Indigenous Exhibition Opens at United Nations

An exhibition entitled Indigenous Peoples Housing and Sustainable Settlements will open with a cultural event and reception on Tuesday, 21 April, at 6:15 p.m. in the United Nations Visitors’ Lobby, marking the fourteenth session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

The exhibition provides a window into indigenous peoples’ ways of life through images of their housing and sustainable settlements.  The images depict indigenous architecture, demonstrating how the materials used, the construction techniques and the structure of the dwellings reflect the natural environments, climates and cultural contexts in which indigenous peoples live.  The images also provide insights into indigenous peoples’ cultural identities, communal ways of life and traditional lifestyles, including nomadic and sedentary ways of life.

The Secretariat of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (SPFII) reached out to partner organizations asking for submissions of works relating to indigenous peoples’ housing and architecture.  The photographs are from different regions and countries of the world, including from Bangladesh, Colombia, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Niger, Peru and the Russian Federation.

The exhibition and cultural event are organized by the SPFII in collaboration with the United Nations Department of Public Information and the NGO Committee on the United Nations International Decade of the World’s Indigenous Peoples.  The exhibit will remain on display until 10 June.

For more information on the fourteenth session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, please contact Maia Campbell, e-mail: campbellm@un.org.

For more information on United Nations exhibitions, please contact Renata Morteo at tel.: +1 (212) 963-5455, email: morteo@un.org.