Australian Geographic – July-August 2019

July. August 93

I

T’S ANOTHER HOT and humid Dili morning, with storm clouds

already poking above the mountains. Musicians Mele Fernandes

and Osme Gonsalves and I seek the shade of a huge canopy

of trees surrounding the ramshackle grounds of the Arte Moris

(Living Art) centre, located in what was once the premises of

the National Museum. The quirky fine arts school, cultural

centre and artists’ association was established in 2003 by Swiss

artists Luca and Gabriela Gansser, with the patronage of Nobel

Prize-winner and Timor-Leste’s former prime minister and

president, José Ramos-Horta. “We wanted to show [Generation

99] a better way to express themselves than through violence,”

Ramos-Horta told me in a 2017 interview.

The idea was to nurture positive values through artistic

expression among the sometimes nihilistic youthful majority

born during Indonesian occupation: some 62 per cent of the

Timor-Leste population was aged under 25 in 2018. However,

the government patronage didn’t last long, and it’s often hard

“Our country is not a baby anymore.

It’s growing up. It’s time it stood alone,

and we all want to help that process.”

Osme Gonsalves, a

founding member of the

band Galaxy, is also a highly

respected woodworker and

sculptor who works from a

live-in studio at Arte Moris.

Violence erupts

as anti-independ-

ence militia helped

by the Indonesian

military resume

campaign of terror,

leaving up to 1400

dead. A quarter of

the population

flees, mainly to

West Timor. Martial

law imposed. The

majority of the

country’s infra-

structure is

destroyed during

this attack.

Australian-led

peacekeeping force

arrives to restore

order. Many militia

members flee to

West Timor to avoid

arrest. Indonesian

parliament

recognises

referendum

outcome.

1999

20 September: The

UN authorised

multinational force,

known as INTER-

FET (International

Force for East

Timor), is deployed

to the country, led

by Australia’s Major

General Peter

Cosgrove, and

brings the violence

to an end.

1999 October:

UN Transitional

Administration in

E

(U)

e-

lis.

2002 April:

Xanana Gusmao is

elected Timor-

Leste’s first

president.

2002 20 May:

East Timor

becomes officially

independent.

2005 June:

Australian

peacekeepers

leave.

2006 January:

East Timor and

a sign

to divide

ns of

ars in

ected

ues from

d gas

its in the

TimorSea.

2006 May:

Foreign troops

arrive in Dili hoping

to restore order as

fighting involving

former soldiers,

sacked in March,

descends into

violence. At least 25

are killed and about

150,000 take

refuge in makeshift

camps.

2006 August:

Non-military

peacekeeping UN

Integrated Mission

in East Timor, or

UNMIT, is set up.

2012 November:

Australian soldiers

pull out of East

Timor – the end of

a six-year stabilisa-

tion mission.

2012 December:

UN ends peace-

keeping mission.

2016 September:

Permanent Court of

Arbitration in The

Hague takes up the

maritime border

dispute between

Australia and East

Timor over lucrative

oil and gas reserves

in the Timor Sea.

2017 January:

Australia signals it

will accept East

Timor’s move to

rescind arrange-

ments demarcating

their maritime

border.

2017 September:

Australia and East

Timor reach a

breakthrough

agreement on their

maritime border,

ending a dec-

ade-long row.

2002

East Timor

becomes

independent

PHOTO CREDITS, PREVIOUS PAGE, TOP: PHIL JARRATT; INSETS: AAP; THIS PAGE, TOP: PHIL JARRATT; INSETS, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: AAP: IAN WALDIE / GETTY; AGUS SUTEDJO / CONTRIBUTOR

East Timor

(UNTAET)

estab-

lished.

Australia sign

deal to divide

billions of

dollars in

expected

revenues from

oil and gas

deposits in the

Timor Sea. Timor Sea.

Xanana

Gusmao

Timor-Leste’s

first president