Roundup: Pop Culture & the Arts ...
Movies, Documentaries and Museum Exhibits
This page features links to reviews of movies, documentaries and exhibits with a historical theme. Listings are in reverse chronological order. Descriptions are taken directly from the linked publication. If you have articles you think should be listed on the Pop Culture page, please send them to the editor editor@historynewsnetwork.org.
SOURCE: NYT (2-28-07)
They are exquisitely ordinary family snapshots: six young men and women on the beach, playfully arranged in a pyramid; a bourgeois family flaunting its Sabbath best of fur-lined topcoats and rakishly angled hats; a dark-haired Orthodox mother with an infant cradled in her arms and her five children, three barefoot, lined up stiffly in front of a tumbledown shack.
There are dozens of other photographs just as posed and stilted, and strangers scanning them might barely pause for a second glance — except for one fact. Almost all these Polish Jews, rich and poor alike, would be dead within a few years, massacred in the Nazi camps or ghettoes or consumed by the war. One woman in the beach pyramid, a caption says, perished in the Soviet Union, searching for her husband as they fled the Nazis.
Elie Wiesel, when he saw this homespun collection, is said to have told friends that you want to grab these people and warn them: “Run away! Do something!” But of course most...
There are dozens of other photographs just as posed and stilted, and strangers scanning them might barely pause for a second glance — except for one fact. Almost all these Polish Jews, rich and poor alike, would be dead within a few years, massacred in the Nazi camps or ghettoes or consumed by the war. One woman in the beach pyramid, a caption says, perished in the Soviet Union, searching for her husband as they fled the Nazis.
Elie Wiesel, when he saw this homespun collection, is said to have told friends that you want to grab these people and warn them: “Run away! Do something!” But of course most...
Wednesday, February 28, 2007 - 00:20
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SOURCE: George Will in the WSJ (2-27-07)
On March 9, 1945, 346 B-29s left the Marianas, bound for Tokyo, where they dropped 1,858 tons of incendiaries that destroyed one-sixth of Japan's capital, killing 83,000. Gen. Curtis LeMay, then commander of the air assault on Japan, later wrote, "We scorched and boiled and baked to death more people in Tokyo ...than went up in vapor at Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined."
That was inaccurate -- 80,000 died at Hiroshima alone. And in his new biography of LeMay, Barrett Tillman writes that the general was more empathetic than his rhetoric suggested: "He could envision a three-year-old girl screaming for her mother in a burning house." But LeMay was a warrior "whose government gave him a task that required killing large numbers of enemy civilians so the war could be won."
It has been hotly debated how much indiscriminate killing of civilians in the Asian and European theaters really was "required" and therefore was morally...
That was inaccurate -- 80,000 died at Hiroshima alone. And in his new biography of LeMay, Barrett Tillman writes that the general was more empathetic than his rhetoric suggested: "He could envision a three-year-old girl screaming for her mother in a burning house." But LeMay was a warrior "whose government gave him a task that required killing large numbers of enemy civilians so the war could be won."
It has been hotly debated how much indiscriminate killing of civilians in the Asian and European theaters really was "required" and therefore was morally...
Tuesday, February 27, 2007 - 19:50
SOURCE: AP (2-27-07)
The "Holy Grail of baseball cards," the famous 1909 Honus Wagner tobacco card once owned by hockey great Wayne Gretzky, has sold for a record-setting $2,350,000, the seller of the card said Monday.
The anonymous buyer has only been identified as a Southern California collector. SCP Auctions Inc., a company that holds sports memorabilia auctions, said it bought a small share of the card. It is scheduled to be shown at a news conference at Dodger Stadium Tuesday.
There are about 60 of the tobacco cards in existence featuring the Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop, one of the first five players to be inducted in Baseball's Hall of Fame.
The seller, Brian Seigel, paid a then-record $1,265,000 in 2000 for the prize card, which is in much better shape than the others.
The anonymous buyer has only been identified as a Southern California collector. SCP Auctions Inc., a company that holds sports memorabilia auctions, said it bought a small share of the card. It is scheduled to be shown at a news conference at Dodger Stadium Tuesday.
