Countries Selected to Participate in the 4th Edition of the VISIBLES Project Exhibition
The 2025 edition of the VISIBLES project unfolds at a time when armed conflicts, systemic violence, and humanitarian crises are constantly reshaping the map of fragile lives. To be a woman, even in times of peace, means confronting persistent inequalities. In regions marked by war, insecurity, or social collapse, this condition is compounded by heightened exposure: sexual violence used as a weapon of domination, loss of access to education, economic marginalization, and the burden of family responsibilities carried within fractured environments.
Highlighting the perspectives of women photographers from these territories means recognizing their unique experience and the power with which they transform their ability to capture images into a visual language. Through this language, they express their lived realities, communicate their situation, and render visible what political discourse seeks to erase. Their photographs remind us that war is not confined to military frontlines: it infiltrates homes, refugee camps, and remote villages where daily survival often rests on women’s shoulders. They also preserve memory, ordinary life, and even moments of beauty that these spaces continue to hold, despite everything.
The selected countries for the VISIBLES MMXXV project was guided by one key imperative: to bear witness to the plurality of crises shaped by political and ideological dynamics that leave affected populations in situations of extreme vulnerability. The international attention given to Ukraine or Gaza reflects the magnitude of these tragedies and the legitimate compassion they inspire. But it must not overshadow other realities that are equally urgent: the communities of Sahel, caught in a spiral of jihadist attacks and mass displacement; Sudan, ravaged since 2023 by a civil war tearing apart Khartoum and Darfur; The Central African Republic, where armed groups still control vast territories; Haiti, subject to gangs that paralyze daily life and plunge Port-au-Prince into chaos; or the populations displaced from Colombia, who continue to flee the violence of armed groups despite the peace agreements.
High-Intensity Armed Conflicts
Countries like Ukraine Ukraine, facing the Russian invasion since February 2022, they are enduring massive infrastructure destruction, the forced displacement of millions of civilians, and a deep generational divide. The conflict stems both from regional geopolitical tensions and historical struggles over territory and national sovereignty. Since april 2023,Sudan has been plunged into a civil war between two rival military factions, which has devastated Khartoum and Darfur and caused the massive displacement of populations. Syria, the civil war that began in 2011 continues to involve multiple local and international actors, exacerbating violence and causing a prolonged humanitarian crisis. Yemen, since 2014, has been experiencing a conflict between Houthi forces and the internationally recognized government, which has led to famine and the collapse of health services. In addition, Myanmar, the 2021 military coup plunged the country into a complex civil war, where civil resistance and local armed forces confront each other in a climate of constant insecurity. Finally, tensions in the region ofIran, Israel, Palestine and Lebanon, particularly since the October 2023 escalation, reveal long-standing conflicts exacerbated by geopolitical rivalries and regional interventions. The prolonged conflict between Israel and Palestine has taken a dramatic turn, resulting in heavy human losses and immeasurable suffering for the population of Gaza, severely affecting both Gaza and the West Bank.
Ongoing Insurgencies and Violence
in Sahel (Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger), instability is fueled by the advance of jihadist groups and the weakening of the state, causing massive displacement and the destruction of local infrastructure. In Nigeria, the government has been fighting Boko Haram and ISWAP for over ten years, while armed banditry and intercommunal violence affect the daily lives of the population. In Democratic Republic of the Congoparticularly in the eastern provinces (North Kivu, South Kivu, Ituri), dozens of armed groups, including the M23, have been perpetrating endemic violence for decades, causing displacement and social trauma. Somalia , continues to fight the Al-Shabaab insurgency since the 2000s, whileEthiopia , is experiencing ongoing conflicts in the Amhara and Oromia regions. Afghanistan and Pakistan , face recurrent attacks from insurgent groups and instability linked to the Taliban regime, which restricts fundamental rights and access to public life. In The Central African Republic, the civil war ongoing since 2013 leaves vast territories under the control of armed groups, exacerbating insecurity. The province of Cabo Delgado province in Mozambique has been the site of a violent Islamist insurgency since 2017, while the anglophone regions of Cameroon are experiencing a separatist conflict that paralyzes education and public services.
Social Crises and Fragmented States
Countries like Ukraine Haitiwhere armed gangs have controlled large portions of the territory for several years, plunging the capital and surrounding regions into chaos, affecting daily life and access to basic resources. In Ecuador, the government had to declare an ‘internal armed conflict’ to combat violence from drug trafficking gangs that paralyze certain cities and roads. In Colombia, despite the 2016 peace agreement, the persistence of armed groups, FARC dissidents, and cartels creates a climate of chronic insecurity and causes regular displacement of rural populations. Mexico , is experiencing extreme violence linked to drug cartels, comparable to certain war zones, with major social and economic repercussions. Venezuela, finally, illustrates how a prolonged humanitarian crisis, fueled by political repression and structural poverty, leads to distress comparable to that of armed conflicts, forcing millions of civilians to seek refuge elsewhere.
A Memory in the Making
Through this project, Pim Pam Pum NGO NGO Pim Pam Pum asserts that visual art created by those who experience war and crisis from within constitutes a universal language of dignity. the VISIBLES MMXXV project VISIBLES does not aim merely to document conflicts, but builds a collective, sensitive, and critical memory. Each photograph represents a country, an act of resistance, a testimony that defies oblivion and reminds the world that behind every crisis are unique lives—women who carry the pain but also the strength to imagine a future.
A Memory in the Making
À travers ce projet, Pim Pam Pum affirme une conviction : l’art visuel, lorsqu’il est porté par celles qui vivent la guerre et la crise de l’intérieur, constitue un langage universel de dignité. the VISIBLES MMXXV project ne cherche pas seulement à documenter les conflits, mais à construire une mémoire collective, sensible et critique. Chaque image est une forme de résistance, un acte qui déjoue l’oubli et rappelle au monde que derrière chaque crise se trouvent des vies singulières, des femmes qui portent la douleur mais aussi la force d’imaginer un avenir.