i agree with you partially, dr. peniston, though your impartiality (in your
mention of damascus and teheran) seems to be open to debate... why aren't we
mentioning the looting done buy the british museum, the louvre, and the met (for
example), the destruction, for example, of jewish material culture in many a
region?
i agree completely with you about the inappropriateness of political campaigning,
though your choice of cities is political by implication.... let's return
-everything- to everybody, no? let's get real
-don spicehandler, nyc
William Peniston wrote:
> As professional, we are in charge of the acquisitions, organization,
> preservation, reference, and management of information in a variety of
> fomats on the art and culture of different civilizations. We ought to be
> concerned about the looting of the National Museum in Baghdad and the
> burring of the National Library as well. This listserv is an appropriate
> place for the dissemination of information regarding those events.
> However, I am not convinced that it is an appropriate place for
> expressing our personal political opinions as to whether George W. Bush is
> "a great president" or "a madman". I am even less convinced that it is an
> appropriate place to begin a campaign to reelect him or to defeat him at the
> polls in 2004. Nevertheless, I am leery about censoring anyone's personal
> political opinion on these subjects or any other subjects.
> Having said that, I do think that it is appropriate for Arlis/NA's
> Public Policy Committee to make a statement about these recent events. I
> would urge it to address three concerns:
> 1. the looting of the National Museum, the burning of the National
> Library, and the threat to other cultural institutions in Iraq;
> 2. the threat to the art and culture of other cities and countries
> in the region, particularly the museums and libraries of Damascus and
> Tehran;
> 3. the effect that this war has already had on our economy, which
> has resulted in the decrease of public funds and private donations for the
> arts and humanities here at home, especially as they effect museums and
> libraries.
> Although all three of these points are highly political, they are
> nevertheless extremely important to all of us as professionals.
> I know that the Public Policy Committee is writing a statement and I
> look forward to reading it once it is published.
>
> William A. Peniston, Ph.D.
> Manager of Library and Archives
> The Newark Museum
> 49 Washington Street
> Newark, NJ 07102
> Telephone: (973) 596-6625
> Fax: (973) 642-0459
> E-mail: [log in to unmask]
>
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__________________________________________________________________
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