NOTE TO CORRESPONDENTS ARTWORK CREATED FOR UNITED NATIONS 'CITY SUMMIT' TO BE UNVEILED AT BENEFIT DINNER ON 6 FEBRUARY

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NOTE TO CORRESPONDENTS ARTWORK CREATED FOR UNITED NATIONS 'CITY SUMMIT' TO BE UNVEILED AT BENEFIT DINNER ON 6 FEBRUARY

Robert Rauschenberg Donates 100 Signed Prints to Benefit Habitat II

"Clan Destiny", a new work of art created by internationally renowned artist Robert Rauschenberg for the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II), will be shown for the first time at a benefit dinner to be held at the Delegates Dining Room of the United Nations Headquarters on Tuesday evening, 6 February.

The Under-Secretary-General and Special Representative of Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Joseph Verner Reed, will represent the Secretary-General at the dinner. At approximately 6:45 p.m., there will be an opportunity for photos and coverage of remarks for correspondents.

Mr. Rauschenberg is donating 100 signed prints of his new work to be given to the first 100 contributors of $5,000 each, with all proceeds benefiting Habitat II. "Clan Destiny" is the latest work in a special United Nations series created by Mr. Rauschenberg to help advance the United Nations effort, including the fight against apartheid, and previous global conferences, such as the Rio Earth Summit and the Cairo International Conference on Population and Development.

Hailing Mr. Rauschenberg for "his equal gifts of generosity and talent", the Secretary-General of Habitat II, Wally N'Dow, said that "the creation of 'Clan Destiny' is an exciting and important step in building public awareness of the international nature of today's urban crisis". The artist, he added, had acted "as a catalyst in challenging the imagination and creativity of governments to meet the urgent need of adequate shelter for all and the development of sustainable human settlements in an urbanizing world, issues that may well be the most serious to confront them in the new century".

- 2 - Note No. 5321 5 February 1996

Habitat II, being called the "City Summit" by the United Nations Secretary- General, the last in the continuum of United Nations global conferences that began with the Rio Summit in 1992, will take place next June in Istanbul, Turkey. The Preparatory Committee making arrangements for the Conference is currently meeting at Headquarters for its third and final session.

The benefit dinner at which the new Rauschenberg will be unveiled is being sponsored by the Earth Pledge Foundation in collaboration with its affiliate, the Business Coalition for Sustainable Cities. Joining them in what Theodore W. Kheel, President of the Foundation, called "a remarkable and unique demonstration of private sector support for the United Nations", are Chefs Collaborative 2000, Oldways Preservation & Exchange Trust and MasterCard International. In announcing Mr. Rauschenberg's donation of 100 signed prints of his new work, Mr. Kheel called it "an act of faith by a selfless individual". The Earth Pledge Foundation, a duly qualified tax exempt organization, will process the contributions.

The dinner at which the Rauschenberg art will be presented will also mark another first, inaugurating what Chefs Collaborative 2000, an association of leading chefs in the United States, Europe and Australia, has named "Sustainable Cuisine" in recognition of the impact of food choices on the collective health of people, the global environment and the diversity of cultures. Michael Romano, New York City Section Leader of the association, and a collaborating team of fellow chefs, will create and prepare the dinner.

In addition to Mr. Kheel, sponsors of the dinner who will attend include: William L. Lurie, of the Business Coalition for Sustainable Cities; Elizabeth German, Program Manager of Chefs Collaborative 2000; Dun Gifford, President of Oldways Preservation & Exchange Trust; and Gene Lockhart, President of MasterCard International.

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