Imagine America

I went to the opening reception September 11 for the "Imagine America" exhibit at the U.S. Embassy this evening. As expected, we went through a metal detector and had to check all electronic equipment, including cell phones and digital cameras, so I couldn't take any pictures.

For information about the exhibit, see the Embassy's web site:
http://slovakia.usembassy.gov/imagine-america-slovak-american-photos-in-911-exhibit-at-embassy-august17-2007.html

It was a lovely gathering in so many ways. The Ambassador made brief remarks, as did the Slovak Prime Minister and the exhibit curator. They even had a videoconferencing hookup to the American artist in the exhibit, Rick Dingus, at his university home in west Texas, so participants could talk with him. He has never visited Slovakia, but hopes to. Some of us suggested via videoconference that he apply for a Fulbright. His images portray desolation in western Texas, whether the result of drought, technology, or economic changes. Hardly anyone at the exhibit, including the Americans, had seen such images of the U.S., and there we were, halfway around the world, seeing the images and talking live with the artist.

I was especially touched by the images by the Slovak artist Róbert Kočan of lower Manhattan after 9/11, which he knew only from other images. I am reminded of how dependent we are on the perceptions of others in shaping our views of the world -- whether artists, reporters, or editors of television, books, and newspapers.

A small footnote to history: the reception was held in the Claiborne Pell Room. He was the Democratic Rhode Island senator instrumental in the establishment of the National Endowment for the Arts in the 1960s, and I think he would be proud of his legacy abroad.