UNIQLO and MAGNUM PHOTOS Announce New Project: Global Photo Exhibition-PEACE FOR ALL

Exhibition To Launch in London on 13 September,
With Equivalent Exhibitions to Follow in Over 10 Cities Around the World

Kuala Lumpur, 10 September 2024 – Global apparel retailer UNIQLO today announces the launch of a major global photography exhibition. Created in close partnership with internationally renowned photographic cooperative Magnum Photos, Global Photo Exhibition-PEACE FOR ALL will be held in over 10 major world cities, hosted in public locations over several weeks, and freely accessible to all. The global initiative launches in London on Friday, 13 September, with other participating cities to soon follow.

Global Photo Exhibition-PEACE FOR ALL is a creative photography exhibition to tell a unique story. The exhibition features a curated collection of striking, joyful, profound photographs from Magnum photographers Cristina de Middel, Lindokuhle Sobekwa, and Olivia Arthur, who travelled to Vietnam, Ethiopia, and Romania to capture moments of PEACE FOR ALL-funded support activities from their own perspectives. The project is intended as a worldwide reflection on the value of peace, to showcase the real-world impact of UNIQLO’s ongoing PEACE FOR ALL project.

The exhibition of 63 works, combining UNIQLO’s ‘power of clothing’ with Magnum Photos’ ‘power of photography’ ideals, shows the impact of ongoing customer support for UNIQLO’s PEACE FOR ALL charity T-shirt project, which in 2024 celebrates two years and over 1.5 billion yen (approx. US$10 million) raised to date. All profits from sales of PEACE FOR ALL T-shirts are donated to three international humanitarian organisations – UNHCR (the UN Refugee Agency), Save the Children, and Plan International – whose ongoing projects are captured in the exhibition.

The exhibition photographs shine a light on everyday lives of real people in Vietnam, Ethiopia, and Romania who are beneficiaries of funds raised through PEACE FOR ALL, powerfully illustrating how each partner makes good use of funds raised through the initiative. Moreover, Global Photo Exhibition-PEACE FOR ALL presents an important opportunity for UNIQLO customers everywhere to witness the positive impact of their kind participation in PEACE FOR ALL.

 Global Photo Exhibition-PEACE FOR ALL is set to launch first in London’s King’s Cross at Coal Drops Yard, from Friday, 13 September. This will soon be followed by similar exhibitions in other world cities, including New York, Tokyo, Hanoi, Paris, Milan, Shanghai, Singapore, Seoul, Manila, Kuala Lumpur, Stockholm. More exhibition details will soon be announced locally in each city.

New Designs Unveiled to Celebrate Global Photo Exhibition-PEACE FOR ALL

To mark the collaboration between UNIQLO and Magnum Photos, three new PEACE FOR ALL designs will be available from 20 September at UNIQLO stores and through uniqlo.com, showcasing photos used around the world at Global Photo Exhibition-PEACE FOR ALL. Each design depicts moments of PEACE FOR ALL-supported humanitarian activities in Vietnam, Romania, and Ethiopia, as seen from the perspective of Magnum photographers involved in the exhibition.

All profits from sales of PEACE FOR ALL T-shirts are donated to international humanitarian organizations UNHCR (the UN Refugee Agency), Plan International, and Save the Children.

Comments from photographers

Cristina de Middel

“It is well known that creativity sits in our capacity to subvert the given order of things and the meanings we learned in our journey to adulthood. In my work, I reconnect to the absolute power that we are born with and use while we are still children. It’s the same power that turns a folded piece of paper into a boat or a pencil into a rocket and I believe that looking at the world as a place you can change and modify is an essential skill to remind the next generation if we want to make a change. Working with these children in Vietnam gave me plenty of hope for what was to come and it was also a lot of fun.”

Olivia Arthur

“The most powerful tool that children have is their imagination. So I wanted to create a space where these children could come and express themselves and play with whatever came into their heads. There was a lot of giggling and some inventive creatures and poses.”

Lindokuhle Sobekwa

“I learn so much from the people I photograph. Working with people in Aw-barre Camp, Hope, Dreams, and Resilience became a central conversation I wanted my work to represent. I wanted to play with metaphors of the rainbow that symbolise hope and promise of a better time to come, as well as a powerful quote from one of the people I worked with. The image is set in a landscape on a border that separates the Ethiopian Jijiga from the Somali border, inhabited by Somalian refugees.”