Note to Correspondents

EXHIBITION OF RITUAL OBJECTS AND PHOTOGRAPHS OF PAPUA NEW GUINEA

BY FRANK HURLEY AND CHRIS RAINIER

29 July - 15 September

From 29 July to 15 September 2002, there will be an exhibition titled:  "Where Masks Still Dance" in the Vistors' Lobby of the United Nations.  Photographs by Frank Hurley and the contemporary photographer Chris Rainier document the ancient indigenous cultures of the island of Papua New Guinea.

Well known for his photographs taken during Shackleton's Antarctic expedition, Frank Hurley is less widely recognized for the photograph's he took in Papua New Guinea between 1920 and 1923.  The photographs in the exhibition were published in the January 1927 issue of National Geographic magazine as an insert to an article about the voyages of Captain Cook in the Pacific.  These are just a few of the thousands of photographs that Frank Hurley is reported to have taken during his visits to Papua New Guinea.

The internationally renowned photographer Chris Rainier has visited Papua New Guinea 10 times since 1986 and produced a hauntingly beautiful collection of images documenting the lives and rituals of the island’s indigenous people. 

Mr. Rainier’s photographs have been published in leading publications, including Time, Life, National Geographic, Outside, CondéNast Traveler and The New York Times.

Papua New Guinea, the world's second largest island, is home to more than 1,000 aboriginal tribes, each with its own unique language, customs and folklore that have changed very little in 40,000 years.

"Where Masks Still Dance" is jointly produced by Explorers Hall, the National Geographic Society’s Museum, Chris Rainier and the Department of Public Information.  For more information contact Jan Arnesen, telephone: (212) 963-8531, e-mail: arnesen@un.org; or Valerie Hampton-Mason, telephone: (212) 963-5150,

e-mail:  hampton-masonv@un.org.

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