Ross Bender wrote:
OK, dude, I'll be picketing that reception, and handing out literature about
the REAL Mennonites.
The title is just ridiculous. It would be as if some jerk had a gallery show
called "The Jews" and showed photos of Lubavitcher Hassidim from Brooklyn.
That is to say:
Hassidim:Jews :: Old Colony Mennonites: Mennonites
If you have anything to do with this show, I strongly advise you to retitle
it, because I'm gonna be there telling the "artist" and anybody else who's
listening that this is a ridiculous insult to Mennonites, and maybe breaking
some heads. Just for your information, I can count off on the top of my head
half a dozen Mennonites who have received Ph.D.'s from Penn within the last
20 years, and another dozen who have doctorates from REAL Ivy League
schools. Ahem. Although Mennonites are related to these bizarre backward
splinter groups and even the Amish, who seem to be fodder for every dorky
late night comedian, or so my TV-watching sister informs me, we mainstream
Mennonites are BAD. The Dean of the Harvard Medical School is one, jist for
instance, although I don't like to advertise that place a whole lot.
Damn, the more I think about this, the upsetter I get.
As everybody on this list should know, we have a real Mennonite church right
here in West Philly -- meets at the Calvary Center at 9:00am Sunday
mornings, right after milking time and chores. We're so advanced that we're
installing a lady pastor next month. Admittedly, we're not as up to date as
yer Presbyterians, Methodists and Lutherans -- for example, some of us don't
have cars and TVs, and we're downright backward when it comes to being suave
and debonair about any kind of sex outside marriage - but we plan to have a
seminar this fall on whether the Bible teaches that masturbation is godly or
not.
For more information, check out "The Anabaptist Vision" on the Columbia
University alumni website, while I go and slop the hogs.
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/alumni/connection/connect/mycu/2666.html
cool your jets, ross! I know you're always dying to point
out to the class how there are mennonites, and then there
are MENNONITES, but this show explains all that, and places
the people depicted in the photos in context (historical,
geographical, cultural, religious).
the title is larry towell's title, same as his book which
has been out since 2000 (http://tinyurl.com/24k2km) and his
traveling exhibit (http://art2art.org/exhibit_towell.htm)
towell's lived with these people and traveled with them and
has been allowed into their lives to photograph them. I
think it would be cool if you arranged to have a big public
discussion with him about the whole issue of photographing
others, presenting other cultures -- I've been interested in
that subject for a long long time (I've worked on exhibits
for any number of anthropological/archaeological museums and
galleries) and I'd highly recommend:
Exhibiting Cultures: The Poetics and Politics of
Museum Display, ed. Karp and Levine (1991; Smithsonian)
it's a subject with no easy answers, and it's why, even
today, a concert in a park can be political to some, art to
others.
so if you want to break some heads, ross, go for it (but
with seminars, not pickets!)
- - - - -
meanwhile, ross, you like to talk about real mennonites here
in west philly, but you never once told us how linford
martin, owner of the firehouse, worked out the deal with ucd
and rosemarie certo to have dock street installed there. did
he meet with rosemarie certo before or after he told the
existing vendors to vacate? did this all happen before or
after ucd stepped into the picture?
..................
UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN
[aka laserbeam®]
[aka ray]
SERIAL LIAR. CALL FOR RATES.
"It is very clear on this listserve who
these people are. Ray has admitted being
connected to this forger." -- Tony West
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