The Ek Khaale – Once Upon a Time Rohingya visual storytelling exhibit closes Saturday at Alliance Francaise de Chiang Mai in Chiang Mai, Thailand, which will conclude its 10-day run from July 9–19. The project was started by documentary photographer Greg Constantine in 2020 in collaboration with Rohingya living inside Myanmar, as well as in the Bangladesh refugee camps, and the diaspora living in the U.S., U.K., Canada, Malaysia and Europe.
“It’s trying to create a story and through visuals that shows a shared history, a shared identity, and also hopefully creates a space of shared solidarity amongst everybody in Burma, including the Rohingya community, especially at this challenging time right now,” said Constantine. “This is the first exhibition where this project has taken on an analog format, where it can finally be shown on walls rather than on a screen.”
Ek Khaale means “Once Upon a Time” in the Rohingya language. It’s a historical narrative that counters the disinformation spread by successive military regimes in Myanmar about the Rohingya community in Arakan (Rakhine) State, where the U.N. cites that 630,000 of them live without access to citizenship or freedom of movement. Materials from the Ek Khaale exhibit were displayed at the Rohingya Cultural Night hosted by the Rohingya Maiyafuinor Collaborative Network in Chiang Mai on Sept. 8.
