EMOTIONAL VERNISSAGE ON WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY
World Press Freedom Day offered the opportunity for the opening at the FIAP Exhibition Center Oradea – Romania, “Euro Foto Art” Gallery (which this year celebrates its 35th anniversary) within the Princely Palace of the Medieval Fortress of Oradea, Building E, ground floor, of the 10th edition of the International Press Photography Exhibition entitled BIHOR PRESS. The event was organized by the International Association “Euro Foto Art” (AIEFA), in partnership with Summit Agro Romania and the Partium House of Debrecen (HU), under the auspices of the International Federation of Photographic Art (FIAP), recognized by UNESCO. The competition brought together photojournalists from the two twinned counties of the Bihor–Hajdu-Bihar Euroregion, with a total of 185 submitted works, as well as other photographers from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, Serbia, Slovakia, and Turkey, who had visited the “Bihor–Hajdú-Bihar” Euroregion the previous year at AIEFA’s invitation. An international jury composed of Associate Professor Dr. Ramona Novicov, art historian and critic, the photographic artist Ștefan Tóth István AFIAP, ESFIAP, president of AIEFA (RO), and Stanik István, media expert from Debrecen (HU), selected 91 images for exhibition, which can also be admired online on the AIEFA website: https://eurofotoart.ro/expo-fotografie-de-presa-din-euroregiunea-bihor-hajdu-bihar-2025/. The opening took place on Saturday, May 3, 2025, at 11:00 AM, as a prelude to Festum Varadinum, in the presence of a large audience. The event was introduced by the AIEFA president and curator of the exhibition, who presented the context in which the 10 editions of the international competition had been organized. “I have always appreciated the work of photojournalists, who are present at events from which they often transmit shocking images. I have valued the fact that photojournalists were present at more than 600 openings organized in the longest-running permanent photographic art gallery in Romania, the Euro Foto Art Gallery, throughout its 35 years of existence. At one point, I thought we should organize an international competition in which the ‘protagonists’ would be them,” stated the well-known Oradea-based photographic artist in his speech. Representing the manager of Summit Agro Romania, Dr. Eng. Patricia Știrbu, Dr. Eng. Dorin Popa emphasized in his address the important role photojournalists play in illustrating texts, as well as the significant contribution of Summit Agro Romania to the success of this project. Camelia Bușu, journalist and photojournalist at Jurnal Bihorean weekly, declared in her speech: “I participated in all the editions of the competition, where I won several Cups and medals. The organization of these contests has represented for the photojournalists of this Euroregion a valuable professional challenge.”Daniel Bureția, photojournalist at Romania TV, after praising the exceptional level of organization of the competitions, underlined the fact that photojournalists, by their very calling, are often compelled to photograph less appealing subjects as well. Photographic artist and photojournalist Ovi D. Pop, winner of this year’s Photojournalists’ Cup, recalled the personality of the world’s first war photojournalist, Carol Pop de Szathmári – SzathmáriPap Károly, who photographed an entire war from beginning to end. The musical moments of the opening were provided by the folk artist, photographer (also participant in the international competition), writer, and composer from Berettyóújfalu (HU), Kocsis Csaba, who performed on guitar and voice the song “Blowin’ in the Wind” written in 1962 by Bob Dylan (which explores philosophical issues of peace, war, and freedom), as well as a surprise entitled “Two in One”, premiered on this occasion. The latter combined the ballad “Andri Popa” by Vasile Alecsandri, written in 1843 and later popularized through Phönix concerts, with a folk ballad version collected by Zoltán Kallós about the famous Hungarian outlaw Sándor Rózsa, who was imprisoned in Gherla (Szamosújvár). The exhibited works are also projected on the screens inside public transportation vehicles in Oradea, thanks to the agreement signed between AIEFA and OTL SA.