The cry of women around the world

The photo exhibition “Women’s Cry” was inaugurated in Rome on Tuesday, 2 May, with a press conference and a short ceremony. The exhibition will be open to the public during the month of May in the left colonnade of Saint Peter’s Square.

The initiative was organised by the World Women’s Observatory section of the World Union of Catholic Women’s Organisations (wucwo), with the collaboration of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication; the artistic direction of Lia and Marianna Beltrami; and the support of the agency, Handshake.

The exhibition consists of 26 photographs shot by photographers from different parts of the world: Nese Ari, Sebastiano Rossitto, Asaf Ud Daula, Luca Catalano Gonzaga, Vassilis Ikoutas, Ferran Paredes Rubio, Giuseppe Caridi, Caterina Borgato and Silvia Tenenti.

These photographers took up the challenge to give voice to women, old and young, around the world who are in situations of suffering. From the heart of the Amazon to a favela in northeast Brazil; from the Greek islands, across the Ukrainian border; from the Anatolian Plateau to India and Bangladesh in Southeast Asia, the images are glimpses into stories rich in humanity and pain, but also in strength and resistance. The photographs are accompanied by phrases from Pope Francis’ Encyclical Fratelli Tutti on human fraternity and social friendship. “The interaction between the photographs and the phrases promotes an open path towards universal fraternity, the goal of our humanity”, affirmed Mara Lia Zervino, President of wucwo.

Paolo Ruffini, Prefect of the Dicastery for Communication, noted that “photographs sometimes manage to look into us, to open the eyes of our heart, to transform us by revealing to us the secret of looking beyond appearances”.

Lia Beltrami, the mastermind behind the project, hopes to demonstrate through “Women’s Cry” that “a healthy society is possible only when there is no discrimination of gazes, a mission that must be felt by all for the good of all”.

“Women’s Cry” is part of the international social campaign “Emotions to Generate Change”. After Rome, it will be displayed in Cannes, Venice and New York, as well as Rwanda.