Janet Kaiser on mon 17 sep 01
Please remember that of the thousands buried beneath
the WTC, New York, many are not US nationals and their
bereaved families are in countries scattered around the
globe. Three British companies rented several floors
and the UK government has just announced they will pay
for a flight to New York and three nights in an hotel
for two relatives of each of the several hundred
British nationals who are missing, presumed dead. The
on-site catering, cleaning and janitorial staff were
apparently mostly Hispanic, Indian and Pakistani, but
included Australians and other foreign nationals. Most
European countries also had companies with their
employees and representatives working there, as did
Near, Middle and Far Eastern concerns.
The rites of passage for all these people are
different. Whether they were Atheist, Buddhist,
Christian, Hindu, Jew, Muslim, Pagan or whatever. Not
only would it be very difficult to contact all the
bereaved, funerary reliquary is not regarded in the
same way around the world and offering a memorial urn
or vessel may offend, where offence was not intended.
On the contrary, it is obvious everyone wants to reach
out and help those families who will definitely not
have a body to bury or cremate.
Although a well-meaning offer, it is perhaps better to
concentrate on contributing in other ways? A national
memorial at each of the crash sites will surely be a
federal government response in the long-term, similar
to the Vietnam memorial in Washington DC? Maybe then
potters and ceramic artists could become involved with
the design and implementation? No reason why clay
should not make a durable memorial.
Janet Kaiser
The Chapel of Art . Capel Celfyddyd
HOME OF THE INTERNATIONAL POTTERS' PATH
Criccieth LL52 0EA, GB-Wales Tel: (01766) 523570
E-mail: postbox@the-coa.org.uk
WEBSITE: http://www.the-coa.org.uk
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