Wystawa "Podróż dla Pokoju" otwarta...

W środę 14 lipca br. w sali Yehudi Menuhin w Parlamencie Europejskim otwarto wystawę "Journey for Peace" ("Podróż dla Pokoju"), podsumowującą publiczną aktywność Dalajlamy. Wystawę zorganizowali wspólnie brukselskie Biuro Tybetu oraz eurodeputowani Thomas Mann i Lidia Geringer de Oedenberg.

Na wystawie, która potrwa do 16 lipca br., można obejrzeć kilkadziesiąt czarno-białych fotografii Dalajlamy, zrobionych na przestrzeni ostatnich lat. W codziennych zajęciach i zagranicznych wizytach Jego Świątobliwości towarzyszył szwajcarski fotograf - Manuel Bauer - czego efektem jest unikalna kolekcja zdjęć ukazująca Tenzina Gyatso zarówno od strony publicznej, jak i tej mniej znanej - prywatnej.

Zapraszamy do lektury okolicznościowego przemówienia Poseł Lidii Geringer de Oedenberg (w języku angielskim):

'Journey for Peace' - photo exhibition (14.07.2010)
Welcome speech by Lidia Geringer de Oedenberg, EP Quaestor

Ladies and Gentlemen,

As the Quaestor responsible for cultural events in the European Parliament, I have a great honour to welcome you at the opening of the photo exhibition entitled 'Journey for Peace'.

Exactly 8 days ago His Holiness the Dalai Lama celebrated the 75th birthday. Meaningfully, he spent that day in the Main Tibetan Temple in Dharamsala in India and not in Tibet, as his life remains a constant journey. It began in 1959 with the escape into exile from Tibet. Since then, the Dalai Lama visited 62 countries on 6 continents, always arguing for the autonomous Tibet, human rights, non-violent solutions and peaceful negotiations with China. Before the end of this year His Holiness will travel around 20 thousand kilometres to Hungary, to the United States and to Canada - what seems quite a lot for somebody who had modestly announced a semi-retirement two years ago.

I would like to confess I have got a few favourite photos of the Dalai Lama, which remind me of the different periods of his activity. The first one depicts 23-year old Tenzin Gyatso during his final Geshe Lharampa examinations in Lhasa in 1958. In this picture, we can see a young man sitting on a big throne, passing the examinations to obtain the highest degree of scholarship in the Gelug school. The second photo - taken in 1959 - shows His Holiness and his companions during the escape from Tibet to India. Looking at it, we can realise how much he had to suffer in order to cross the boarder and continue his peaceful mission.

But the pictures I like most come from the last decades and speak for His Holiness' well-known virtues. On the one hand, the picture that was taken in Oslo in 1989 - with the Nobel Peace Prize - reminds me of his extraordinary consequence and a coherent vision - rewarded after 3 decades of the public activity. On the other hand, the photo of the Dalai Lama playing with snow in front of the White House in Washington in 2008 bears witness to His Holiness' modesty, distance to his person and - at the same time - lack of distance to other people. Eventually, I am fond of the picture made in Gdańsk in 2008 during the 25th anniversary of the Nobel Peace Prize given to Lech Wałęsa. In the picture, we can see the two great advocates of democracy and solidarity, shaking hands in a friendly gesture. Time goes by, authoritarian regimes become liberal democracies, but the Dalai Lama stays loyal to his old friends and allies from the democratic wave in the 80s.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Colleagues,

This year Poland is celebrating the 30th anniversary of the 'Solidarity' movement. Polish society perfectly knows what does 'journey for peace' mean. Once upon a time, in 1980, we articulated 21 postulates to the communist government - fulfilled in the democratic transition in 1989. For the 75th birthday I wish the Dalai Lama, and all the Tibetans, a similar outcome of the 5 postulates defined back in 1988. And who knows, maybe one day in Tibet keeping a picture of the Dalai Lama will be legal and it will not be punished with imprisonment.

Thank you for your attention.

źródło: informacja własna