ABSTRACT
The contribution of contemporary art practices for Timor-Leste’s nation-building is highly significant as the consolidation of a national identity has occupied the authorities and the population, especially since independence in 2002. The change of political landscape has provided the artistic community with a valuable opportunity to identify and propose values, trends and community symbols of the new nation. The post-2002 Timorese artistic contributions to nation-building must be regarded as performative acts of citizenship, which communicate with local and international audiences. These acts of citizenship can generally be grouped under the banner Movimentu Kultura, an artistic orientation marked by the artful deployment of fragments of the country’s oral culture and traditions. A major integrating aspect of nation-building processes has been addressed by British historian, Eric Hobsbawm, in terms of ‘the invention of tradition’. The presence of the Arte Moris museum is of extreme relevance for post-2002 Timorese art, as it documents an important period of the country’s production.
