Friday, March 28, 2008

New Orleans Museum of Art - "You Can't Handle the Truth"

From June 28 to September 21, 2008, the New Orleans Museum of Art will exhibit works by Columbian artist Fernando Botero (at Artnet, at Artcyclopedia).

There is one series of his art, however, that you won't see at NOMA. You won't see it at any American museum.

Why?

Well, when Botero read about American soldiers' abuse of prisoners at abu Ghraib, he immediately began sketching out what he was reading about - right there during his cross-country flight. That effort led to Botero's creation of more than 50 graphic paintings of the events described in Seymour Hersh's New York Times expose.

Although a few American galleries have shown this collection, no American museum will do so.

Here is Fernando Botero's youtube video of what NOMA won't show you.

Americans are so often told that we are the freest country on earth. If, however, you've lived abroad for a few years, you quickly discovered the other news, the stuff our media won't tell us. It turns out there is "other" art too. And you won't find it at NOMA.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

The American people are lied to constantly, but because we have been for so long (since the beginning of time, pretty much) we see it as acceptable and we see it as how the government is just "protecting" its people, which is of course downright ludicrous. The war and war crimes in particular have been a huge scam, although there are still so many people who believe that it's just fine and dandy to be sheltered from what is really going on. I find it disgusting that America is so sheltered and that most people are so naive to believe that what we are being told is "for our own good."

NOLA radfem said...

Amen, M.P. Amen.

I think most Americans are convinced they do know the whole truth. For example, they believe it when they are told that 9/11 was because "they hate us for our freedoms," but they have no idea that our country has been engaged in both covert and overt interference in the affairs of sovereign nations for so long.

I've been checking out my daughter's junior high history book lately and...wow. I wish there was something along the lines of "A People's History of the United States" but for teenagers, to supplement what their history teachers are teaching them. I tried homeschooling for a year, but the mother-daughter dynamic got in the way; she clearly needs to be in a group to get motivated.

Dark Daughta said...

Henh...
I think amerikkkans telling other amerikkkans that they're all part of the freest country on the face of the earth might be constructed as a bit of collective dellusion. ;)

Once you check the news from the other parts of the world, once you check to see how much the "free" in freest costs people in other parts of the world and the experience of domination so many of us trace back to the land of the free, you'll realize that "free" exists within the confines of a spin doctoring facist state where the people's intellects are hobbled by often substandard education which allows their bar to be lowered to the extent where they will willingly define themselves as "free".

It's sad.

Amerikkkan soldiers are once more running to kkkanada because the freedom to fight and die on behalf of their country is not something they want to experience.

It's pretty much the same story in kkkanada, where we're told that kkkanada is anti-racist and progressive.

I keep asking myself what is it about governments that make them tell such bold faced lies.

Then I remember...
If they don't tell the people lies, the people will revolt and the people don't really want to revolt, so they willingly swallow the lies. It's so sad. So, so sad.

NOLA radfem said...

Hi, dark daughta,

Then I remember...
If they don't tell the people lies, the people will revolt and the people don't really want to revolt, so they willingly swallow the lies. It's so sad. So, so sad.


Fascinating take on that, on why people continue to believe the delusions.

It reminds me of when Harriet Tubman was asked about how she saved so many people with the Underground Railroad and she said, "Oh, I could have saved thousands more, if only I could have convinced them they were slaves."

That could apply to all of us, really.

Thanks for commenting on my blog. I'm sorry it took me a few days to reply. I finally got to see an old junior high girlfriend who has been a NOLAfugee to Texas ever since Hurricane Katrina. We were doing some major sisterhood work - what a much-needed refresher! One of the most insidious aspects of the hetero nuclear family life is that it keeps women apart from their sisters. It's unnatural.

I've been reading your blog for a while now. Most of us are trying to dig deep with these blogs, dark daughta, but you consistently manage to go about three times deeper than the rest of us. I love what you're doing - so thought-provoking.