There are about 60 of the tobacco cards in existence featuring the Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop, one of the first five players to be inducted in Baseball's Hall of Fame.
The seller, Brian Seigel, paid a then-record $1,265,000 in 2000 for the prize card, which is in much better shape than the others.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007 - 18:32
SOURCE: Chattanooga Times Free Press (2-27-07)
SEWANEE, Tenn. — A signature in the Franklin County Courthouse and a mummy last seen in 1975 convinced two Tennessee men that John Wilkes Booth, the killer of Abraham Lincoln, escaped capture, traveled South and lived into the 20th century.
Now one of those men is hoping to use DNA evidence to prove it.
The other man, Arthur Ben Chitty, a historiographer at the University of the South who died in 2002, spent 40 years amassing anecdotal evidence that Mr. Booth married a Sewanee woman and lived there for a time, said his daughter Em Turner Chitty.
And there was one piece of physical evidence: the signature of “Jno. W. Booth” and his bride, Louisa J. Payne, recorded Feb. 24, 1872, in the marriage license records office of the Franklin County Courthouse.
“What passes for history is good public relations — that’s my dad’s main thesis,” said Ms. Turner, an English teacher at Pellissippi State College in Knoxville. “The thing that got him most...
Now one of those men is hoping to use DNA evidence to prove it.
The other man, Arthur Ben Chitty, a historiographer at the University of the South who died in 2002, spent 40 years amassing anecdotal evidence that Mr. Booth married a Sewanee woman and lived there for a time, said his daughter Em Turner Chitty.
And there was one piece of physical evidence: the signature of “Jno. W. Booth” and his bride, Louisa J. Payne, recorded Feb. 24, 1872, in the marriage license records office of the Franklin County Courthouse.
“What passes for history is good public relations — that’s my dad’s main thesis,” said Ms. Turner, an English teacher at Pellissippi State College in Knoxville. “The thing that got him most...
Tuesday, February 27, 2007 - 14:40
SOURCE: David Denby in the New Yorker (2-26-07)
Written by Steven Knight (“Dirty Pretty Things”) and directed by the veteran Michael Apted, the movie is upbeat in tone, conventional in form, and often reminiscent of earlier inspirational pictures about heroes who overcome defeat and go on fighting against impossible odds. Yet, as square as this movie is, it has been made with eloquence and jaunty high spirits, and it tells a good story that is virtually unknown here.
If Americans recognize the name Wilberforce at all, they are probably thinking of Samuel Wilberforce, the bishop who was on the wrong side of the greatest intellectual issue of the nineteenth century. Bishop Samuel Wilberforce, taking on Darwin’s defender Thomas Henry Huxley in 1860, the year after the publication of “On the Origin of Species,” was opposed to the treading of flawed science on God’s glory or on human dignity. The Bishop’s father, William, was also a man who drew on religious definitions of dignity. If this film has it right, the father was...
If Americans recognize the name Wilberforce at all, they are probably thinking of Samuel Wilberforce, the bishop who was on the wrong side of the greatest intellectual issue of the nineteenth century. Bishop Samuel Wilberforce, taking on Darwin’s defender Thomas Henry Huxley in 1860, the year after the publication of “On the Origin of Species,” was opposed to the treading of flawed science on God’s glory or on human dignity. The Bishop’s father, William, was also a man who drew on religious definitions of dignity. If this film has it right, the father was...
Tuesday, February 27, 2007 - 14:34
SOURCE: Jonathan Bean in National Review Online (2-23-07)
William Wilberforce is one of the great forgotten men of history. That will change, and Wilberforce will be simply one of the great men of history, when the remarkable new film Amazing Grace opens nationwide this weekend.
Amazing Grace commemorates the bicentennial of the British ban on the slave trade (1807), an antislavery movement led by Wilberforce. Without him, there would have been no end to the slave trade, certainly not in his time. And, without his conversion to Christianity, Wilberforce might have lived a forgettable life as a rich man’s son. Instead, he helped give birth to new freedom in the British Empire, hope in America, and inspiration to abolitionists everywhere. Today, with slavery spreading in Africa and Asia, and an estimated 27 million in slavery worldwide, Amazing Grace is more than a period piece: It is a timely and enduring lesson on what one man can do to stop the spread of evil.
“Religion in politics” is a topic hot enough to spark a...
Amazing Grace commemorates the bicentennial of the British ban on the slave trade (1807), an antislavery movement led by Wilberforce. Without him, there would have been no end to the slave trade, certainly not in his time. And, without his conversion to Christianity, Wilberforce might have lived a forgettable life as a rich man’s son. Instead, he helped give birth to new freedom in the British Empire, hope in America, and inspiration to abolitionists everywhere. Today, with slavery spreading in Africa and Asia, and an estimated 27 million in slavery worldwide, Amazing Grace is more than a period piece: It is a timely and enduring lesson on what one man can do to stop the spread of evil.
“Religion in politics” is a topic hot enough to spark a...
Tuesday, February 27, 2007 - 14:33
SOURCE: Charlotte Allen in the WSJ (2-24-07)
It is rare that a Hollywood film takes up a subject like William Wilberforce
(1759-1833), the British parliamentarian who devoted nearly his entire 45-year
political career to banning the British slave trade. Alas, a lot of people
watching"Amazing Grace," Michael Apted's just-released film, may get the
impression--perhaps deliberately fostered by Mr. Apted--that Wilberforce was a
mostly secular humanitarian whose main passion was not Christian faith but
politics and social justice. Along the way, they may also get the impression
that the hymn"Amazing Grace" is no more than an uplifting piece of music that
sounds especially rousing on the bagpipes.
In fact, William Wilberforce was driven by a version of Christianity that today would be derided as"fundamentalist." One of his sons, sharing his father's outlook, was the Anglican bishop Samuel Wilberforce, who wrote a passionate critique of"The Origin of the Species," arguing that Darwin's then- new theory could not fully...
Monday, February 26, 2007 - 21:48
SOURCE: BBC (2-23-07)
Tourists may soon be able to call up a virtual Macbeth on their mobiles to get the true history behind William Shakespeare's tragic Scottish king.
The idea has won Seabridge Consultants in Forres, Moray, a £40,000 share of a £120,000 technology prize.
The company intend to use the money to develop a system where people will hear an actor's voice or receive a text telling the story of the real Macbeth.
He became king in the 11th Century after killing Duncan I in battle.
Cameron Taylor said many people did not know the real Scottish history behind Shakespeare's iconic fictional Macbeth.
The idea has won Seabridge Consultants in Forres, Moray, a £40,000 share of a £120,000 technology prize.
The company intend to use the money to develop a system where people will hear an actor's voice or receive a text telling the story of the real Macbeth.
He became king in the 11th Century after killing Duncan I in battle.
Cameron Taylor said many people did not know the real Scottish history behind Shakespeare's iconic fictional Macbeth.
Sunday, February 25, 2007 - 18:19
SOURCE: Telegraph (UK) (2-24-07)
With Oscar night looming, a list of nominees ranging from Helen Mirren to Forest Whitaker are keeping their fingers crossed this weekend.
Closer to home, however, a collector who has spent more than 30 years gathering the autographs of Hollywood stars who have picked up the awards is confident he is on to a winner.
Alan Robinson is expected to make as much as £1 milllion when the bulk of photographs signed by every actor to win an Oscar since the awards began in 1929 is sold at auction.
Amassing the portfolio of names has cost the 42-year-old legal accountant no less than £100,000, including a bank loan to buy Greta Garbo's autograph.
The purchase was the jewel in the crown of Mr Robinson's collection, and the culmination of a hobby which started when he met Harold Wilson at the age of seven.
Closer to home, however, a collector who has spent more than 30 years gathering the autographs of Hollywood stars who have picked up the awards is confident he is on to a winner.
Alan Robinson is expected to make as much as £1 milllion when the bulk of photographs signed by every actor to win an Oscar since the awards began in 1929 is sold at auction.
Amassing the portfolio of names has cost the 42-year-old legal accountant no less than £100,000, including a bank loan to buy Greta Garbo's autograph.
The purchase was the jewel in the crown of Mr Robinson's collection, and the culmination of a hobby which started when he met Harold Wilson at the age of seven.
Sunday, February 25, 2007 - 18:12
SOURCE: Breitbart (2-23-07)
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Wendy's International Inc. said Friday that sagging sales will force it to close the restaurant where the nation's third-largest hamburger chain began in 1969. The iconic restaurant, filled with memorabilia and photographs of the late Wendy's founder, Dave Thomas, will close March 2.
"This is a very difficult decision, but the truth is we kept it open for sentimental reasons much longer than we should have," company spokesman Denny Lynch said.
Thomas, who died in 2002 of liver cancer, opened his first Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers on Nov. 15, 1969. He named the restaurant after his 8-year-old daughter, Melinda Lou, nicknamed Wendy. He later became a nationally known figure as a Wendy's pitchman in television commercials.
But the original restaurant, just a few blocks from the Ohio Statehouse, is unable to generate sufficient sales at night or during weekends, when government buildings are closed, Lynch said....
"This is a very difficult decision, but the truth is we kept it open for sentimental reasons much longer than we should have," company spokesman Denny Lynch said.
Thomas, who died in 2002 of liver cancer, opened his first Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers on Nov. 15, 1969. He named the restaurant after his 8-year-old daughter, Melinda Lou, nicknamed Wendy. He later became a nationally known figure as a Wendy's pitchman in television commercials.
But the original restaurant, just a few blocks from the Ohio Statehouse, is unable to generate sufficient sales at night or during weekends, when government buildings are closed, Lynch said....
Sunday, February 25, 2007 - 17:59
SOURCE: Telegraph (UK) (2-24-07)
JERUSALEM -- In a scene worthy of a Dan Brown novel, archaeologists a quarter of a century ago unearthed a burial chamber near Jerusalem.
Inside they found ossuaries, or boxes of bones, marked with the names of Jesus, Joseph and Mary.
Then one of the ossuaries went missing. The human remains inside were destroyed before any DNA testing could be carried out.
While Middle East academics doubt that the relics belong to the Holy Family, the issue is about to be exposed to a blaze of publicity with the publication next week of a book.
Entitled The Jesus Tomb and co-written by Simcha Jacobovici and Charles Pellegrino, the book promises the inside story of "what may very well be the greatest archaeological find of all time".
Some of the ossuaries will be at the book launch in New York, released by the Israel Antiquities Authority.
Inside they found ossuaries, or boxes of bones, marked with the names of Jesus, Joseph and Mary.
Then one of the ossuaries went missing. The human remains inside were destroyed before any DNA testing could be carried out.
While Middle East academics doubt that the relics belong to the Holy Family, the issue is about to be exposed to a blaze of publicity with the publication next week of a book.
Entitled The Jesus Tomb and co-written by Simcha Jacobovici and Charles Pellegrino, the book promises the inside story of "what may very well be the greatest archaeological find of all time".
Some of the ossuaries will be at the book launch in New York, released by the Israel Antiquities Authority.
Sunday, February 25, 2007 - 17:05
SOURCE: AP (2-23-07)
NEW YORK -- With evocative names like Wisteria, Dragonfly, Peony, Arrowhead and Peacock and their fanciful shapes of colorful leaded glass, Tiffany lamps have enchanted art lovers for more than a century.
The epitome of art nouveau, thousands of lamps were designed and handmade in the New York workshops of Louis C. Tiffany largely between 1898 and 1909 from the iridescent opaque glass he patented.
But despite his sterling label, Tiffany had only a minor role in these masterpieces. He left the designs and handcrafting to his "Tiffany Girls," some 50 artisans who did the creative work and got none of the glory.
"A New Light on Tiffany," which opened Friday at the New-York Historical Society, sets the record straight for the first time. The one-time exhibit through May 28 illustrates the women's artisanship in splendid displays of 51 Tiffany lamps largely from the museum's own collection.
The epitome of art nouveau, thousands of lamps were designed and handmade in the New York workshops of Louis C. Tiffany largely between 1898 and 1909 from the iridescent opaque glass he patented.
But despite his sterling label, Tiffany had only a minor role in these masterpieces. He left the designs and handcrafting to his "Tiffany Girls," some 50 artisans who did the creative work and got none of the glory.
"A New Light on Tiffany," which opened Friday at the New-York Historical Society, sets the record straight for the first time. The one-time exhibit through May 28 illustrates the women's artisanship in splendid displays of 51 Tiffany lamps largely from the museum's own collection.
Sunday, February 25, 2007 - 17:00
SOURCE: International Herald Tribune (2-23-07)
NEW YORK -- Of all the cold cases in the art world thrillers, none beats the story of Tutankhamun's funerary chamber and the saga of the art treasures it held, recovered in what turned out to be the most important excavation ever relating to the pharaohs of Ancient Egypt.
Yet it took more than 80 years for the visual evidence to go on display under the title "Discovering Tutankhamun: The Photographs of Harry Burton," first at the Oriental Institute Museum (at the University of Chicago) and now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art until April 29. The book that comes with it, "Tutankhamun's Tomb: The Thrill of Discovery" should give food for thought to those who think that breaking up funerary caches to satisfy the appetites of commerce and of those for whom it caters is perfectly all right.
Yet it took more than 80 years for the visual evidence to go on display under the title "Discovering Tutankhamun: The Photographs of Harry Burton," first at the Oriental Institute Museum (at the University of Chicago) and now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art until April 29. The book that comes with it, "Tutankhamun's Tomb: The Thrill of Discovery" should give food for thought to those who think that breaking up funerary caches to satisfy the appetites of commerce and of those for whom it caters is perfectly all right.
Sunday, February 25, 2007 - 16:58
SOURCE: Independent (UK) (2-24-07)
Picasso only saw the shy 17-year-old girl, whose head was bowed with her hair high in a ponytail, for a few fleeting moments. But that was enough for him to become entranced by her beauty...
It was the young woman's sultry Brigitte Bardot look that captivated the Spanish artist. The encounter [in Provence] led to a year-long friendship in which Lydia Corbett, then known as Sylvette David, became the painter's model and posed for hours at his studio in the Cote d'Azur town of Vallauris.
The experience, in 1954, was a formative one for Ms Corbett, not least because, as well as becoming Picasso's latest muse, she was inspired to begin painting herself. Now, more than half a century later, Ms Corbett, 72, who lives in Devon, is exhibiting a large body of her work...
In the following three months, Picasso produced more than 40 pieces based on her likeness, and photographs of the painter with his latest model littered the pages of Parisian magazines....
It was the young woman's sultry Brigitte Bardot look that captivated the Spanish artist. The encounter [in Provence] led to a year-long friendship in which Lydia Corbett, then known as Sylvette David, became the painter's model and posed for hours at his studio in the Cote d'Azur town of Vallauris.
The experience, in 1954, was a formative one for Ms Corbett, not least because, as well as becoming Picasso's latest muse, she was inspired to begin painting herself. Now, more than half a century later, Ms Corbett, 72, who lives in Devon, is exhibiting a large body of her work...
In the following three months, Picasso produced more than 40 pieces based on her likeness, and photographs of the painter with his latest model littered the pages of Parisian magazines....
Sunday, February 25, 2007 - 16:57
SOURCE: NYT (2-25-07)
NEVER in American history, many argue, have political parties and administrations been more brazen about image manipulation and message control than they are now. But recent examples — the “Mission Accomplished” carrier landing, the new Democratic leadership team’s victory lap packaged as a listening tour — seem hapless in comparison with “The Plow That Broke the Plains” and “The River,” two government-financed documentaries from the 1930s that were shameless propaganda efforts.
