Australian Foreign Minister to inaugurate photography exhibition in Delhi India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith will on Tuesday inaugurate a photographic exhibition titled "All of Us" in New Delhi. The exhibition, which celebrates Australia's cultural diversity is organised in collaboration with the Delhi International Arts Festival (DIAF) and will tour Indian cities over the next four months. The exhibition is on display on the outer walls of the chancery building of the Australian High Commission in New Delhi - viewable from the footpath outside. Speaking about the exhibition in Delhi, the Australian High Commissioner to India, Peter Varghese, said, "Australia is home to people from over 180 nationalities. People who have chosen to call Australia home have also brought with them their respective cultures and traditions making Australia one of the most rich and diverse societies in the world". "The All of Us exhibition is a rich tapestry of modern Australia. Michel Lawrence has remarkably captured the essence of what modern Australia and its people are all about and how cultural diversity and national unity can co-exist", Mr Varghese added. "We are proud that this exhibition can be viewed so publicly by passing traffic - I encourage all Delhi-ites to take a drive past the High Commission. The photographs are viewable day and night," he said. Produced by Michel Lawrence, a Melbourne based photographer, All of Us is a record of the transformation of modern Australia from a predominantly Anglo-Saxon settlement to today's multicultural society. Michel Lawrence spent two years photographing representatives from every national group who now call Australia home. The exhibition comprises more than 200 photographs depicting Australia's multicultural diversity - including the original Australians, the indigenous people, and all subsequent immigrant groups. Michel Lawrence was born in Sydney and grew up in Melbourne and has been photographing people all his life. His work is represented in various private and public collections most notably the National Portrait Gallery in the Australian National Capital, Canberra, The Museum of Modern Art in Melbourne, The University of Melbourne, The Performing Arts Museum and a number of regional galleries. His book 'Framed- Portraits of Australia Painters' was published by Hardie Grant in 1998 and is now out of print. 'All of Us', published by Scribe, was launched in January 2008 on Australia Day to coincide with the opening of a major installation of the All of Us photographs at Melbourne's Federation Square. His work has also been reproduced in major metropolitan newspapers and magazines across Australia.