As part of the 2nd Intercultural Festival of the Municipality of Kourio, which will take place on Sunday, November 9, 2025, in Mario Toka Square in the Ypsona Municipal District, with the theme "Resilient Roots, Shared Future", the Universitas Foundation and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Cyprus (UNHCR) will participate with Sebastian Rich's Photographic Exhibition entitled "Fleeing to Safety", edited by K. Hatzistyllis.
Sebastian Rich's deeply sensitive portraits of refugees and asylum seekers in Cyprus and around the world bring the viewer into direct contact with the individual journeys of people forced to flee their homelands — and, by extension, with the very essence of our common humanity. Through these photographic depictions, we witness the journey of people of all ages: their arrivals, their temporary settlement in hospitality structures, the creation of reception centers, but also the political and diplomatic developments that define their lives.
At the same time, the need to provide care, employment opportunities and substantial social inclusion is highlighted.
Through Rich's lens, we witness not only the struggle and desperation of our fellow human beings, but also their courage, strength and determination to claim a better future. The exhibition invites the viewer to a reflection on trauma and memory, the familiar and the unfamiliar, posing the question of how the experience of uprooting can be a mirror of our own inner human condition.
As we come closer to the personal stories of refugees and asylum seekers, we are called to recognize the common threads of human existence that unite 'them' and 'us'. The testimonials accompanying the portraits serve as a stark reminder that every human being has the inalienable right to seek safe living conditions — whoever they are, wherever they come from, and whenever they are forced to leave their place.
