With the contribution of Mondriaan Fund
Jan Banning
Blood Bonds: Reconciliation in Post-Genocide Rwanda
The 1994 genocide, with some 800,000 lives lost, was not waged by armies but by neighbors wielding machetes, clubs, and hammers. The vast majority of victims were Tutsis, though a significant number of Hutus were also killed. Since 2005 more than 115000 people have participated in the community-based sociotherapy program run by the NGO CBS Rwanda: groups of ten to fifteen people—often including both survivors and perpetrators—gradually rebuild their sense of safety and connection. In 2024, photographer Jan Banning and writer Dick Wittenberg spent a month in Rwanda seeking out examples of reconciliation. This work reveals unimaginable suffering but also the transformative power of forgiveness.
Bio
Jan Banning (1954, Netherlands) is an independent photographer specializing in creating series in documentary photography; he has a background in Social and Economic History.
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