If I may add, context matters.

Visitors to the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington ought to be
expecting displays that disturb.  Visitors visiting Alcatraz are prepared to
see prison cells, execution chambers, etc.

But are visitors expecting to see Confederate flags -- with one hanging from
a 13-foot tall gallows entitled "The Proper Way to Hang a Confederate Flag"
-- when going to the Schmucker Art Gallery at Gettysburg College to see an
exhibition entitled "The Recoloration Proclamation: The Gettysburg Redress"?
For an artist who claims the Confederate flag is a part of his heritage and
is not viewed by a majority of Americans as a symbol of bigotry and racism,
conceiving this artwork as a part of reconciliatory dialogue but giving a
title like that . . . there's a severe disconnect.

No wonder the artist decided not to attend the opening.  He explains he will
not attend because he's offended the school decided to move his lynching
installation inside.  Whatever.  I'm sure he just doesn't want to end up
mobbed and, well, we know what can happen when a 'mob mentality' builds.

Best wishes,
Jay



On 7/27/05 8:39 AM, "John Martinson" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Agreed.   If they exhibit a Christian cross in urine, box cars that
> held Jews on their way to gas chambers, death row cells with
> gallows or the death room, etc.  Yes, why not * they bring forth dialogue
> such as *- exhibits on Big Foot, UFOs, Enola Gay, Big Foot,
> and theories of evolution and creationism. ;o)  It is all part of the
> museum learning process.
> 
> John
> 
> 
> 
>>>> [log in to unmask] 7/27/2005 8:01:30 AM >>>
> Deb, 
> Perhaps you wouldn't mind defining what you mean by dialogue.
> It's a term we use quite often in relation to exhibits, especially when we
> try to incorporate ways for visitors to share their thoughts. <snip>

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