An exhibition that brings together the Universal Charter of Duties and Obligations of Human Beings, which was born from the speech given by José Saramago when he received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1998, with images by Spanish photojournalist Gervasio Sánchez, can be seen from today, the 23rd, at the Faro from the Bank of Portugal (BdP).
The inauguration of this exhibition, which is the result of a partnership between the Bank of Portugal and the José Saramago Foundation, was attended by the two most responsible for the two entities, Mário Centeno, governor of the BdP, and Pilar del Rio, president of the foundation and widow of the Portuguese writer who gives it its name.
The name of the exhibition, “Let us, ordinary citizens, take the floor and take the initiative”, is taken from José Saramago's speech at the Nobel Prize ceremony that took place on December 10, 1998, the day on which the 50 years of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
This led the laureate to dedicate his intervention to this anniversary and to launch a challenge to humanity to make compliance with what is written in this declaration a duty and an obligation. «With the same vehemence and the same strength with which we demand our rights, let us also demand the duty of our duties. Maybe the world can start to become a little better,” he said at the time.
This challenge was accepted by the National Autonomous University of Mexico, «a “small” institution with 500 thousand students», according to Pilar del Rio, which joined the José Saramago Foundation in drafting a civic document «which claims the importance of citizens in the construction of society defended by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
This document, which highlights the duties of citizens, but also of institutions, to guarantee compliance with the declaration of Human Rights, was written in Mexico City by a group of jurists, activists and politicians from several countries and was subsequently delivered to António Guterres, secretary general of the UN, in the hope that the declaration will one day be approved by this organization.
But there were entities that signed the declaration from the beginning, including the Bank of Portugal, as revealed by José Saramago's widow and current president of the Foundation.
The exhibition was originally exhibited at the headquarters of the Bank of Portugal, in Lisbon, in December, to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the 25th anniversary of the Nobel Prize awarded to Saramago and, also, to raise awareness of the Charter Universal of Duties and Obligations of Human Beings.
Besides Faro, the exhibition promoted by the Money Museum, will be shown in all BdP branches in mainland Portugal and the Autonomous Regions of Madeira and the Azores.
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