GALAMSEY: ILLEGAL GOLD MINING AND THE HUMAN PRICE OF WEALTH. PHOTO EXHIBITION BY MARIUSZ ŚMIEJEK
Schedule
Fri, 16 Jan, 2026 at 07:30 pm
UTC+00:00Location
The Market Place Theatre & Arts Centre, Armagh | Armagh, NI
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While gold prices soar to historic highs, those working in illegal Galamsey mines earn as little as $3–$5 a week. Nearly a third of Ghana’s gold comes from these hazardous sites, where even children labour with mercury in toxic, unsafe conditions. Africa’s largest gold producer gains little from billions exported abroad for China, India, Switzerland, the U.S., and the UAE, while local communities face poverty, exploitation, and violence. The environmental toll is devastating; poisoned rivers, polluted water supplies, and rapid deforestation, with tens of thousands of hectares of rainforest destroyed in just a decade.Mariusz Śmiejek is a Polish award-winning socially-engaged documentary photographer and visual storyteller, specialising in the raw narrative of human and social conditions around the world.
His photojournalist book ‘Not Surrendering’ was published in 2023 and his forthcoming publication, ‘Galamsey’, which draws inspiration from the works featured in this exhibition, is scheduled for publication in 2026.
Exhibition is open for public from 16th January to 7th March, from 9.30 AM to 4.30PM
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Where is it happening?
The Market Place Theatre & Arts Centre, Armagh, United KingdomEvent Location & Nearby Stays:
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