Bielik: Images from Maidan

With the professional cooperation of the Capa Center István Bielik's exhibition Images from Maidan opens at Galéria Artotéka (Brastislava) on November 7 as part of the Bratislava Month of Photography program series.

Kiev

In November 2013, demonstrations began on Maidan, the main square of Kiev, organized by the Euromaidan opposition group. The protests were prompted by Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych refusing to sign an association agreement with the European Union when he received a favorable offer from Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Demonstrations continued steadily until they escalated to bloody clashes between protesters and police forces in mid-February, 2014. On February 18, 2014, the conflicts claimed twenty lives; by the morning of February 21, this number grew to eighty.

The violence attracted international acclaim and three EU foreign ministers arrived in Kiev to mediate between the opposition leaders of Euromaidan and Yanukovych. These negotiations resulted in an agreement that was signed in the afternoon of February 21, Friday.

Representatives of Yanukovych’s Party of Regions began to quit the party, while he left his presidential estate overnight and left for an unknown location with his bodyguards. The next morning, on February 22, the Parliament acquitted Yanukovych by a vote of no confidence.

István Bielik
„In the summer of 2007, I joined Népszava (Hungarian periodical) as an intern from the photography school of Práter Street, Budapest, where I acquired the tricks of the trade. I worked for Népszava as a photographer from 2008 to 2014, first as a contributor, then as a staff member from 2010. At the 32nd Hungarian Press Photo Competition, I was awarded with the Grand Prize of the National Association of Hungarian Journalists for my series shot in Syria.”

Curator:
Gabriella Csizek, artistic collaborator, curator, Hungarian House of Photography – in Mai Manó House

Location:
Galéria Artotéka
Kapucínska 1, 811 01 Bratislava

The exhibition is open to the public:
7/11/2014 – 30/11/2014

Cooperation partner: