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News :: DNC : International : Media |
Art Exhibit Opening Minds In Copley Square |
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by Pete Stidman Email: petestid (nospam) yahoo.com |
27 Jul 2004
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Visitors to the posh shopping area of Back Bay are finding themselves attracted to a powerful art exhibit put on by the American Friends Service Committee, a National Quaker Peace and Justice Aid Organization. The idea for the exhibit came from the groups Chicago office. A visitor to the site is confronted with a formation of 907 boots, a number that rises almost daily. It is the number of American Soldiers killed in Iraq. There is another pile of shoes that represents the 16,000 Iraqi’s estimated killed. |
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Next to the exhibit is the StoneWalk cart. Friends and family of 9/11 survivors are pushing a heavy gravestone for the unidentified Iraqi’s who have been killed in the conflict. The stone will be pushed to the RNC in New York later this week when the DNC to RNC march begins on the 30th.
People’s reactions are overwhelmingly positive. Here are a few responses recorded in the AFSC’s Guestbook:
“I am Ashamed of the U.S.” –U.S.
“Thank you for this Wonderful idea!” –Egypt
“I’ve done war,
I’ve done Peace,
Peace is better.”- Ken Ashe –U.S. Army Vietnam 69-70-71
“I brought my 1 yr. Old daughter I hope she will grow up in a world that knows Justice and Peace, not war and senseless violence.” –anonymous
Jocelyn Berger of the AFSC comments “Most people who come here are overwhelmed with emotion. This portrays the conflict in a way not otherwise seen. It is a politically neutral space where people can mourn and recognize this loss.”
“I would say only about 5% of all people a angered by what they see here. Generally, it is people who have friends or relatives who are in Iraq now. It’s like a defense mechanism. I imagine it is deeply upsetting and terrifying for these folks who have people over there, probably thinking that they are doing good, to think that they might show up on one of these tags.”
The Eyes Wide Open Exhibit will move to Sennott Park in Central Square, Cambridge for the 28th and 29th of July. The AFSC’s website is http://www.afsc.org . |
 This work is in the public domain. |
Re: Art Exhibit Opening Minds In Copley Square |
by john saylor js (nospam) wave.dnsalias.org (unverified) |
28 Jul 2004
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i'm glad to see this reported on here- it was the most moving thing i saw today as i walked around the really REALLY deomcratic bazaar and then up to copley.
i wonder if anyone has a photo they can post? |
Good political statement... but not art |
by artist (No verified email address) |
28 Jul 2004
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Placing hundreds of pairs of army boots on an open field may make a good protest against the war in Iraq, but it's hardly "an art exhibition."
I applaud the display of boots and the meaning behind it... but they are still only boots, not art |
Re: Art Exhibit Opening Minds In Copley Square |
by Matthew Williams plaid_baboon (nospam) hotmail.com (unverified) |
28 Jul 2004
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There's more to the exhibit than boots. There's an inside part to that I think involves film. |
Re: Art Exhibit Opening Minds In Copley Square |
by Carolyn Carr (No verified email address) |
29 Jul 2004
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Thanks for this valuable form of witness. Death is the reality of war, and it is all too easy for nearly all of us living our daily lives here in the U.S., to avoid facing this fact. Thanks for helping to change this. |
Re: Art Exhibit Opening Minds In Copley Square |
by Gabriel Ben-Yosef (No verified email address) |
01 Sep 2004
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This was a very moving exhibit that I had stumbled on serendipitously. My thanks to the organizers and to Pete for calling it out.
http://ben-yosef.com/pics/boots/ |
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