So I did turn on my sewing machine and did thread it and did sew- just lines and pebbles of colour- and whilst i was sitting and sewing I thought about all I had seen, and really how different it was to what the media would have us believe it is. Basically I think that we are lied to every single day. All of us are brought up to be truthful and to treat others with respect- I know the people I have as friends are such people-truthful, respectful, compassionate and caring, but but where is this in the people that seem to run the big things? They smirk and tell another lie, defraud and tell more lies- and frankly I am tired of being lied to- hence the writing on the stitched piece. Not only that, the lies result in people dieing- and that deeply bothers me. It leaves me feeling wretched with powerlessness- that it has got so, that there seems so little that any one person can do- so the wheels grinding in my head are saying that perhaps i can say more with my art.
I encountered a Syrian calligraphist and sculptor and artist, Sami Burhan when we were in Allepo. He lives in Italy most of the time but Allepo is still his home. He had created work for the United Nations, and all of his work involved the concept of peace and brotherhood- I can see the some artists, those in power and the 'me' generation laughing with superior smirks about such an outdated notion- but he believed in it firmly- he acted it in his dealings with people and students- he was generous with his time and thoughts and it was there in his huge sculpted art. He was using the beauty of his calligraphical heritage to make large statements, and i thought here is a voice in the wilderness- we need more of those.
8 comments:
We aren't the only ones being lied to. I often think that, if groups of *common* people, like you and I, could get together with our counterparts around the world (cutting out the politicians and their ulterior motives) that we really could have world peace or, at least, close. During the Cold War I became friends with some Russians (Soviets) who had come to Canada and then the US. They were more than a little apprehensive about the move as they really expected one thing but soon discovered that their government had lied to them for generations! Gee, and I discovered that our government had done the same. We weren't out to wipe Russia off the map (well, us regular folks weren't) and they didn't want to do the same to us! Go figure! Discovered the same while working in the pediatric clinic at Western MI Uni where most of our patients were from the Middle East....more similarities than differences....
teri
Dijanne, I feel as strongly as you about all these lies we are told. I like your new piece, new colours for you too I think?
i believe we've exchanged ideas before about a peace project and my sense of powerlessness does get the best of me and then turns to anger and rage at how little humanity has evolved in spite of the lies we like to think are true. if only serious time and energy was given to studying and promoting peace...
Dijanne I have felt angry and helpless about this for a long time. I can't watch the news, it is sound bite journalism anyway.
I find the current promotion of fear the most insidious of all. Fear of the unknown, it isn't a new thing. (Yellow peril, white australia policy, we have a big history of it here)
The fact is that people of different cultures are not 'the unknown'. Ordinary people the world over have the same wants and needs as we do, our differences should be celebrated, not feared. Why has mulitculturalism become such a dirty word?
I think the sort of cross cultural exchange you have been engaged in recently is a wonderful antidote.
Claire
for a long time i had to stop reading papers because i knew it was lies in one form or other, exageration, manipulation, dramatic comment where really only human compassion and understanding were needed. I'm with you all here on the frustration and hope that the universe turns to give us the opportunities to respond and our voices be heard.
The biggest challange is to help people bridge their fear, and the biggest reward too.
"wind at yer back" in all your efforts
"Doublethink," as George Orwell explained in 1984, "means the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them. The Party intellectual knows in which direction his memories must be altered; he therefore knows that he is playing tricks with reality; but by the exercise of doublethink he also satisfies himself that reality is not violated. The process has to be conscious, or it would not be carried out with sufficient precision, but it also has to be unconscious, or it would bring with it a feeling of falsity and hence of guilt ... It is a vast system of mental cheating."
This is the beginning of an interesting piece by Marina Hyde in today's Guardian newspaper: http://www.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,,1735642,00.html
Yes, and now in the USA common people are being lied to and about from every direction on a daily basis. There is very little content anywhere that has been spun so fatten someone else's wallet - the bottom line in all dealings. There was a time when I thought I might like to see some of the world firsthand. Now I am told to prepare to deny that I am an American, pass myself off as Canadian, or deal with the unpleasant and possibly dangerous consequences. Understanding why doesn't help much.
Dijanne, and all,
I am so glad to see and hear the speaking out about this. The lies can emotionally incapacitate us if we don't stay strong and speak up. One voice has little power. However if many of us speak and speak clearly we become more powerful voice by added voice.
I saw something the other day that shocked me. Go to the FiberArts magazine April/May 2006 to page 12 and look at the image in the upper left corner. I never thought I would see the day when Nancy Crow spoke out.
There is power in numbers. We need to speak. The saddest thing about all of this is watching the congress about all this immigration/felony crap. The nicest thing about it is that it is bring people by the thousands peacefully into the street. We must open our borders. We must join our voices in hope of peace in our old, worn out lifetimes. thelma
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