Note to Correspondents

PHOTO EXHIBIT ‘RAISING THE BAR:  NEW HORIZONS IN DISABILITY SPORTS’

 

OPENS AT HEADQUARTERS 23 MARCH

 

A photographic exhibition entitled “Raising the Bar:  New Horizons in Disability Sports” will open in the North-East Gallery of the General Assembly Visitors’ Lobby at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 23 March 2005.  The exhibit, based on the book by Artemis Joukowsky, is an intimate, visually rich portrayal of the international para-athletic community, featuring the work of 10 international photographers and 30 international athletes.  It will remain open to the public through 27 April.

Also on display are an electric trike, tandem tricycle, snowboard and sit-ski, representing innovative projects undertaken by students at Hampshire College’s Lemelson Center that address the needs of people with disabilities in the pursuit of sports and recreation.

Statements at the formal exhibit opening will be made by Prince Zeid Ra’ad Zeid Al-Hussein, Permanent Representative of Jordan to the United Nations; Cheri Blauwet, para-athlete (United States); and Artemis Joukowsky, producer of “Raising the Bar”.  Max Gomez, MD, Medical Reporter for News Channel 4, will be master of ceremonies.  Following the opening and reception in the lobby, “Murderball”, a documentary film about competitive quadriplegic rugby, will be screened at 8 p.m. in Conference Room 4.  The film is produced by Think Film Company and is the winner of the American Documentary Audience Award at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival.

This exhibition is presented in support of the process towards a United Nations Convention on the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities, and coincides with a ceremony honouring Jordan for its exemplary efforts to improve the lives of persons with disabilities.  King Abdullah II of Jordan will accept the eighth Franklin Delano Roosevelt International Disability Award on behalf of his country.

The exhibit is curated by Nan Richardson, Publisher, Umbrage Editions, and is produced in cooperation with the United Nations Department of Public Information, No Limits Media, Think Film Company, the International Paralympic Committee, the NortheasternUniversityCenter for Sport and Society, HampshireCollege, the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute and the World Committee on Disability.

For more information on the exhibition, call Jan Arnesen at tel.:  (212) 963-8531 or Liza Wichmann at tel.:  (212) 963-0089, or visit the exhibits Web site at www.un.org/events/UNART.

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