| Media Note Office of the Spokesman Washington, DC September 10, 2002 Traveling Exhibition: After 9/11: Messages from the World and Images of Ground ZeroA traveling exhibition entitled After 9/11: Messages from the World and Images of Ground Zero will open September 10, 2002 at the Gerald R. Ford Museum in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The United States Diplomacy Center of the U.S. Department of State, in collaboration with The Museum of the City of New York, has mounted the exhibition, which features condolence messages and artifacts representing 110 countries received at United States embassies and consulates. It also includes photographs of the destruction and recovery of Ground Zero taken by Joel Meyerowitz, the only photographer allowed free artistic access to the site. The purpose of the exhibition is to illustrate how the attacks of 9/11 created a vast human response that resounded across the globe; to commemorate the lives lost; to show our appreciation for the support, encouragement and hope the people of the world offered the people of our country; and to ensure that visitors take away the message that the exhibit is about healing and resiliency after a great national trauma. After September 11, school children, families, individuals, companies and organizations, townships, officials, and members of diplomatic communities brought or sent communications to United States embassies and consulates worldwide, through personal inscriptions in formal condolence books, mail, email and artifacts of condolence left at impromptu memorials sites abroad. The objects and messages of the six exhibit cases are a representative sample of the tens of thousands of condolences. The exhibit cases have been designed as packing crates, to emphasize that the messages traveled to the people of the United States. These cases contain letters, postcards, posters, artwork, newspapers, music, condolence books, flags, t-shirts, a fireman’s helmet, photographs, NYC travel souvenirs, videos, CDs and stuffed animals either as original artifacts or photos. The contents of the exhibition include: "Getting The Message," displaying the many forms of media people sent; "Innocence From Abroad," featuring children’s artwork; "The Power of The Word," communicating the messages in many languages of diverse nations; "Symbols and Icons," showing how symbols like flags, hands, and peace cranes became powerful replacements for words; "From The Heart," sharing the many deeply felt emotions that people communicated; and an introductory video of images and artifacts. The exhibit will travel to other venues in the United States after its tour at the Gerald Ford Museum. |
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