Peaceful war protest - Artists' draw-in March 5

[luckykat]

I just received this email announcement from Joanne Kaliontzis <jkali@rcn.com> broadcast on a public art network concerning this upcoming event:

Drawn-In on March 5 at the Met. Museum of Art (and other musuems)

This seems to me the best Public Art
ideas against the War I have heard of yet:

Drawn-In

We invite artists and others around the world to gather on Moratorium
Day, March 5, in their local museums which exhibit ancient near eastern
art. In New York, this action will take place from 9:30 to 5:30 in the
Assyrian gallery at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

We will respectfully draw with pencil on paper the art around
us, which was created as early as five thousand years ago in the land now
known as Iraq, where urban life and the written word originated.
Our goal is to call attention to all of the civilizations which have
flourished in Mesopotamia under so many names and
cultures: Sumer, Babylonia, Assyria, the Arab/Muslim Abbasid Empire
and contemporary Iraq.

This is a peaceful vigil, made in protest against US foreign policy under
George W. Bush. If someone asks what we are doing, we will speak quietly
with them and explain our position, then continue to draw. We will keep in
mind the intention: to pay homage to this land, culture and people, which
our government is planning to destroy. We are deeply concerned about an
imminent threat to human life, and to the memory and history embedded
in all of Mesopotamia, modern Iraq.

Please spread the word to everyone you know anywhere who is an artist
or a lover of art! If this action takes place in other cities, please
let us know all about it, and if you have pictures, we
would love to see them.


Met Event Committee, Artists Against the War
<aawnion@hotmail.com>
------------------------------------------

Note: The Metropolitan Museum of Art only allows us
to draw with pencil on paper, so don't bring pen and ink. You can
use cameras, but not flash. If the Near Eastern galleries are closed,
we will convene in the Islamic rooms.