War and Peace in Liberia: Tim Hetherington and Chris Hondros

On View: October 26 to December 16, 2018

Bronx Documentary Center Annex
364 E. 151st St, Bronx, NY 10455

Tim Hetherington and Chris Hondros’ powerful images played an important role in moving the world to action and ultimately bringing the Second Liberian Civil War (1999-2003) to an end.

Curated by Michael Kamber and Cynthia Rivera

In collaboration with:
The Chris Hondros Fund
Magnum Photos
Getty Images
The United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations
The United Nations Foundation
Reporters Instructed in Saving Colleagues

War And Peace in Liberia is made possible by:The Philip and Edith Leonian Foundation, 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.

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 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.

Together, these two photographers alerted the world to Liberia’s humanitarian disaster and helped build international momentum which resulted in the deployment of a United Nations peacekeeping mission that brought the war to a close, helped set the stage for democratic elections and created a lasting success story for the West African nation and the subregion. The UN closed its Liberia mission last year, leaving behind a country still fragile but with a fighting chance for peace and development.

The photos in this exhibition, some never before shown, are a tribute to these journalists, and to the Liberian people 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.