After years of oppression, the Libyans started their own revolution last year, grabbing the attention and limelight of the world media.
The uprising started on February 16, 2011 and was documented in thousands of photos and videos – many of which were never published or aired.
However, Maltese photographers and cameramen who followed the Arab Spring have been given a chance to showcase their work in a multimedia exhibition organised by the European Parliament.
The exhibition, which opens today at St James Cavalier in Valletta, ranges from the evacuations to the protests, from visits by diplomats and politicians to the children and women who experienced the upheavals.
Although the Arab Spring – a term that refers to a revolutionary wave of demonstrations and protests in the Arab world – affected countries such as Tunisia, Egypt and Syria, Libya is given high prominence in the exhibition, probably because of the proximity to Malta.
“I believe that the uprising brought about a shift in mentality on both sides of the Mediterranean. It was an opportunity to humanise Arabs again and a lot of stereotypes were broken,” said Massimo Farrugia, acting head of European Parliament.
With hundreds of photos and many minutes of footage sent in, Mr Farrugia and his team had the hard task of choosing 75 photographs. Among the work on display is that by The Times’ photographers Matthew Mirabelli and Darrin Zammit Lupi and timesofmalta.com cameraman Mark Zammit Cordina.
The exhibition runs until March 17. The opening hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Mondays and Tuesdays, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Wednesdays to Fridays and 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.