News
Briefly
Calendar of Events
Commentary
Opinions
Sports
Diversions
World News
Classifieds
Login
Letter Submission
Search
Archive
Publishing Policy
Mail Subscriptions
St. Cloud State University
College Publisher
Home
>
News
Coexistence exhibits tolerance
By Ashley Preste
Published:
Monday, March 29, 2004
Media Credit: Ryan Henry
The "Coexistence"exhibit is on display in Atwood lounge. The exhibit addresses issues of tolerance.
"Coexistence is not necessarily learning to live together, but perhaps learning to live side by side. If we cannot live together, surely we will perish together," said Raphie Etgar, curator of the "Coexistence" exhibition coming to Minnesota.
Stephen Feinstein, director of the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at the University of Minnesota, spoke Wednesday in Atwood to honor the opening of "Coexistence," a three week mini-version of the international poster exhibition.
"I first heard of this exhibit two years ago when I visited Berlin," Feinstein said. "It originated from the Museum of the Seam in Jerusalem. I went to the exhibit three times while I was in Berlin."
The actual exhibit is outdoors and each piece of artwork is billboard size, measuring about 10 by 16 feet. Quotes from humanitarians from all around the world are displayed underneath each piece of artwork, which adds to the drama of the exhibit. The SCSU version will not include these quotes, thus taking away from the full effect.
Feinstein included in his presentation a section called, "The tyranny of words." He provided a list of words, along with brief explanations.
The word tolerance received criticism during the presentation.
"Tolerance is the real problem word," Feinstein said. "The word tolerance suggests that one is superior to another. It is saying, 'I am the boss and I will give you some, but not all rights.' Tolerance is the lowest level of acceptance."
Tolerance can be applied to interaction of religions, but there is no relevance to race, Feinstein said.
Within the "Coexistence" exhibit, the word tolerance does not appear.
"I knew when I saw this exhibit that I wanted to bring it to Minnesota," Feinstein said.
This was no easy task. The Walker Art Center and the Minnesota Art Institute each have a four-year agenda that needs to be followed, which did not allow either of the art centers to conduct this exhibit, Feinstein said.
The University of Minnesota's agenda was a bit more lenient. The exhibition will be May 1 through May 30 at the Minneapolis/Hennepin County Government Center Square and will move June 4 through July 6 to St. Paul's Rice Park.
Along with the exhibition itself, various presentations will be conducted on the University of Minnesota campus to provide more information and educational opportunities for the public. To receive more information regarding the event, log on to www.chgs.umn.edu.
Forum:
No comments have been posted for this story.
Post a comment
