Isabel Muñoz’s Infancia exhibition will be open for viewing until the 26th of June 2011 in the Sala de Muralla in the Valencian Institute of Modern Art (El Institut Valencià d’art Modern), otherwise known as the IVAM. The expo comprises of 68 images and texts focusing on subjects native of 20 countries from Europe, Africa, America and Asia, and the journey led the photographer to meet over a hundred children. Organized by UNICEF, the aim of the photographs is to portray diversity and equality among children and adolescents coming from different backgrounds and countries, exposing their rights regardless of their origins. Taken in colour as well as in black and white, many of the photos contain youngsters who have suffered great life traumas such as orphans and adolescent mothers, yet the captivating images still manage to convey as much hope as sadness.
As well as showcasing individual stories, Muñoz’s photographs give a nod towards the 20th anniversary of the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child while reflecting the global situation of children and youngsters in the 21st century. It is hoped that the works and the collaboration with UNICEF, the (Agencia Española de Cooperación para el Desarrollo) and nineteen non-governmental organisations will help to better the living conditions of children in the future.
Acclaimed photoghrapher Isabel Muñoz has won several awards for her work including a World Press Photo prize in 2000 and 2005 and, most recently, the gold medal merit recognition in 2009 (Medalla de Oro al Mérito en las Bellas Artes 2009). Since her debut exhbition in 1986, Muñoz has worked on a number of collections mainly focusing on the portrayal of the human body in black and white, one of the most famous of which being the Guatemalan maras.
Other current exhibitions installed at the IVAM, which promotes modern and contemporay art, include Liliane Tomasko’s Luminous matter.
