By Vestnik Kavkaza
“Azerbaijan. The Territory of Tolerance” Exhibition has opened in Moscow. More than 500 social and political activists, diplomats, representatives of the creative community came to the Jewish Museum and the Center of Tolerance to watch works by Reza Deggati, the world-famous photographer who has traveled to dozens of hotspots around the world. This time he presents unusual works.
Vestnik Kavkaza interviewed the photographer at the exhibition.
- How did the idea for the exhibition emerge?
- I have been a photojournalist for 35 years, and I have visited 115 countries, hotspots, I have seen how poor people live. In Azerbaijan I was amazed that the Christians, the Jews, the Muslims lived in peace, and I decided to show this to the whole world. While in other places people are fighting because of religious intolerance, I present a place on the planet, where people of different religions live as friends.
- Tell us about yourself…
- I was born in Tabriz, but I am a citizen of France and live in Paris. My major is architecture, but I was interested in photography since childhood. I am a professional photojournalist for 35 years. I work with such editorials as National Geographic Magzine, NGTy, The Time, Figaro, Espresso. I have a fund where we teach women from Afghanistan and African states journalism.
- What inspires you?
- I am inspired by people, a magnificence of a person and his or her abilities.
- Do you plan to have other projects about Azerbaijan or the South Caucasus?
- I have 28 books. This year I plan to publish two books which are devoted to Azerbaijan. Not only the beauty of Azerbaijan will be reflected there, but also Khojaly, “Black January”, and the Karabakh conflict.
- Tell us about your Baku.
- I have visited many cities, including Paris, Venice, New York, but Baku involves the best features of all these cities.
“My goal is to take pictures all around the world and show people that it is necessary to live in peace. And Azerbaijan gave me such an opportunity. Azerbaijan is a country where people of many nationalities live. They all live in peace and harmony,” Daggati says.
“Azerbaijan is really a joyful, warm, and light home for all nations. The exhibition is a light in a window. We should watch it and spread the light in dark places, moving forward together,” Alexander Boroda, President of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia, stated.
“Sometimes many contradictions and conflicts appear because people don’t want to understand each other. Azerbaijan is a model. Today the Muslims, the Christians, and the Hebrews live in peace in our country. Tolerance is not an achievement for our nation. It is a norm, a lifestyle, and we have never lived in a different way. I am happy that we are holding the exhibition in multinational Russia,” Leila Aliyeva, the vice president of Heydar Aliyev Fund, said.
“According to the Constitution, the religion is separated from the state, but in Azerbaijan the government supports religious tolerance,” Polad Byul-Byul Ogly, the ambassador of Azerbaijan to Moscow, states. “Recently the Christian Cultural Center and a new synagogue have been built for governmental money.”
Father Alexander, the head of the Baku Azerbaijani Eparchy of the Russian Orthodox Church, told Vestnik Kavkaza about his impressions of Deggati’s works: “It is great that there is a person who watches the situation with a new look. When we see it day by day, we think it is natural, but he presented this as an interesting exhibition.”
