THOU SHALT NOT

It had to happen. Somebody feels put out that this column has dared to invade the sacrosanct precinct of the arts with an alien subject: political opinion. I quote from a message sent yesterday to ArtsJournal editor Douglas McLennan: 

"Can you explain what exactly Jan Herman [is] writing about? Are you no longer running an arts site? Are you going to be hiring Ann Coulter next? After two years of reading ArtsJournal loyally, almost daily, I felt today like I had been slapped in the face. 

"I don't think political invective mixes well with the arts. But now I wonder if I haven't suddenly discovered why your site was attacked. I'd rather lock Jan Herman in a room with Ann Coulter than have either one write about the arts."

Shame on me. I plead guilty to the sin of mixing politics and the arts. How else could one ever describe "The Rwanda Project"? I've written about it before as: the children who know what they see. But it's not just a subject that pricks the conscience, like other subjects I've written about (Danny Pearl, Wal-Mart, Ground Zero), although that would be enough.

"The Rwanda Project" is an arts subject of the most stirring kind precisely because it is not a mere instance of "art for arts sake": It is art for humanity's sake. The political context is unavoidable. Merely to describe its purpose (click on the flashart intro here) is to voice a political opinion.

And now, I'm glad to say, the story continues. For those who are interested, a report is scheduled tonight on ABC at 10 about Frederick, the Imbabazi Orphanage artist and photographer whose hands were amputated during the Rwanda genocide of 1994 and who was recently given prosthetic hands here in the United States due to help provided by project supporters and orphanage board members living in Columbus, Ohio.

Here's Fredrick's biography, and here's his photo portfolio. Meantime, you can listen to a recent NPR interview of orphanage founder Rosalind Carr, who is 90 and still going strong. "She's everybody's feisty grandmother who can entertain you for hours, sitting at her knee, listening to her fabulous stories," says David Jiranek, who founded "The Rwanda Project." "She has perfectly coiffed gray hair, is a magician with gardens and plants, has tea every day at 4, and then slugs [it out] with the government, landlords, etc. fighting for her kids.

And now you can participate in a political act for art and humanity's sake. How about buying a print of one of "The Rwanda Project" artists? Hell, buy more than one. It's a tax-deductible donation. Here's how to help. And if you can't afford the price of a print, enjoy the photos on that site and forward the address to friends.