A decade later - Fundação Luso-Americana

“Today we are marking the 10 th anniversary
of the September 11 th tragedy.
But with the inauguration of the exhibition
“Transitions: Honoring the Past,
Moving Ahead” we are not only honoring
the victims of terrorism, but resolutely
looking toward the future in the
hope that the coming decade will be as
vibrant and full of hope as the works
you see displayed here today.”
With these words, US Ambassador
Allan Katz inaugurated the exhibition
“Transitions: Honoring the Past, Moving
Ahead,” an initiative the US Embassy
sponsored in conjunction with the
Luso-American Foundation and the
Arpad Szenes-Vieira da Silva Foundation
(FASVS).
With the purpose of commemorating
the 10 th anniversary of 9/11, the show
exclusively featured works from the
FLAD art collection and included works
by Portuguese artists Álvaro Lapa,
Fernando Calhau, Joaquim Bravo, and
José Pedro Croft and American sculptor
Joel Shapiro.
With remembrance and transition as
its central themes, the show invited
viewers to reflect on the transformations
that the world has undergone since
September 11 th , 2001: how people have
changed in the way they view the world
and their future. Billed as a tribute to
the past, the exhibition encouraged
viewers to adopt a new way of looking
at the future – an idea posed by FLAD’s
president Maria de Lurdes Rodrigues
when she told the audience, “Encouraging
remembrance today is indispensable if
we are to promote understanding of the
tragic events we are recalling here. It is
what we need to do if we are to move
forward and build a future that is more
than just our fate.”
Given the motives behind the initiative
and its highly symbolic nature, the
opening session was also attended by
Paulo Portas, the Portuguese foreign
minister; Álvaro Pereira, the minister of
the economy, and a number of other
dignitaries who spoke about the relevance
of the tribute and the impact that
9/11 has had on world governance.
Maria de Lurdes Rodrigues also asserted
that today’s tribute was “a way of
celebrating the values of freedom and
universalism in the construction of a
common world.” Luís dos Santos Ferro,
administrator of the FASVS, highlighted
the symbolic nature of the exhibition
and the date it honored. “We are celebrating
life and creation, against death,
9/11
A decade later
(from left to right) João silvério, curator of the FLAd art collection;
Allan Katz, us Ambassador to portugal; and FLAd program officer paula vicente.
‘ With remembrance and transition as its central
themes, the show invited viewers to reflect on the
transformations that the world has undergone since
september 11th , 2001: how people have changed
in the way they view the world and their future.
’
violence, and destruction,” Ferro stated.
“The regenerative nature of art as
opposed to the inert ashes of disaster.
Comradeship and tolerance in an environment
of freedom, instead of fanaticism
and oppression. (…) The works
chosen from the Luso-American
Foundation collection confer upon this
mournful date a bit of the clear, restorative,
morning light that art bears.”
Featured were a wide range of works
from the FLAD art collection by Joaquim
Bravo, Fernando Calhau, José Pedro
Croft, Álvaro Lapa, and Joel Shapiro.
The works were selected by João
Silvério, curator of the Luso-American
Foundation’s collection and commissioner
of the exhibition.
Parallel no. 6 | FALL | WINTER 2011 29
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