Note to Correspondents

Photo Exhibition ‘Momentum — Timor-Leste Forges a Vibrant Future’

Opens at United Nations Headquarters, 10 December

 

A photo exhibition featuring the strides that Timor-Leste has made towards nationhood a decade after regaining independence will open formally at 3:30 p.m. on Monday, 10 December, in the main gallery of the Visitors Lobby at United Nations Headquarters.

The exhibition captures the remarkable achievements of the Timorese as they celebrated 10 years of independence and their great dynamism in forging a vibrant society, with support from peacekeepers of the United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT), the Organization’s family of agencies, funds and programmes, as well as the broader international community.

Sofia Borges, Permanent Representative of Timor-Leste to the United Nations, will open the exhibition, with remarks by Hervé Ladsous, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations and Ameerah Haq, Under-Secretary-General for Field Support and former Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Timor-Leste.  Peter Launsky-Tieffenthal, Under-Secretary-General for Public Information, will introduce the exhibition.

“Momentum” presents the work of French-born Australian photographer Martine Perret, who has worked in UNMIT since 2007, and her Mission colleague, Timorese photographer Bernadino Soares, who started his career in 2003 as a volunteer at a Timor-Leste youth centre.

This photographic and video portrait of Timor-Leste and the United Nations shows the country’s achievements in five important areas — vision, space, voice, trust and confidence – representing a vision of independence; a safe space to build institutions; freedom to express one’s opinion; trust in institutions and neighbours; and confidence in one’s ability to solve problems and to rebuild.

Produced by UNMIT, the exhibition is co-hosted by the Permanent Mission of Timor-Leste and the United Nations Departments of Public Information, Peacekeeping Operations and Field Support.

To find out more about Timor-Leste’s Momentum, go to www.momentum.tl/en/index.html.

For more information about United Nations exhibitions, please contact Renata Morteo at tel:  +1 212 963 5455, e-mail:  morteo@un.org; Liza Wichmann at tel:  +1 212 963 0089, e-mail:  wichmann@un.org; or visit http://visit.un.org.

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For information media • not an official record