These historic, engrossing and artistically rich films, directed by Pare Lorentz with original scores by Virgil Thomson, can be seen in a new DVD release from Naxos. Together they tell a grim saga of unchecked development in the Great Plains and the Mississippi River network. New Deal programs are presented as noble ventures aimed at aiding refugee families devastated by floods, droughts and dust storms, and offering the only means to reclaim America’s natural resources and right the environmental...
These historic, engrossing and artistically rich films, directed by Pare Lorentz with original scores by Virgil Thomson, can be seen in a new DVD release from Naxos. Together they tell a grim saga of unchecked development in the Great Plains and the Mississippi River network. New Deal programs are presented as noble ventures aimed at aiding refugee families devastated by floods, droughts and dust storms, and offering the only means to reclaim America’s natural resources and right the environmental...
Sunday, February 25, 2007 - 15:59
SOURCE: NYT (2-25-07)
IN various pockets of the fashion and design worlds, the years of the new millennium have been characterized by a return to the visual language of the 1950s. We have seen the arch-frump style of Prada, the housewife-at-the-country-club dresses from various American designers, the pink KitchenAid mixers that might have come from the cabinets of Ozzie and Harriet. Sometimes the take has been wistful, sometimes cheeky. Often the players involved hope to call our attention to some of the more insidious aspects of midcentury social and cultural conformism.
Some of the same factors are responsible for one important trend of the new theater season: revivals of ’50s plays. The trend reaches beyond Broadway, where “Inherit the Wind,” the fictionalized account of the Scopes trial, is to open April 12. (The original 1955 production won Paul Muni a Tony Award and showcased a young Tony Randall.) The Keen Company, for instance, is mounting its version of “Tea and Sympathy” (opening...
Some of the same factors are responsible for one important trend of the new theater season: revivals of ’50s plays. The trend reaches beyond Broadway, where “Inherit the Wind,” the fictionalized account of the Scopes trial, is to open April 12. (The original 1955 production won Paul Muni a Tony Award and showcased a young Tony Randall.) The Keen Company, for instance, is mounting its version of “Tea and Sympathy” (opening...
Sunday, February 25, 2007 - 15:54
SOURCE: Press Release -- Muzzy Lane Software (2-23-07)
Strategy First today announced that the PC game "MAKING HISTORY: The Calm & the Storm" developed by Muzzy Lane Software, has officially gone gold. "MAKING HISTORY: The Calm & the Storm" is due to hit stores in North America March 13th, 2007.
"MAKING HISTORY" puts players in control of global conflict, combining a highly sophisticated AI with rich historical detail. The game is unique among World War II games in the way it challenges gamers to achieve economic and diplomatic victory, not just military success.
"Strategy gamers and war buffs are going to love this game" says Richard Therrien, Vice President of Development for Strategy First. "MAKING HISTORY is a strong game and its level of quality and gameplay surpasses other strategy titles. It's refreshing to have a game with real depth that is supported by an interface that does not get in the way."
"We're incredibly pleased with the...
"MAKING HISTORY" puts players in control of global conflict, combining a highly sophisticated AI with rich historical detail. The game is unique among World War II games in the way it challenges gamers to achieve economic and diplomatic victory, not just military success.
"Strategy gamers and war buffs are going to love this game" says Richard Therrien, Vice President of Development for Strategy First. "MAKING HISTORY is a strong game and its level of quality and gameplay surpasses other strategy titles. It's refreshing to have a game with real depth that is supported by an interface that does not get in the way."
"We're incredibly pleased with the...
Saturday, February 24, 2007 - 13:03
SOURCE: WaPo (2-22-07)
BERLIN -- A new exhibit of Tibetan art in Berlin offers a rare chance to see treasures from ancient Buddhist monasteries, but is also being criticized as whitewashing China's treatment of Tibet's ancient culture.
Curator Jeong-hee Lee-Kalisch said the exhibit at the Museum of Asian Art was a unique opportunity to see masterpieces that are not found in other museums.
"There has never been an exhibition in which the objects came directly from the monasteries in central Tibet. In that sense, this is a world premiere," Lee-Kalisch said.
