It had to happen. Somebody feels put out that this column has “Can you explain what exactly Jan Herman [is] writing about? Are “I don’t think political invective mixes well with the arts. But now I Shame on me. I plead guilty to the sin of mixing politics and the “The Rwanda Project” is an arts subject of the most stirring kind And now, I’m glad to say, the story continues. For those who are
\ndared to invade the sacrosanct precinct of the arts with an alien subject: political opinion. I quote
\nfrom a message sent yesterday to ArtsJournal editor Douglas McLennan: <\/SPAN> <\/P>
\n
\n
\nyou no longer running an arts site? Are you going to be hiring Ann Coulter next? After two years
\nof reading ArtsJournal loyally, almost daily, I felt today like I had been slapped in the
\nface. <\/SPAN> <\/P>
\n
\nwonder if I haven’t suddenly discovered why your site was attacked. I’d rather lock Jan Herman in
\na room with Ann Coulter than have either one write about the arts.”<\/SPAN>
\n<\/P><\/BLOCKQUOTE>
\n
\narts. How else could one ever describe “
\nProject<\/FONT><\/VAR><\/B><\/A>“? I’ve written about it before as:
\nnot just a subject that pricks the conscience, like other subjects I’ve written about (Danny Pearl,
\nWal-Mart, Ground Zero), although that would be enough.<\/SPAN> <\/P>
\n
\nprecisely because it is not a mere instance of “art for arts sake”: It is art for
\nhumanity’s sake. The political context is unavoidable. Merely to describe its purpose (
\nflashart intro here<\/VAR><\/B><\/FONT><\/A>) is to voice a political opinion.<\/SPAN> <\/P>
\n
\ninterested, a report is scheduled tonight on ABC at 10 about
\nphotographer<\/VAR><\/B><\/FONT><\/A> whose hands were amputated during the Rwanda
\ngenocide of 1994 and who was recently given prosthetic hands here in the United States due to
\nhelp provided by project supporters and orphanage board members living in Columbus,
\nOhio.<\/SPAN> <\/P>
\n