As part of the 2nd Intercultural Festival of the Municipality of Kourion, which will take place on Sunday, November 9, 2025, at Marios Tokas Square in the Municipal District of Ypsonas, under the theme “Resilient Roots, Shared Future”, the Universitas Foundation and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Cyprus will present the photographic exhibition by Sebastian Rich, entitled “Fleeing to Safety”, curated by Katerina Hadjistylli.
Sebastian Rich’s profoundly moving portraits of refugees and asylum seekers in Cyprus and across the world bring the viewer into intimate contact with the individual lives of those forced to abandon their homelands and, by extension, with the very essence of our shared humanity. Through these compelling visual narratives, we bear witness to the journeys of people of all ages: their arrivals, their temporary stays in shelters, the establishment of reception centres, and the political and diplomatic developments that shape their destinies. At the same time, the exhibition highlights the enduring need for care, dignified employment, and meaningful social inclusion.
Through Rich’s lens, we encounter not only the struggle and despair of our fellow human beings but also their courage, resilience, and determination to rebuild their lives and to envision a better future. The exhibition invites the viewer to engage in a profound reflection on trauma and memory, on the familiar and the unfamiliar, prompting us to consider how the experience of displacement can serve as a mirror to our own inner human condition.
As we approach the personal stories of refugees and asylum seekers, we are called to recognize the universal threads of human existence that unite “them” and “us.” The testimonies accompanying these portraits stand as a powerful reminder that every person has the inalienable right to seek safety and humane living conditions -whoever they are, wherever they come from, and whenever they are forced to flee.
