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"LUCKY
IS THE COUNTRY that gets bombed by the United States,
because this wakes up the media," author Håvard
Rem says drily.
Photographer Marcel Leliėnhof nods: "The
press has its favorite countries, whether it's
Palestine, Lebanon, or Iraq. All the problems of
the African continent - the type illustrated by photos
of young children with distended stomachs - bore people
after a while. Maybe our book is a better way to
bring attention to the important international
problems, because it is an alternative in terms of both
photos and text. We hope that it will give
people the desire to read about topics they otherwise
don't come across or care to read about in the
papers. For example, what happens after a peace
agreement is signed.
END OF FEBRUARY 2006: Rem and Leliėnhof
have set up camp in Yaidadalen, a few hours' flight
outside the town of Arusha. Together
with a hunter - and the Hadza tribe - they enjoy
the view of Tanzania's completely bare landscape.
The Norwegians are having a good time. It is the
last evening of their trip. The book project which
has had them shuttling between several parts of the
world is soon to be put down on paper at home in Norway.
They can afford to relax. Earlier in the day
they'd eaten the world's best honey dish from a
honeycomb picked from a tree. Now they're
sitting and listening to the Hadzas telling
stories. Over them hangs a star-studded sky.
Rem and
Leliėnhof have been looking for peace. Maybe it
is to be found here?
OCTOBER AT
THE THEATER CAFÉ. Between us lies the book
«Fred», which is to be published at the somewhat
embattled Peace Center next week. The book deals
with fact-gathering trips Rem and Leliėnhof have
taken to the embattled areas where the fighting has been
called to a temporary halt. The trip has followed
the aid work of their employer, Norsk Folkehjelp, in
areas like Bosnia, El Salvador, Palestine and Sri
Lanka.
"You
feel that journalists soon lose their interest during
peacetime?"
"Absolutely.
The war is like a celebrity. Peace is an
everyday affair," says Leliėnhof.
"We
wanted to research the breathing room which arises after
Åsne Seierstad has left the refugee camps and
before Star Tour arrives. What happens with
the people - how do they carry on with their lives?"
says Rem.
We
rejoin the two guys as they are enjoying beef
tartar and sirloin steak with lukewarm beer. It's
now been a while since Africa. But they miss the
time they spent with the Hadzas.
"To
sit there in the middle of the bush and listen to them
telling about their lives . . .. It was
unbelievable; one of the most fantastic things I've
ever experienced. They have a kind of peace and
dignity about them. If you think the world is
difficult and you need a lift, you should spend a week
with them," says Leliėnhof.
He
has carried out several assignments for Norsk
Folkehjelp before - but those were more traditional
photography assignments for calendars and aid
projects, of schools, hospitals and smiling
children. When the idea of writing an entire book
became a possibility last year, both Rem and Leliėnhof
understood that the work had to be of a different
nature. It didn't happen without a fight.
"It
became a kind of collision of cultures. In the aid
business, it's usual for the organizations to have total
control over the text and photos that make up the brochures
and other publications they pay others to
produce for them. Then we showed up, wanting
more of the control ourselves. We couldn't travel around
and say «here they're building a school and over
there they're clearing mines, and everything's fine
and dandy». After a while they understood that we were
doing it the way we saw fit," says Rem.
THE
TWO INDEPENDENT artists drew quite a bit of
attention at Norsk Folkehjelp's headquarters
when they returned home in March from Africa and were
interviewed by VG. Over a two-page
spread, they expressed their rather critical opinion
about how the charitable organizations conducted their
projects.
"The
book then was hanging by a thin thread. Now Folkehjelpen
has come around to our concept. I think they have
been very brave. But we knew that their projects
would fit in well with the book. They think
politically and long term. They are concerned not
only with emergency aid relief," says Rem.
MUCH
OF THEIR FRUSTRATION comes from their stay in Angola,
which according to Leliėnhof was a complete hell.
Not only because the country is completely in a state of
shock, staggering under corruption on all levels, and
run so ineffectively that he found himself wishing the
Portuguese colonialist rule back. But because they
weren't able to shake the feeling that the aid to Angola was
doing the Angolian government more harm than good.
