Bhutanese story in a refugee photo exhibition
Portraits of former Bhutanese refugees resettled in the United States have become part of the ‘We the People’ photo exhibition currently at High Bridge Glens Park on Front Street in downtown Cuyahoga Falls (Ohio, US).
The exhibition includes 25 pictures taken by photographer Erin LaBelle of refugees from Thailand, the former Soviet Union, Rwanda, Hungary, Nepal, Bhutan, Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan who now live in Northeast Ohio. Each photograph is on an 84-by-60-inch panel with a story of the refugee’s journey to the United States and their personal message to the community.
LaBelle said she talked with each subject to put them at ease before photographing them at the Exchange House in Akron’s North Hill.
The exhibit, a collaboration of the city of Cuyahoga Falls; Collide: Cuyahoga Falls; and the Global Understanding Research Initiative (GURI) group at Kent State University, can be viewed through December 7.
Mayor Don Walters visited the exhibition and expressed happiness.
Walters noted people from countries such as Nepal and Bhutan originally settled in certain cities in the United States such as Boston, Pittsburgh and Columbus.
“Now that they’ve gotten jobs and [an education], we’re seeing a second wave of relocation to this area … which is great because now there’s more culture that we see,” said Walters.
The mayor said the largest group that has come to Cuyahoga Falls identifies itself as Nepali-speaking Bhutanese.
“Nepali is the language,” Walters said. “They were living in Bhutan and then Bhutan did not want them any longer. Some went back to Nepal in camps, but then they were forced to leave there as well, so they were placed all over the world.”
He added that people who have come here from other nations and settled in the city are “friendly,” “great neighbors,” and some are starting their own businesses.
The exhibition includes the story of Basu Pyakurel from Bhutan. Basu Pyakurel left Bhutan when he was 5 years old and lived in a refugee camp with his parents in Nepal for many years before they came to the U.S. They settled in Syracuse, New York, and then moved to Akron. He is now a community health worker in the Akron area.
“I am thankful to the U.S. for recognizing my identity,” Pyakurel said in a statement that accompanies his story at the “We the People” exhibit. “In Nepal, no one recognizes us. They wouldn’t accept us as Nepali. My hope is to have a better future with more choices.”