On November 22nd the 6th Biennale of Socio-Political Posters „Creative for human rights“ was inaugurated in the “Gallery North” at the seat of the European Parliament.

The event gained further importance due to the fact that the President of the European Parliament M. Martin Schulz overtook the patronage of this exhibition. The presentation of the Biennale was the highlight of the 30th jubilee of the IYMC abroad and due to this numerous guests attended the event, among others members of the European Parliament, journalists and partners of the IYMC, who traveled to Strasbourg just for this occasion.

Among the numerous guests were many members of the European Parliament from Poland such as Janusz Lewandowski, Michał Boni, Bogdan Zdrojewski, Ryszarda Czarnecki, Julia Pitera, Andrzej Grzyb and many heads of various committees and representatives of diplomatic representations accredited at the European Parliament.

The exhibition was inaugurated by President Martin Schulz, who in his speech thanked the organizers of the exhibition for the realizaton of the project, whose message corresponds very closely to the ideas of the European Parliament. He underlined the issue with lack of respect for other human beings, which is being dealt with in many of the posters presented in exhibition. He also congratulated the workers of the IYMC for their 30 year long work in the context of commemorative work about spreading the truth about Auschwitz and in the area of civic education of young people concerning the challenges in today's world.

Leszek Szuster, director of the Youth Meeting Centre thanked Mr. Schulz for the opportunity of presenting the exhibition at such a prestigious place and emphasized that over the years the Biennale developed into a prime example for the work of our institution in the context of human rights. He underlined the special role of the artists in the process of making society more sensible when it comes to injustice, poverty, social inequality, dramatic military conflicts and other offenses against dignity. He also expressed his thanks towards all people and institutions that support the work of the IYMC and made this presentation possible.

MEP Róża Thun, who acted as replacement for Janusz Lewandowski, stated that the Biennale should be shown as a permanent exhibition at the European Parliament, as an important commentary to current conflicts that have to be solved by Europe.

Elmar Zorn, member of the jury of the Biennale, named the laureates of the competition and emphasized the high artistic level of the project, which in the last years developed into an important forum for artists from around the world when it comes to discussing human rights.

Towards the end the Curator of the Biennale Paweł Warchoł, who represented the Members of the City Counsel of Oświęcim and also the Mayor of Oświęcim Janusz Chwierut, underlined the role of the city in trying to change the reputation of the city in the world by the means of various projects such as the Forum of Human Rights, Life Festival or the Biennale. In this context the year 2016 was declared the year of tolerance and human rights by the city of Oświęcim. This is just few examples of the claim of the city to become an important place for spreading peace initiatives.

After the Vernissage the delegation, made up of representatives from every department of the IYMC, was invited to a festive dinner by MEP Charles Goerens from Luxemburg and long-lasting partner and friend of the IYMC.

The realization of the project was only possible due to the generosity of the EPP and the personal engagement of MEP Róża Thun, who for 8 years supports our institution on projects concerning human rights.
The presentation was already the 4th time the work of the IYMC was shown at the European Parliament in Strasbourg and Brussels.