"Take
the clearing of land mines, for example. During
the border war the national armed forces planted
innumerable mines. The same president is still in
office today and reaps considerable earnings from
the oil industry which is supported by and carried out
by Hydro. But the only land mines he manages to
remove are those which are in the way of the mobile
telephone towers belonging to the mobile telephone
company he himself owns. We have a lot of respect
for the work done by Norsk Folkehjelp, but situations
like this one are just too absurd," says Rem.
"Angola
is one big family-run operation. The president's
daughter owns the only taxi fleet in the country, among
other things. At the same time, if the West
doesn't help improve things there, what happens then?"
adds Leliėnhof.
On the opposite end of the scale lies Cambodia. "A
fantastic country! We met all kinds of people,
from prostitutes to former Red Khmer soldiers.
Everyone had an unbelievable commaraderie. They
wanted to move forward, build up a new and better
society. It seems as if they have worked through
the past and their own lives in an entirely different
way. Maybe they are able to bear more than others.
I actually think that's the case," says Leliėnhof.
THIS
IS THE FIRST TIME Rem and Leliėnhof have
worked together, even though they have known each other
for nearly six years. "And now we've gotten
to know each other even better through a number of
hair-raising flights. I must compliment Mia
Gundersen for having made an amazingly good choice
(in a husband). Marcel is cool in the true sense
of the word: calm and laid back. And he always
carries an amazingly complete traveling
pharmeceutical kit," says Rem.
Leliėnhof
smiles. He's just received a text message from his
famous wife (stage acress and singer). They have
just celebrated their fourth wedding anniversary.
He looks happy as he lays his cell phone down.
"Håvard and
I compliment one another. I often dread
making contact with strangers and say that I'd much
rather photograph them. But Håvard, he just
smiles and waves and says, «Hey, listen!
We'd like to talk with you a bit.» And everything
works out fine. He's also incredibly good at
remembering where we've been and who we've talked to.
I forget such things all the time."
There's
still one thing Rem's social abilities and memory aren't
good for. "Marcel prefers photographing
the traces people leave behind, rather than the
people themselves. When the assignment
requires him to photograph people, he's like a
10-year-old with his camera. He asks people to
stand and pose and then just shoots away."
Leliėnhof
laughs: "Yes, that's true . . ..
But when you compose a photo, people always have time to
pose, and it's artificial, I think. It's often
stressful for people when you herd them together
for a shoot. I prefer to try to make the experience as
painless as possible. For others, it might
seem clumsy or childishly naive, but it works well for
me. I arrange people and work quickly, so
that it's all over before they get restless. It
makes the portraits simple and direct."
Then
he says more seriously: "Many people
think I just take celebrity photographs and report
on fashion. But that's only once a month, at most.
The rest of the time I take assignments for the Red
Cross, Amnesty International, and others. This
work is just not as noticed as the other, more glamorous
shots. This irritates me a little."
THE
VISIT WITH THE HADZAS in Tanzania that made the
strongest impression on both Rem and Leliėnhof
was an exception to their rule of traveling to places
with comparitively new peace agreements. The
country has not experienced war in recent times.
But even in Tanzania, there is not peace to be
found for everyone. .
"The
Hadzas will cease to exist in 30 years.
Their territory grows smaller by the day. Rich
participants in the oil industry want their valley as a
hunting area, and the Hadzas are easy to oust
because they are not warriors," Rem says, and
continues: "It's incredibly sad.
The language of the Hadzas have clicking sounds, which
is characteristic for rather old cultures.
They represent an enduring lifestyle which goes back
more than 10,000 years. But now they're being
eradicated. In peacetime."
In
a similar way he and Leliėnhof saw how the Mayas
in Guatemala live with structural racism:
They don't go to school, have regular work, are
represented by a national council, or have the
possibility of practicing their religion in peace.
"So
you actually didn't find peace anywhere?" we ask.
The
silence is palpable. Rem clears his throat. "Well
. . . a report was recently published which showed
that there is more peace on earth now than there
has been in several decades. But on the other
hand - we saw that war still exists in most places,
whether in people's heads or in the form of
psychological and economic harrassment, poverty and
racism. At the same time we found a lot of quality
of life in the middle of the lack of financial support
and new SUVs. Our book presents exactly these
questions: 'What is peace?' 'What is a good
life?' We have no ready answer.
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