As part of a new photo exhibit, Dr. Paul Dishman has brought relatively unknown countries along the Adriatic Sea’s coastline in Southeastern Europe to the halls of UVU.
“Water, War and Wonder: A Photographic Exploration of the Balkans” was unveiled Monday, Nov. 1, in the Sorensen Student Center across from the bookstore.
“This is a visual, historical and cultural experience for UVU and the community,” said Dishman in a press release. “It communicates some of the adventures that we had in the Balkans, including Montenegro, Macedonia, Kosovo, Bosina and Croatia.”
The wall across from the bookstore is designated as an art wall and features works of all kinds. It displays pieces by artists that are students, faculty and community members, according to Ken Mathews, senior director of auxiliary services for the Student Center.
“It’s one of the best walls in the Student Center. It’s a campus canvas,” Mathews said.
According to Dishman, the pictures in the exhibit are meant to show the unique characteristics of the area. Each cluster of images includes facts about the particular location in the photographs.
“Historically, water was so critical to this region,” Dishman said of the area in a press release. “The only reason war fleets were interested in the Balkans was for their safe harbors. Thus, the region has been in constant turmoil since the 1300s, with the last war ending in 1995.”
Dishman is the chair of the Marketing department and Fulbright Scholar Program, which is a program that helps increase the understanding between people in the Untied States and other countries in the world. Participants in the program are chosen for their academic merit and leadership potential. For the almost six months that Dishman was in Montenegro for the Fulbright Scholar Program, he was able to teach business students and work on economic development projects that will help the country transition into a free market country. He also took thousands of pictures.
Dishman took the opportunity to go to the land of his forefathers to give them the chance his grandfather gave him when his grandfather immigrated to the United States to find better opportunities. His grandfather eventually ended up in Arizona as a mine cook.
Student Joseph Padgett commented on the newly unveiled exhibit.
“These pictures are so good. I can just stare at them because there is so much in them,” he said. “They are intrinsic and it makes me want to visit that part of Europe.”
