WHEN : 7th Nov – 3rd Dec
WHERE : Brisbane Powerhouse
Photographer, journalist, and human rights activist Shahidul Alam examines the issue of the increasing number of extra-judicial killings in Bangladesh.
In 2004 the Bangladesh government created a new armed enforcement agency, The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), in response to a perceived law and order crisis. From early days RAB became notorious for the number of people that have been killed, allegedly during gun battles, because they’ve been caught in the ‘crossfire’.
Shahidul Alam’s Crossfire project was first shown in Bangladesh in 2010 to draw attention to these killings. The government responded by shutting down the show. Eventually, facing a court ruling in favor of Alam, the government backed down and the show was reopened for a day.
Following a successful showing at the Queens Museum of Art New York in April, 2012, this exhibition marks the first time it will be shown in Australia.