"East Timor 1942-1992" is an exhibition of photographs that picture the lives and history of the people of East Timor over the last 50 years. The exhibition opens on May 29 at 6 p.m. at the Tin Sheds Gallery, 154 City Rd, Sydney University, and runs until June 14.
The exhibition's curator is Oliver Strewe, one of Australia's leading documentary photographers, who worked in East Timor during the Portuguese withdrawal in 1975.
Featured are a small but unique collection of World War II photographs taken by cinematographer Damien Parer, Australia's first Academy Award winner. Life under Portuguese rule during the '50s and '60s is captured through the lenses of Margaret Boyce King and Cecil Holmes.
The brief period of East Timorese independence, followed by the Indonesian invasion and occupation, has been documented by Oliver Strewe, Jenny Groves, Elaine Briere, Mel Sylvester and Steve Cox. Many photographs taken by Timorese and smuggled out of East Timor are also included. The exhibition culminates in the 1991 Santa Cruz cemetery massacre.
The exhibition will be launched by Professor Fred Hollows and a former minister in the Whitlam government, Tom Uren. Special guest will be Emilia Gusmao, exiled wife of Fretilin resistance leader Xanana Gusmao.