WAR AND PEACE IN LIBERIA
TIM HETHERINGTON AND CHRIS HONDROS
BRONX DOCUMENTARY CENTER
OCTOBER 20th – DECEMBER 17th, 2018
MONROVIA, LIBERIA – JULY 30 – A child Liberian militia soldier loyal to the government walks away from firing while another taunts them on July 30, 2003 in Monrovia, Liberia. Sporadic clashes continue between government forces and rebel fighters in the fight for control of Monrovia. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)
Tim Hetherington and Chris Hondros’ powerful photographs played an important role in moving the world to action and ultimately bringing the Second Liberian Civil War (1999-2003) to an end.
Liberia. Tubmanburg. June16th, 2003.Young rebel fighter and hand grenade. © Tim Hetherington / MagnumPhotos
Trapped with Liberian dictator Charles Taylor’s forces in besieged Monrovia in the summer of 2003, Chris braved artillery and rocket fire to send frontline pictures of women and children being killed by the hundreds. His photos ran on front pages around the world and provoked outrage at a brutal war whose victims were almost entirely non-combatants.
Tim Hetherington, embedded with the LURD rebels in the same period, provided the documentation of the rebels shelling civilians.
Even the ruthless Charles Taylor considered him a threat and sent assassination squads to kill the British photojournalist.
Tim barely escaped, only to return and live in Liberia following the conflict.
His haunting book, Long Story Bit by Bit: Liberia Retold, has become a standard text of the Liberian Wars.
The photos in this exhibition, some never before shown, are a tribute to these journalists, and to the Liberian civilians who protested so powerfully and demanded an end to the violence.
In 2011, Tim and Chris, friends and colleagues committed to documenting the truth, were killed by artillery in Misurata, Libya.
MONROVIA, LIBERIA – JULY 20: Joseph Duo, a Liberian militia commander loyal to the government, exults after firing a rocket-propelled grenade at rebel forces at a key strategic bridge July 20, 2003 in Monrovia, Liberia. Government forces succeeded in forcing back rebel forces in fierce fighting on the edge of Monrovia’s city center. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)
IN COLLABORATION WITH:
Magnum Photos
Getty Images
The United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations
The United Nations Foundation
Reporters Instructed in Saving Colleagues (RISC)
WAR AND PEACE IN LIBERIA IS MADE POSSIBLE BY
The New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, the New York State Legislature, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with City Council, the Donnelley Foundation, Con Edison, and Ghetto Film School.
Curated by Michael Kamber and Cynthia Rivera.
Read the full article on Art Market Magazine Issue #41
