Helen Clark and Tāme Iti in Support of Palestinian Statehood

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“Former MP Helen Clark and Activist Tāme Iti United in Support of Palestinian Statehood”

Former Prime Minister Helen Clark has contributed to a nationwide photography exhibition in support of Palestinian statehood this week. Clark’s contribution, a photograph of herself in Papua New Guinea taken during a United Nations Development Program visit, will be exhibited alongside a portrait submitted by controversial human rights activist Tāme Iti.

While Clark and Iti have expressed differences of opinion in the past, both have shown their support for the ‘Unrecognised’ photography exhibition, which highlights New Zealand’s role in the upcoming UN decision on the recognition of Palestine as a state in September.

Clark is currently the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme, the third-highest position in the UN.

The ‘Unrecognised’ exhibition features bold images from apartheid-era South Africa, from the anti-apartheid protest movement in New Zealand, and from present-day occupied Palestine, contributed by prominent documentary photographers in each country.

“The overwhelming response to the exhibition, from people right across the political spectrum, has highlighted the groundswell of support in New Zealand for the recognition of a Palestinian state” says Ben Knight, spokesperson for ‘Concerned Citizens’, the New Zealand-based group of artists hosting the event.

“People feel that recognising Palestine’s right to a voice in the international community would be a positive step for the diplomatic negotiation of peace in the region. We hope Foreign Minister McCully takes this on board when he casts New Zealand’s vote next month” Knight says.

‘Unrecognised’ also marks the 30th Anniversary of the Springbok tour anti-apartheid protests in New Zealand. In addition to showing in six cities in New Zealand, the exhibition will also take place at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in East London, South Africa.

The exhibition features work from influential South African photography collective Afrapix, acclaimed Israeli/Palestinian photographers ActiveStills, and more than 50 photographers from around New Zealand. Other contributors include veteran human rights campaigner John Minto, and musician Imon Starr.

An online fundraising auction featuring more than 100 works is open at www.concernedcitizens.co.nz, closing at 8pm tonight. All proceeds go to the Israel/Palestine-based ActiveStills documentary photography collective.

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Article about ActiveStills in the Jerusalem Post:
http://www.jpost.com/ArtsAndCulture/Arts/Article.aspx?id=154494
Coverage of Concerned Citizens’ previous events:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/5088434/Urewera-18-focus-of-exhibition
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/5097412/Protest-highlights-terror-raid-case
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10730004
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10730577
Mail and Guardian coverage of Afrapix:
http://mg.co.za/article/2007-10-10-photojournalism-then-and-now

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