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.

Embassy events

The U.S. Embassy is in the left front of this image. In the center back is Bratislava Castle and the tower at St. Michael's gate, entrance to the restored medieval city. To the right of the Embassy is Hviezdoslavovo námestie, the public square named after the 19th-century Slovak poet. The web site for the Embassy: http://bratislava.usembassy.gov/

I have just gotten my first invitation to an event at the U.S. Embassy in Bratislava, a reception for a photography exhibit in honor of 9/11. We had been told that Fulbrighters are often invited to such things in the host country, and it's nice that something has already arrived.

The invitation was entirely in Slovak. It's a relief to realize how understandable it is, even before checking some words in my Slovak-English dictionary. My RVSP acceptance will be in English, however. It's one thing to read something in a foreign language, but something else entirely to compose a remotely credible communication, and my phrasebook for tourists has nothing relevant.