HOW AN EXHIBIT SPARKED IMPORTANT CONVERSATIONS
Last year, I partnered with FOUR PAWS International and Doctor Vet Moldova to help shed a light on the countless dogs in need in Moldova, a tiny Eastern European country. The situation is dire for the free-living and stray dogs navigating the harsh streets of the country’s capital, Chișinău. And with a near non-existent adoption culture, the few existing shelters are full and operating in terrible conditions.
Together, we dreamed of an exhibit that would showcase these dogs as the glorious, loving, beautiful creatures they are. In Moldova, I photographed over 40 dogs who had been rescued from the street and either adopted or waiting for adoption.
In an unprecedented move, the Municipality of Chișinău was willing to co-host, and thus support, the exhibition with us. This was a huge statement in a country where stray dogs are seen as a vermin and a nuisance. My photos were printed in large formats and exhibited at the National Museum of History in Chișinău.
The exhibit attracted 7,500 visitors in 30 days, which is huge for Chișinău, including key people such as the vice-mayor of the town, the advisor to the mayor, various mayors of surrounding municipalities (e.g. Cricova, Cruzesti, Bubuieci), various embassy officials (e.g. embassies of Ukraine, Great Britain, Austria, Spain), representatives of custom services of the Republic of Moldova, stakeholders from shelters, local celebrities…
Most importantly, it sparked a much-needed conversation around these dogs, with over 15 important media outlets covering the project. In a historic moment, the vice-mayor of Chișinău made a public statement while visiting the exhibition, both on national television and her own social media channels, about the need for a better and more humane treatment of stray dogs.
While this might seem like a tiny step, I cannot understate how important sparking these conversations was. A visitor of the exhibit said: “If you had told me, 6 months ago, that street dogs would be featured in a special exhibit at the National Museum of History here, I would have laughed at you! But yet, here we are.” The exhibit gave dog lovers an opportunity to speak proudly about their commitment, backed by a prestigious institution and the local government. It helped people see these dogs for the beautiful individuals they are, hopefully planting seeds for change.
The photos have also been leveraged to secure more funding for the life-saving programs implemented by FOUR PAWS and Doctor Vet Moldova.
Unfortunately none of the adoptable dogs featured in the exhibit were adopted, but this was not the focus of the project, though it would have been a nice cherry on the cake. The road ahead is still long for Moldova’s dogs, but I know the 7,500 people who visited the exhibit will remember that day they saw dogs take over their local museum…
EDIT: a month after I posted this update, I received the news that one of my models were adopted thanks to the exhibit!
“Little beautiful Hoti was adopted yesterday as a result of the exhibition: this family from Czech Republic came to the exhibition last year and fell in love with Hoti's picture. They visited him afterwards in the Doctor Vet Moldova clinic. They mentioned back them it would take them more than half a year before they could come back and officially adopt him. We were never 100% sure if this would work out, but yesterday they were there and Hoti now found a beautiful family and home!”
