Art vs. Life

A Look into the Soul of Great Loss and Beauty, Vietnam and Cambodia Revisited

It was amazing arriving back in Boston after a month in Vietnam and Cambodia.  We had planned and waited a year to travel again with Professor Feldman of U Cal/Fullerton.  He and his wife Pam own a tour company East/West and they are the best bet for traveling in Asia and Eastern Europe.   They managed to pack a full course of Asian cultural history into a month. Look them up on the web, Google East/West travel.

We left Boston and took eleven flights and two overnight trains to span the entire country of Vietnam and Cambodia. Although we had done a bit of  preparation, nothing could have prepared us for the sights we were heading to see.  For people who came of age in the sixties, this was a pilgrimage of sorts.  We all grew up with our family and friends impacted by the war in Vietnam.  My best friend from elementry school had an older sister whose husband has remained a MIA .   We use to write letters to the Red Cross for years just in case  Gary was alive as a POW.  He was declared dead after many years putting some closure to twenty years of anxiety.  My cousin was shot down by friendly fire, a few short years after he left Harvard and became a Rhodes scholar.  My brother had a draft number of 50, while he was taking a year off from Princeton,  He went to North Carolina in the National Guard and contracted Rocky Mountain spotted fever, close to death in intensive care for two months, he returned to Denver and recovered to return and graduate Cum Laude from Princeton three  years after his class.

We all protested the war in the end.  The University scene was frightening and we all were tortured by the never ending images of slaughter that filled the news, literature and film.  The best man from our wedding had joined the green beret special forces and went to Cambodia.  We later followed him to Asia as he went into international business and has remained connected all of our adult lives.

Steve was 4F because of his back surgery and we were the Americans who remained state side and watched in horror as the war  drug on.    Recently we watched The Fog of  War, and last night we rented The Killing Fields, and today we plan to watch the Quiet American, Graham Green,s novel, and Apocalypse Now.    These are classics that need to be seen again, they help us to understand how imporant it is to understand our connection to the world.

Now is the time to head to the studio and begin to pour out the images that have  haunted my dreams this pass month.

The ancient history of these two beautiful countries is so beautiful.  The temple at Hue is beyond belief, we had a Vietnamese professor who sat on the steps of this beautiful structure, now a UNESCO world heritage site, and told us of the dynasties of this once proud and artistic culture.

Hanoi and Saigon are modern cities, with third world infrastructure, electric wire bundled overhead in huge coils that make you shutter as the population many under 40 ride through the streets. A family of four is common, with six month baby in the basket in front, the mother, the three year old sister and dad all on a Vespa going through New York like traffic day and night.   Tube houses looking something like a shotgun in New Orleans only five stories tall, all with entrance through ground floor shops, very third world, with barbeques .a fire and camplike situation on the street.  We took a Cyclo(rickshaw with bicycle) through rush hour traffic.  It was the thrill ride you never thought you would take.

The people were the best part of the experience, they are beautiful, cafe o lait skin, with dark eyebrows symmetrical faces with high cheek bones, just beautiful , and the children even more engaging.

They are quiet, respectful, kind and easy to be around.   We felt welcomed and taken care of all the time.

Cambodia is even more exotic, the area at Angkor Wat is just beyond my  imagination in its scope and mystery.  The Museum at Angkor is a collection worth taking time to see.  My favorite room was 1000 Buddas, with every version of Budda you could imagine.  The IndoChina look of Cambodia is much more India than China and the sculptures were beautiful.   The Ruins are unbelievable.

I came back more humbled than ever at our great country. How much creativity and opportunity we have in this wonderful America.  I also came back aware of the beauty of the world, more fantastic than I had imagined.    

With President Obama now in office, I hope and feel we will have a newly open movement for the Arts.

Great cultures are remembered for the contributions to art, music, literature, film , performance and cultural brilliance.   With all the horror and repression and genocide that occured in Cambodia, and the horror of the war in Vietnam, there beautiful art, architeture, food,dance and textiles remain as brilliant as ever.   I hope I will be able to do it some justice in my own work this year. 2009 should be an interesting year, with as much promise and peril.

If you are interested in some of the photos or video send your email to katysidwell@comcast.net  and I will put you on the list of interested world travelers.