Proud Galleries Press Release

WE ARE NOT AFRAID - A Unifying Message of Peace and Tolerance

We are not afraid to ride public transportation. We are not afraid to walk down a crowded street. We are not afraid of each other.

From Baghdad to New York, from Tel Aviv to Gaza, from Istanbul to Madrid – the devastating repercussions of international terrorism have echoed the world over. On July 7th 2005 London was rocked by a spate of attacks. In immediate response, a global portal was opened - an online voice of protest defying the tactics of aggression and fear mongering. Now, as a unique extension of this, a groundbreaking exhibition will be launched at Sony Ericsson Proud Central. The message is simple: We Are Not Afraid.

The exhibition will chart how this message quickly captured the public conscience, and how it evolved through the postings on www.werenotafraid.com. Visitors will gain insight into the initial public response to the shock of 7th July, and into the determination of the global community not to live in a culture of fear. The 1000 images posted on www.werenotafraid.com, presented for the first time in this exhibition, support a universal message that disregards political and religious affiliations in favour of promoting the unified need for peace and tolerance.

In addition to the heartfelt messages from people across the globe, a number of international celebrities and icons have been encouraged to contribute their own to the exhibition. In stark contrast to these images of hope and defiance, Getty photographs will exemplify the importance of this global movement by presenting the horrifying reality of terrorist attacks across the world.

This exhibition will be a unique example of global community power, an opportunity to be heard and to become part of an international community that transcends religion, colour, creed and country. Through print sales of the exhibition content, the project is aiming to raise over £100,000 for the London Bombings Relief Charitable Fund.

“We’re not afraid is so, well, proud to be working with Sony Ericsson Proud Galleries.” says Alfie Dennen founder of We Are Not Afraid, Their commitment to charitable causes and the fact that they understand so intuitively what we’re trying to do globally makes us a perfect match for an exhibition.” “We are delighted to be able to host such an important and truly global exhibition”, says Alex Proud owner of Sony Ericsson Proud Galleries”

BACKGROUND
Werenotafraid.com
Werenotafraid.com developed as an offshoot of Moblog UK – Europe’s most successful mobile blogging site, and the site responsible for posting the first ever images of the devastating effects of 7th July. We Are Not Afraid is an outlet for the global community to speak out against the acts of terror that have struck London, Madrid, New York, Baghdad, Bazra, Tikrut, Gaza, Tel-Aviv, Afghanistan, and Bali, and against the atrocities occurring in cities around the world each and every day. It is a worldwide action for people not willing to be cowed by terrorism and fear mongering.

The historical response to these types of attacks has been a show of deadly force; We Are Not Afraid promotes a better way:

“We refuse to respond to aggression and hatred in kind. Instead, we who are not afraid will continue to live our lives the best way we know how. We will work, we will play, we will laugh, and we will live. We will not waste one moment, nor sacrifice one bit of our freedom, because of fear. We need to understand the reasons behind these attacks, all of us, not just the politicians who create the policies which represent us as citizens”

The Team Behind We Are Not Afraid
The We Are Not Afraid Team is Alfie Dennen (London, UK), Jan Zuppinger (Bern, Switzerland), Avril Korman (New York, USA), Joe Archer (Leeds, UK), and Amanda Timpson (Los Angeles, USA.)

Alfie Dennen is a London based web developer with a background in mobile technology (moblogUK) whose blogging company published the first images ever seen of the events on 7th July. Alfie is an avid commentator on world and popular culture.

Jan Zuppinger is a web designer and blogger based in Switzerland personal images with a history of socially motivated web projects such as Fotobots (cyberhelvetia.ch). He is WNA’s Director of Special Projects.

Avril Korman is an interior designer and a Bronx NY native. , Avril is also WNA’s Design Director.

Joe Archer is a Web developer who is responsible for overarching technical requirements and development on the WNA site. He is a Leeds native and avid blogger.

Amanda Timpson is a producer, a blogger, and a Los Angeles resident. In addition to her work on WNA’s business strategy, she is responsible for WNA’s Global press and PR activity outside of the UK.