Note to Correspondents

‘IN PRAISE OF THE OLIVE’ EXHIBIT ON DISPLAY AT United Nations HEADQUARTERS

An exhibition entitled In Praise of the Olive is now on display in the North East Gallery of the General Assembly Visitors’ Lobby and will officially be opened on Tuesday, 19 September, at 12:30 p.m. by Dora Bakoyiannis, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Greece and Giorgos Voulgarakis, Minister of Culture of Greece.  This inauguration takes place as Greece holds the presidency of the Security Council during the month of September 2006.

The exhibit highlights the role of the olive from early antiquity until today, emphasizing the mythology and history of the olive in the Mediterranean region.  It explores the subject of the olive at length, covering its role in daily life, habits, customs, social and economic relations, as well as its contribution as an object of inspiration in the various forms of art.

The olive tree and its fruit, although closely intertwined with Greece and Greek culture, have evolved into an international symbol.  Since 1945, when the two olive branches that surround and protect the globe were used for the first time as the emblem of the United Nations in San Francisco, the olive branches have portrayed the most important mission of the Organization: the maintenance of international peace and security.

This exhibit was created by the Research Centre of Hellenic Folklore of the Academy of Athens, with the support of the General Secretariat for the Olympic Games.  It was presented for the first time on the occasion of the 2004 Olympic Games in the Academy of Athens.  Aikaterini Polymerou-Kamilaki, Director of the Hellenic Folklore Research Centre, is in charge of the scientific and organizational aspects of the exhibition, with Louisa Karapidaki, an archeologist and permanent associate of the Folklore Centre in charge of the exhibition.

The exhibition is sponsored by the Greek Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Culture, the General Secretariat for Olympic Utilization and the Permanent Mission of Greece to the United Nations.

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

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For information media • not an official record