Note to Correspondents

INDIGENOUS EXHIBIT OPENS AT HEADQUARTERS 16 MAY;

 

INCLUDES ARTWORK, PHOTOGRAPHS, FILM SCREENING

 

An art and photographic exhibition, featuring indigenous people from around the world, will open with a formal ceremony and reception on Tuesday, 16 May, at 6:15 p.m. in the Main Gallery of the General Assembly Visitors’ Lobby.  The joint exhibition, entitled “Indigenous Peoples:  Honouring the Past, Present and Future”, is presented in celebration of the fifth session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.  It consists of a display of artworks by the ancient Rapanui islanders, along with carving, weaving, quilting, painting, drawing and printmaking by contemporary indigenous artists from different countries, who represent both the traditional approach, as well as a fusion of old and new.

The exhibit will be opened by José Antonio Ocampo, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, and Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, Chairperson of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.  The opening remarks will be followed by cultural presentations by indigenous artists from Australia, Norway, the Russian Federation, the United States and Viet Nam.

Also on display this year is an exhibit of photographs by the winners of the National Geographic All Roads Film and Photography Festival, which formally opens on Thursday, 18 May, at 5:30 p.m. in the North-East Gallery of the General Assembly Visitors’ Lobby.  This exhibit highlights the work of local photographers from Brazil, India, Mexico and South Africa, who document their indigenous local communities as they see them.  At 6:30 p.m., a film screening will take place in Conference Room 4, showcasing a compilation of breakthrough films from indigenous and underrepresented cultures around the globe, followed by a panel discussion on “New Media and Culture:  The Importance of Native Perspective”.

This joint exhibit is organized by the United Nations Department of Public Information in cooperation with the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues Secretariat.  The reception and cultural performance is sponsored by the NGO Committee on the United Nations International Decade of the World’s Indigenous Peoples and the Tribal Link Foundation.  The film screening is sponsored by the National Geographic All Roads Film Project.

For more information on United Nations exhibitions, call Jan Arnesen at tel.: (212) 963-8531, or Liza Wichmann at tel.: (212) 963-0089.

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For information media • not an official record