Our Mother of Rosario Church, Suai - Chris Whitelaw
Chris Whitelaw’s The Shades of November commemorates the ultimate sacrifice made by thousands of Timorese men, women and children in their struggle for independence.
“On 8 November 1975, East Timor declared independence from Portugal. Less than two weeks later Indonesian armed forces invaded the former colony with the aim of annexing it as another Indonesian province. The 24-year occupation that followed is recognized internationally as one of the most brutal and bloody subjugations of any people in the modern age. So vast and methodical was the violation of human rights by Indonesian military and pro-integration militia that an estimated 200,000 East Timorese, about one-quarter of the total population, were murdered, starved to death or disappeared.
“During a three-week tour of the country in May this year, I photographed sites where many of the worst atrocities occurred, often in stunningly beautiful locations. The images in this exhibition were captured using digital infrared technology that gives subjects an eerie, spectral appearance, in reference to the spirit world of the ancestors which is central to traditional Tetum culture—invisible but ever-present and all-pervading.”
This haunting show opens at the Huw Davies Gallery, Manuka Arts Centre at 6pm on Thursday 25th November and continues until 30th January. (more…)