the crisis people don't want to talk, but when they cook, eat and sleep, they can tell you the story better."
Mr Mukoya joined a team from the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, at refugees camps around the country.
He said he was trying to illustrate the scope of the crisis.
"When you say 51 million people displaced worldwide, people's eyes tend to glaze over," he said.
"So our job is to bring it back home to Australia to make it real."
The exhibition documented the experiences of single mothers, child sex workers and rape survivors.
"It's just so heartbreaking, but at least when they talk about it, the more they vent it out," Mr Mukoya said.
