The Center
Red Sea corals, a photo exhibition at EPFL
The photo exhibition Corals of the Red Sea – Bridging science and diplomacy in favor of the ‘reefs of hope’, open to the public from 15 March to 15 April 2025 on the EPFL campus in Lausanne, takes us to the heart of the missions carried out in 2022 and 2023 in Djibouti under the aegis of the Transnational Red Sea Center, in collaboration with its Djiboutian and Sudanese partners. At the same time, it bears witness to a formidable human adventure underway at the confluence of the scientific, environmental, economic and geopolitical challenges of our time.
From the Gulf of Tadjourah to the Seven Brothers archipelago in the Strait of Bab el-Mandeb, in the sometimes calm and sometimes turbulent waters of this southernmost tip of the Red Sea, or taken from the expedition boat, the 90 or so photos on display illustrate the spirit and fieldwork of a unique Swiss initiative; an initiative launched in 2019 at the EPFL with the support of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) and aimed at preserving coral reefs of a very special kind, having demonstrated an exceptional capacity to resist climate change.
These ‘reefs of hope’ in the Red Sea represent a de facto unique opportunity to ensure that at least one major coral ecosystem - and with it the services they provide to the people of the region - will survive for future generations, at a time when coral is disappearing at a dramatic rate elsewhere in the world as a result of global warming. On condition that they are preserved from potential sources of local destruction. The Transnational Red Sea Center therefore aims to promote the study and conservation of Red Sea corals through a regional approach involving the eight countries bordering the Red Sea: Saudi Arabia, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Israel, Jordan, Sudan and Yemen.
Since its creation, capitalising on Switzerland's neutrality and long tradition of promoting dialogue, as well as EPFL's reputation for scientific excellence, the TRSC has carried out initial missions to the northern Gulf of Aqaba (Israel and Jordan), Sudan and Djibouti, in collaboration with its local academic and institutional partners, as well as educational and training workshops for the scientific community.
Most of the photos were taken by Lukasz Larsson Warzecha, a Swedish documentary photographer who has won awards for his reports on climate science, and Ulrika Larsson. Both have covered the TRSC mission to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
On Tuesday 25 March from 12 noon to 2 pm, EPFL will be holding a conference (in English) on a theme directly linked to the exhibition as part of its “Sustainability Series“. Entitled ‘Red Sea, The Last Coral Refuge? Bridging Science, Diplomacy and Hope’, will be given by Dr Guilhem Banc-Prandi, Scientific Director of the Transnational Red Sea Center, and will be followed by a round table discussion in the presence of Ambassador Alexandra Baumann, Head of the Prosperity and Sustainability Division of the Swiss Foreign Ministry, and Dr Minna Epps, Director of Marine Programmes at the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
📸 Photo exhibition Corals of the Red Sea – Bridging science and diplomacy in favor of the “reefs of hope”
📅 15 March - 15 April 2025
📍 Campus EPFL Lausanne, Ada Lovelace square (in front of the SG building), free access
Conference Red Sea, The Last Coral Refuge? Bridging Science, Diplomacy and Hope
📅 25 March 2025, 12pm
📍 Campus EPFL Lausanne, SG1 building
