Jakub Milarski
It might seem that the contemporary world has already solved most of its past problems. However, the newest photography exhibition in Museo Misiones Salesianas in Madrid indicates there is still
a lot to work on. The display “Child Slaves. The Back Door” unveils the truth behind modern slavery in western Africa. The project was created by Ana Palacio, a successful filmmaker who, after years of commercial career, decided to focus on Human Rights. She spent a few months in African countries documenting modern slavery and life of its victims afterwards. “Child Slaves” is based on her observations taken between 2015 and 2018.
The contemporary exposition was shown in a non-profit social museum within the international festival
“PHotoESPAÑA”. Additionally it is also available as a book and film. In her work Palacio depicts the stories of youth who managed to escape and recover from cruelty. The 45-minutes exhibition contains pictures of young people who were abused, injured or forced to work by their families. Some of them got disabled and lost their limbs. The exhibition is divided into five stages. It reflects the process in which youth people
transform from traumatised, deprived of dignity kids into independent, educated individuals, who are capable of starting a new life on their own.
There is also a small room dedicated to children trafficking all over the world. Despite its mainly informative goal, it emphasises the enormous scale of the procedure which is not limited solely to
west Africa. It also provides knowledge regarding the tools for fighting such
crimes. It includes the contribution of state institutions and Salesian missions in
delivering necessary aid. Although the topic is definitely tough and consists of sensitive images, the exhibition is adjusted for children as well. The third hall talks about Rights of the child and its
legal basis. In addition, there is a small space with books for kids, where they can sit and watch a short documentary the authors have prepared. The video provides a coherent summary of what the
exhibition is about, enriched with pictures, elements of animation and interviews
conducted with African youth. The piece of work takes approximately 25 minutes.
Here, every tragedy has its unique face, its story, which has to be told. In contrast to the subject, the pictures appear to be colourful. The intensity of the tints grab the attention. Some of them are blurry, it
seems like they were taken in a hurry. In other cases a deep focus is a key element which indicates the message of the photography. All those aspects are perceived depending on the context. What makes a great impression are the pictures of spots where human trafficking occurred. At first glance, those places look like a sight from vacation postcards, full of colours, beautiful plants and trees. But when adding the context, the perspective changes immediately, alongside with the mood.
The visual layer of the museum plays a key role in the overall impression too. White space with strong, but cold light empowers the overwhelming, emotional stories of people. The visitors are directed
through the rooms with small, black footprints painted on the floor. The main entrance is presented as a reference to the cover of the reportage and its title. The guests of the museum have to cross the
“back door” in order to experience what all those children had to go through. The engagement of the museum employee is also worth mentioning. The guide provided a short description of the
display, indicating the most important parts and threads. She also added her own commentary on the video. It was helpful in terms of understanding the whole project.
The museum should improve its promotion. I found the place by coincidence, while scrolling the Internet.
Also the building is not marked even in the closest area, which is why it took some time to find it. The site was locked so I had to ring a bell. Hence, there was no surprise that me and my friend were the
ones of the few visitors in the exhibition on Friday afternoon. But it is not the greatest disadvantage.
The main problem about the place is that the whole display, apart from a brief booklet and video with possible English voice-over, is mainly presented in Spanish. I had to use a translator in order
to understand the commentaries written on the wall. On the other hand, it is not necessary to understand every single word. There are issues which do not require complex explanations to be comprehended and this is definitely one of them.
