© Nigel Dickinson

Moving Walls is a traveling photographic exhibition series sponsored by the Open Society Institute. The series represents the transitional condition of open societies and the promotion and maintenance of democratic values. Nations often erect obstacles and barriers such as political oppression, economic instability, and racism. Yet, even as these walls are built, there are people committed to tearing them down. As the name of the exhibition series implies, Moving Walls is an artistic interpretation of this struggle.

The six photographers in Moving Walls 12 cover a range of subjects: entrenched poverty and discrimination in Europe and the United States, the path of diamonds from miner to consumer, an intimate view of the impact of stigma and violence, and the massive changes taking place in the new China. Yet each photographer confronts uncomfortable issues that strike at the heart of the open society mission and help elevate the role of documentary photography as an advocacy tool.

The exhibit runs June 7, 2007, through February 14, 2008, at OSI's Washington office.

Online Exhibition

For more information about the exhibit—including artist statements, biographies, and online photo galleries—view Moving Walls 12 online.