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To: coug who wrote (4450)	6/29/2003 10:55:16 AM
From: epicure	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 51770

They could have meant it nicely. They could have been a bunch of well intentioned liberals thinking that to showcase Iraqi culture right now would be to give people a better idea about Iraq- and it's past glory. I say this because people in the museum biz tend to be on the liberal side :-) like teachers. But I do see your point. And you probably represent a lot of other people thinking the same thing. Perhaps you should write them and tell them of your concerns? Then at least they would know that they offended a segment of the population they were no doubt hoping to reach. Is it a beautiful day where you are? It's glorious here. We're trying to decide what to do.

To: coug who wrote (4450)	6/29/2003 11:41:57 AM
From: Rambi	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 51770

You make an interesting point. Just a thought, but one of the strongest criticisms of our country is our lack of knowledge about and appreciation of other cultures. The young kids on the block, we don't seem to quite grasp the amazing achievements of the past. For us ancient is 1492. There's an exchange in the show I'm currently doing (You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown) where Linus says to CB. "My grandfather has a birthday today." Charlie Brown says, "How old is he?" LInus replies, "He's 63" A little pause. "It's hard to believe he was once a human being." Similarly, I think that we tend to dismiss early civilizations as irrelevant because of our own callow "youth". I understand what you are saying, but I would hope any country that would choose to criticize us would think again of the accusations leveled against us about our provincialism, and choose the more generous alternative of being glad we are trying to learn and rectify our narrow vision. I believe that anything that further educates us and broadens us is preferable to doing nothing out of a fear of offending. The exhibit might remind us that the people so many Americans think of as being inferior and backwards in so many ways, have an impressive and amazing past. Also, practically speaking, those exhibits take enormous amounts of time, money, planning- usually years in advance. The arts get short shrift so often nowadays, I would hate to see them influenced by politics. That said, I was glad to read your POV as it wouldn't have occurred to me and I think we need to be sensitive to all the possibilities of our actions. Something I don't think we do a bang up job off here in America.