The exhibit, which runs through May 28, consists of about 150 works, many of which have never left Tibet. They were gathered from the collections of five monasteries, two museums, the now-exiled Dalai Lama's Potala Palace in Lhasa and his summer palace in Norbulingka.
The objects date from the fifth century to the early 20th century and include statues, paintings, sacred wall hangings and ceremonial...
Curator Jeong-hee Lee-Kalisch said the exhibit at the Museum of Asian Art was a unique opportunity to see masterpieces that are not found in other museums.
"There has never been an exhibition in which the objects came directly from the monasteries in central Tibet. In that sense, this is a world premiere," Lee-Kalisch said.
The exhibit, which runs through May 28, consists of about 150 works, many of which have never left Tibet. They were gathered from the collections of five monasteries, two museums, the now-exiled Dalai Lama's Potala Palace in Lhasa and his summer palace in Norbulingka.
The objects date from the fifth century to the early 20th century and include statues, paintings, sacred wall hangings and ceremonial...
Friday, February 23, 2007 - 19:09
SOURCE: Reuters (2-22-07)
NEW YORK -- In Latin America, the memory of the "disappeared" never went away. In the United States, they were hardly ever known.
Now some of the tens of thousands who vanished during Latin America's so-called dirty wars will be introduced to New York on Friday when a stark exhibit, "The Disappeared (Los Desaparecidos)," opens at the Museo del Barrio for its first stop on a U.S. tour.
With works such as Arturo Duclos's Chilean flag made from 75 human femurs, the art on display recalls the political dissidents and others who were presumed killed under the region's military dictatorships from the 1950s to the 1980s...
"It's very disturbing," curator Laurel Reuter said. "And I think what finally propelled me into pulling the exhibition together was the more I realized the role of the United States in underpinning the dictatorships. We as Americans don't necessarily know what our country is doing."
...
Now some of the tens of thousands who vanished during Latin America's so-called dirty wars will be introduced to New York on Friday when a stark exhibit, "The Disappeared (Los Desaparecidos)," opens at the Museo del Barrio for its first stop on a U.S. tour.
With works such as Arturo Duclos's Chilean flag made from 75 human femurs, the art on display recalls the political dissidents and others who were presumed killed under the region's military dictatorships from the 1950s to the 1980s...
"It's very disturbing," curator Laurel Reuter said. "And I think what finally propelled me into pulling the exhibition together was the more I realized the role of the United States in underpinning the dictatorships. We as Americans don't necessarily know what our country is doing."
...
Friday, February 23, 2007 - 18:50
SOURCE: NYT (2-22-07)
LOUISVILLE, Ky., Feb. 21 — Forty years after a draft board here rejected his bid for conscientious objector status, Muhammad Ali plans to return to live in the city where he was born and where resentment engendered by his refusal to be drafted into the Vietnam War has not entirely died away.
“He’s nothing more than a draft-dodger to me, and I’d say that’s the consensus around here,” said Wayne Love, 61, who tends bar here at the Veterans of Foreign War post in a mostly white neighborhood where racial tensions flared recently over a proposal to rename a city street for the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Ali, 65, the former three-time world heavyweight champion boxer, has changed in 40 years. His fiery language about racial injustice has been replaced by a quieter message about peace, and Parkinson’s disease has slowed his once-graceful gait.
But some here who welcome his return say the city itself has changed much less markedly. They point to police...
“He’s nothing more than a draft-dodger to me, and I’d say that’s the consensus around here,” said Wayne Love, 61, who tends bar here at the Veterans of Foreign War post in a mostly white neighborhood where racial tensions flared recently over a proposal to rename a city street for the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Ali, 65, the former three-time world heavyweight champion boxer, has changed in 40 years. His fiery language about racial injustice has been replaced by a quieter message about peace, and Parkinson’s disease has slowed his once-graceful gait.
But some here who welcome his return say the city itself has changed much less markedly. They point to police...
Friday, February 23, 2007 - 15:50
