Sunday 6 August 2006

Hiroshima Day

A serious post for the 61st anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. We are still surrounded by war, hatreds, conflict in so many places. This container reminds me of a photo Abdallah posted on Beirut Daily Photo on 29 July. . .

The container is an exhibition forming part of the Sydney Biennale. The sign reads:

Milica Tomic, born Belgrade, former Yugoslavia 1960. Lives and works in Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro.

'My art is an attempt to save the memory of history, which is a defining part of our identity. . .the issues which I derived from this idea of criticality I would like to place in the context of personal political discussions.' In Container [2006] Milica Tomic references a reported event from the war in Afghanistan. Captured Taliban, under the supervision of the US Army, were shot dead after requesting that air holes be made in the shipping containers in which they were being transported. Tomic also makes reference to an event from the Balkan wars - when people were herded into containers and dropped into deep water.


Surely as a species we can do better than to constantly invent better weapons with which to kill and ways of oppressing each other?






3 comments:

  1. War, hatred, killing, torture... all are deplorable and ultimately counterproductive. Thanks to the artists and the social justice advocates that remind us of these things. Thanks to you, Sally, too for your post today.

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  2. Too much for me to bear. The shot of the container only reminded me of a trip I made to the Dachau concentration camp. The way they treated the prisoners. Stuffed into a small bed like a can of sardines. Awful!

    Thank you for this wonderful memorial.

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