Gold9472
04-13-2008, 07:25 AM
World's largest Sept. 11 exhibit to open in France
Museum out to show event's global impact
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-9-11_museum_12apr12,1,7613928.story
By Geraldine Baum | Tribune Newspapers
April 12, 2008
PARIS — On the shores of Normandy where thousands of Americans died in the cataclysm that was D-Day, a museum that aims to be more than a collection of rusting relics is preparing to commemorate another day that changed the world: Sept. 11, 2001.
More than 120 mementos, from building keys to a smashed vehicle, are being shipped from New York to the French city of Caen for the first such exhibition outside the United States—and the largest anywhere on the attack, its roots and aftermath.
That France is playing host to the exhibit might surprise Americans who remember the "freedom fries" uproar that greeted Paris' opposition to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. But the director of the Caen Memorial, a museum of conflict and peace, said the exhibit would have neither an American nor French take on events surrounding Sept. 11 but rather a global view.
"The people who died in those buildings were from 16 countries and every religion," museum director Stephane Grimaldi said. "It was an attack against America. It was an attack against democracy and human rights. We want to tell that story."
The exhibit, titled "A Global Moment," is expected to open June 6 at the museum, which was built to remember those who died on D-Day in 1944 and in the Battle of Normandy that followed.
Grimaldi said that although the relationship between the French and Americans had been complicated in recent years by post-Sept. 11 politics, museums that try to explain the meaning of war are valuable as a way to discuss peace and shared democratic values.
"The American troops' coming to Normandy to free Europe was a turning point in World War II," he said during an interview in Paris. "While we still don't know the historical significance of 9/11, we know it is a turning point, and it is time to begin to understand and explore it together."
Grimaldi said he chose the Sept. 11 exhibit to mark his museum's 20th anniversary because the act of terrorism that day in 2001 was so important to contemporary politics and everyday life.
"The world today is the world of 9/11," he said, "and our museum is here not to be just another collection of things from the past, of old tanks and helmets, but to understand the world of today that is so marked by terrorism."
The show is being done in conjunction with the New York State Museum in Albany, which has assembled a vast Sept. 11 collection for its permanent exhibit and a traveling show that has visited cities across the U.S.
Mark Schaming, the state museum's director for exhibitions and public programs, said the French show was not only the largest in scale, with 7,000 square feet of displays and a catalog, but also in scope.
"What we decided to do in France is a much broader story than focusing just on the events of Sept. 11," he said. "We decided to step back a little and tell more about Al Qaeda itself and profile the 19 terrorists and look at the hours of the day with a timeline and with people involved, all done in greater depth. ... It's a much more all-encompassing narrative."
Profiles of 10 victims and people who helped in the rescue effort will be illustrated by their possessions, either recovered from building debris or donated later to the Albany museum, such as battered shoes belonging to a woman who walked down more than 80 flights of stairs in a tower before it collapsed.
Museum out to show event's global impact
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-9-11_museum_12apr12,1,7613928.story
By Geraldine Baum | Tribune Newspapers
April 12, 2008
PARIS — On the shores of Normandy where thousands of Americans died in the cataclysm that was D-Day, a museum that aims to be more than a collection of rusting relics is preparing to commemorate another day that changed the world: Sept. 11, 2001.
More than 120 mementos, from building keys to a smashed vehicle, are being shipped from New York to the French city of Caen for the first such exhibition outside the United States—and the largest anywhere on the attack, its roots and aftermath.
That France is playing host to the exhibit might surprise Americans who remember the "freedom fries" uproar that greeted Paris' opposition to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. But the director of the Caen Memorial, a museum of conflict and peace, said the exhibit would have neither an American nor French take on events surrounding Sept. 11 but rather a global view.
"The people who died in those buildings were from 16 countries and every religion," museum director Stephane Grimaldi said. "It was an attack against America. It was an attack against democracy and human rights. We want to tell that story."
The exhibit, titled "A Global Moment," is expected to open June 6 at the museum, which was built to remember those who died on D-Day in 1944 and in the Battle of Normandy that followed.
Grimaldi said that although the relationship between the French and Americans had been complicated in recent years by post-Sept. 11 politics, museums that try to explain the meaning of war are valuable as a way to discuss peace and shared democratic values.
"The American troops' coming to Normandy to free Europe was a turning point in World War II," he said during an interview in Paris. "While we still don't know the historical significance of 9/11, we know it is a turning point, and it is time to begin to understand and explore it together."
Grimaldi said he chose the Sept. 11 exhibit to mark his museum's 20th anniversary because the act of terrorism that day in 2001 was so important to contemporary politics and everyday life.
"The world today is the world of 9/11," he said, "and our museum is here not to be just another collection of things from the past, of old tanks and helmets, but to understand the world of today that is so marked by terrorism."
The show is being done in conjunction with the New York State Museum in Albany, which has assembled a vast Sept. 11 collection for its permanent exhibit and a traveling show that has visited cities across the U.S.
Mark Schaming, the state museum's director for exhibitions and public programs, said the French show was not only the largest in scale, with 7,000 square feet of displays and a catalog, but also in scope.
"What we decided to do in France is a much broader story than focusing just on the events of Sept. 11," he said. "We decided to step back a little and tell more about Al Qaeda itself and profile the 19 terrorists and look at the hours of the day with a timeline and with people involved, all done in greater depth. ... It's a much more all-encompassing narrative."
Profiles of 10 victims and people who helped in the rescue effort will be illustrated by their possessions, either recovered from building debris or donated later to the Albany museum, such as battered shoes belonging to a woman who walked down more than 80 flights of stairs in a tower before it collapsed.