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New photo gallery coming to Warren Library

Go around the world in 80 photographs.

The new exhibition at the Warren Public Library, featuring the photography of Peter, Monika, Krisztina, and Nora Garami, is an opportunity to see local, cultural, historical, and architectural subjects from around the world. Photos demonstrating Mayan blanket weaving, Roma Gypsies living their daily lives in Hungary, and any number of daily moments from places like the Vatican, Tokyo, Kyoto, Hiroshima, Austria, Greece, Poland, Transylvania, Africa, and Mexico, among others.

The show’s title’s connection to the Jules Verne classic “Around the World in Eighty Days” is intentional, said Monika Garami.

“We travel a lot, and taking pictures on our adventures allows us to share the world that we see on our trips with others.” Garami said that the places she and her family have been, as well as the people they’ve met there, have shaped them and their worldviews. The show is suitable for anyone of any age, said Garami, and “could inspire great conversations between parents and children about different cultures, and places around the world.” Garami said that the photos in this exhibition would complement numerous titles on the shelves in the library itself. “Perhaps picking up a book about the Mayan natives or a history book about how the Roman Empire ruled for centuries in Europe can be the end result of our conveyed message here,” said Garami.

For Garami, the library — and the access to information it presents — is integral to her life experience.

“Growing up in Hungary, higher education than elementary school for a girl was not a common thing, and parents would send girls to trade schools to learn a specific trade at age 14, instead of getting high school or college education.”

Garami said she spent as much time as possible in her local library as a young girl, learning about the world through books and dreaming that one day she would see the places she read about.

“I dreamed to get education, and learn languages. I dreamed to be able to get a college degree one day, and without my small village librarian my eyes and mind would have not been opened to the world. She helped me find the books that interested me, allowed me to be curious about anything and everything. Our librarians in Warren are doing the same thing here.”

Literacy for women, said Garami, is key to solving world issues from hunger to violence to human rights. “With every book that a girl will read they can ultimately better the future generation.” That’s why, she said, “the library means a lot to me.”

This is the second year that Garami has partnered with the library to help their midwinter gala and fundraising efforts. Last year’s show, which featured work from Bollinger Enterprises’ Be Inspired Artists, saw visitors all month long during its installation. “We closed with a huge success at the end, on the Winter Gala Fundraiser event,” said Garami of last year’s show. “Several hundred visitors stopped in during the show and we are hoping for an even greater event this year.”

Around the World in Eighty Photographs will be available for viewing at the Warren Public Library Wetmore Gallery through February 3. A reception will be held Monday, Jan. 8 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. The Warren Public Library’s Winter Gala will be held on February 3 and will close out the exhibition. Garami said that 35 percent of all artwork sold during the exhibition will be donated to the library “as our gift to the community and library.”

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