What is there in the slender cleavage between suffering and joy? The answer can be seen in fifty-five photographs from refugee camps on the territory of Syria. They were made by photographer Vassil Kurkelanov with the help of journalist and film director Nidal Khlaif and are on display at the Sts. Cyril and Methodius National Library. Significantly, the photo exhibition is called the Eyes of Hope and is dedicated to child refugees from Syria and is taking place under the patronage of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Bulgaria. The exhibition’s opening was attended by President Rossen Plevneliev and Sofia Mayor Yordanka Fandukova. The two were given a Bulgarian rose each with an inscription Hope by Syrian children to the sound of a Bulgarian song.

Vassil Kurkelanov says the offer for this exhibition came as a surprise to him. He is not a photo reporter, but a fashion and advertising photographer. And it did not take him long to decide – two weeks later he left for Syria.

“The idea is to show these children as they really are, as children are all over the world,” says Vassil Kurkalanov. “They are children with dreams and should be children with a future. But what they are going through is awful and there is no justification for it. They are being cruelly punished for something that is no fault of theirs. My idea was to show that it is the children who suffer most in conflicts which are absolutely senseless. Even though they have been through horrors like loss of loved ones, home, school, practically everything they have, they never give up and they go on believing and having hopes. The photographs for this exhibition were all made in Syria, in its Northern parts and inland towards Aleppo. We made photographs up in a mountain where there are children living under ancient ruins, most of them orphans. Having taken refuge below ground they have to fend for themselves. The settlement is not small, but it cannot be seen as it is underground – a truly shattering experience. There is something Biblical there in that barren land, in the red soil and dust. In the heat reaching 50 degrees C., people fight for their lives, without water, without any amenities, under constant threat of being bombed or attacked. There is something that is really remarkable in that: that is the place where I felt the true power of life!”

Vassil’s assistant in this noble cause is Nidal Khlaif, who is Syrian but has lived in Bulgaria for many years.

“I was at the Atma refugee camp on the Turkish-Syrian border 18 months ago where I shot a documentary. My principal character was 10-year old Fariz. As I was leaving I asked him: “What do you want me to bring you next time?” and he said: “I don’t have winter shoes.” It was cold and muddy then. “OK,” I said, “what size?”, “34,” he answered. But his mother who was standing next to him corrected him: “Please sir, bring size 36, I don’t know how long we’ll be here.” On the second day, as I was leaving after the end of the shoot, the boy ran up to us and said: “Don’t listen to what mother says, bring size 34, we’ll be back home soon.” This is the kind of hope he gave us! These children believe that the severe humanitarian crisis, all this will soon end and they will go back to their normal lives. What is now happening in Syria is a moral test for us all, we have a commitment to do something. These people must live a normal life, a life of dignity. Syria is not so far from Bulgaria and Bulgaria has an interest in bordering on democratic societies, in having peace – at home as well as in nearby countries!”

English version: Milena Daynova