In 1999, after 25 years of Indonesian rule, the people of East Timor went to the polls to vote in a referendum offering Independence or self-autonomy. The resistance and protracted guerrilla war that ensued Indonesia’s invasion in 1976 had resulted in an estimated 100 000 people dead and the East Timorese overwhelmingly voted for full independence. In response, military backed Militia, loyal to Indonesia, went on a rampage, destroying 70% of the country’s infrastructure and forcing an estimated 300 000 people across the border into Indonesian West Timor.
Order was returned after the intervention of the Australian led InterFET force and Timor started its path to independence under the guidance of the United Nations. The 20th of May 2002 saw the birth of the 21st century’s newest Nation, Timor Leste, but the challenges relating to the establishment of a new government, society and economy simultaneously have been immense. Timor Leste is one of the world’s poorest nations, ranking below both the Congo and Sudan in its indicators of human development. The adult literacy rate is only 58% and one in ten children dies before it reaches five years of age. 42% of the population is under 15 years of age and life expectancy is 56 years.
Dreams of an idyllic independent Timor have been further complicated by poverty, the lack of economic opportunities coupled with unresolved social and political tensions for government and law and order institutions which are divided, weak and fragile. These all came to a head during the crisis of April – May 2006 after violence broke out following the sacking of 591 soldiers who had left their barracks to protest against discrimination based on regional affiliation. Since then the situation has, with a few hiccups, stabilised somewhat although many of the underlying problems are still to be fully addressed. Timor Leste remains heavily dependent on international aid and UN support as it slowly learns to take control of it’s own destiny.
DIEHL starts its “Flaneur” selection with 42 works of the Soviet photo journalist Dmitry Baltermants. Best known for his pictures of the Soviet battlefield during World War II.
During World War II, Baltermants covered major battles for Izvestia and for the Red Army newspaper Na Razgrom Vraga. He fought and photographe...
Le 24 mars 1976, le peuple argentin subit un coup d’état militaire. C’est le début d’une ère de répression sanglante, où quelque 30 000 personnes disparaissent et près de 500 bébés sont volés. Mais s’ouvre également une période d’ultralibéralisme d&ea...
Blindspot Gallery is pleased to present Coastline featuring emerging Chinese photographer Zhang Xiao’s award-winning series Coastline that focuses on the continuous 18,000 kilometres of China’s coastline. The series does not merely capture the seaside landscape of these coastal areas, but also witnesses the changes o...
Du dépouillement des clichés de Catherine Lambermont se dégage une poésie narrative. Ses images composent une suite d’instants d’observation libre. Son travail réhabilite le continuum qui caractérise chaque frontière. La frontière est le lieu du lien. Entre le corps et l’es...
Eric Rondepierre a choisi de montrer au sein d'un travail multiforme, certaines des oeuvres qui ont partie liée au cinéma, depuis ses débuts en 1992. Sur un parcours de vingt ans, 56 pièces ont été prélevées dans dix séries : Excédents, Annonces, Précis...
Simone Nieweg is a photographer of gardens and landscapes. Her work, as it has manifested itself over the past thirty years, knows no other interest. At the same time, a certain serenity hovers over her pictures. In them, nature seems entirely focused on itself. One immediately notices that human beings are absent. The allure of colors and shapes...
« Je ne peux m’empêcher, atteste Gérard Uféras, d’associer la pratique de l’Art à la notion d’amour et de partage ». (extrait de son livre Etats de grâce, éditions du Fantom)
«Egyptian pack» evokes many associations - here are both Petersburgers favorite topic of werewolves (see the movie of E. Yufit «Corpsmen werewolves») and references to the Perm animal style.
Also we can recall British film «The Wicker Man» (1973) with its ritual procession of the man-beasts, ho...
La manie de regarder, plutôt que de photographier, a pris de telles proportions que l'on collectionne tout, mais que l'on ne perçoit finalement plus rien.
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timor, years, independence, it, an, people, leste, after, government, indonesia, order, with, estimated, age, had, been, went, east, nations, indonesian, 
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