UNITED NATIONS, June 12 (Xinhua) -- Poetry, calligraphy and painting exhibition of Tomur Dawamat, a Ugyur leader of China and a former vice chairman of the standing committee of China's top legislature, opened at the UN headquarters on Tuesday.

There are more than 40 calligraphic works and paintings about the poems written by Dawamat, also a former leader of China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, are on display, including calligraphy of Uygur and Arab languages.

Li Baodong, permanent representative of China to the United Nations, said at the opening ceremony that Dawamat's poems, marked by profound patriotism and perpetual pursuit of peace and friendship, reflected his firm conviction in national reunification and ethnic unity as well as his deep love for his motherland.

"His poems also bring to life the prosperous development and beautiful future of China's ethnic minority regions after the founding of the People's Republic of China, especially after the inception of the reform and opening up policy," he said.

"These calligraphy and painting works not only give vivid expression to the insightful thoughts and artistic beauty of the original poems, but also showcase the diversity and charm of the time-honored traditional Chinese culture," he added.

Stephane Dujarric, director of News and Media in the United Nations' Department of Public Information, said that the world body is a very suitable venue for this exhibition, because this is where diverse cultures and civilizations gather and also a platform for accelerating shared values.

The 85-year-old Dawamat served as vice chairman of the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress from 1993 to 2003.