New exhibition opens at the Wiener Holocaust Library in London
(LONDON, February 18, 2025)—Fortify Rights and the Wiener Holocaust Library—both recipients of the Roger E. Joseph Prize—launched on February 18, 2025 a compelling new exhibition showcasing the award-winning photography of three Rohingya refugee artists and genocide survivors from Myanmar. The Wiener Holocaust Library—one of the world’s leading archives on the Holocaust, the Nazi era, and genocide—is hosting the exhibition in London, which will be open until April 3, 2025. The exhibition features the photography and poetry of award-winning artists Omal Khair, Dil Kayas, and Azimul Hasan.
Entitled A Chance to Breathe—Photographs by Rohingya Refugees in Cox’s Bazar Camps, the exhibition provides an intimate, rarely seen view of life in the world’s largest refugee camp in Bangladesh. It is inspired by the critically acclaimed book A Chance to Breathe by the three Rohingya artists, whose work captures the resilience, struggles, and humanity of their community amid the ongoing state-sponsored genocide in Myanmar’s Rakhine State. Through their art, these Rohingya photographers challenge dominant narratives that often reduce their people to mere victims.
“I can’t tell you the excitement of the photographers when they learned that their book, their photos now have a permanent home in London,” said Amy Smith, Executive Director at Fortify Rights, speaking at the exhibition’s opening in London. “London is a very long way from the camps in Bangladesh and a seemingly distant universe from the Rohingya communities in Myanmar. But through this exhibition, we are all connected.”
Fortify Rights CEO Matthew Smith highlighted the worsening crisis in Myanmar and in the refugee camps in Bangladesh. “Day by day, a more intense crisis is brewing in the refugee camps in Bangladesh,” he said. “There will be a worse food crisis, a worse health crisis, and the camps are already becoming more violent. With humanitarian aid groups unable to work as they were due to abrupt USAID cuts, violent militant groups are already becoming more, not less, operational.”
Despite these challenges, Matthew Smith expressed optimism to those gathered at the exhibition.“But all that said, we are hopeful. Our team and Rohingya partners are working hard to hold the perpetrators of the genocide accountable, and we have seen important progress. Like Alfred Wiener and our friends here at the Library, we systematically document evidence and get it into the hands of prosecutors, governments, and news media.”
Both Matthew Smith and Amy Smith expressed the importance of enabling access to international justice for all victims of atrocity crimes in Myanmar.
Fortify Rights and the Wiener Holocaust Library received the Roger E. Joseph Prize in 2018 and 1999, respectively. The prestigious award, established in 1978 in memory of Roger E. Joseph, is presented annually by the Joseph family in collaboration with Hebrew Union College—Jewish Institute of Religion. It recognizes those who have demonstrated moral courage and commitment to protecting human dignity, particularly in the face of oppression, discrimination, or mass atrocities.
Amy Smith credited the Roger E. Joseph Prize with expanding Fortify Rights’ impact. “Not only did the prize propel our work, but it also helped us establish new and important connections, including with the Wiener Holocaust Library.”
Renowned artist and human rights advocate Linda Karshan, daughter of Roger E. Joseph, played a key role in producing the exhibition in London, fostering collaboration between Fortify Rights and the Wiener Holocaust Library.
“We hope to faithfully carry on Roger Joseph’s values and spirit through our work,” Amy Smith said at the opening.
In October 2023, Linda Karshan, Amy Smith, and Matthew Smith presented a copy of A Chance to Breathe to the director of the Wiener Holocaust Library in London, Dr. Toby Simpson. The Wiener Holocaust Library has since added the book to its permanent collection.
Between 2018 and 2022, Fortify Rights and Doha Debates trained the three Rohingya artists in photography and storytelling in refugee camps in Bangladesh. Their work has since received international recognition, including a Shorty Award, a Communitas Award, and an Anthem Award. The Rohingya artists have amassed social media followers, and their work has been exhibited in Doha, Qatar, Bangkok and Mae Sot, Thailand, and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Additionally, the 2021 documentary Exodus, produced by Fortify Rights and Doha Debates and directed by former Fortify Rights Senior Multimedia Specialist Taimoor Sobhan, follows the three photographers’ journey through their training and provides an intimate look at their lives in Cox’s Bazar refugee camps.