Stephanie's discussion: Excerpts
INTRODUCTION
Stephanie saldana topic started 1/31/02; 12:17:06 PM
last post 5/19/02; 4:23:27 PM
Barbara Ganley - stephanie saldana
1/31/02; 11:17:06 AM (reads: 3810, responses: 89)
Class Presentation 1 / Class Presentation 2
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God in the Time of War:1/ 2 / 3/ 4/ 5
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Here you'll find an on-going discussion between the young American poet and reporter, Stephanie Saldana, Midd class of '99, and the students of WP 200.
To read some of her recent contributions to the Lebanese newspaper, The Daily Star
Wow. I can't tell you how excited I am to be part of this project. I have no idea how it will all turn out, but I'm willing to try just about everything once.
I should give you some background on my life. It wasn't so long ago that I was where you are now, walking around Middlebury College in a bit of a daze, consulting with the frisbee dog statue on what the heck I should do with my life. Since I was a kid, I'd been in the process of making a poet out of myself, but as an undergraduate I had a tough time figuring out how I could be a poet and at the same time fulfill my dreams of wandering through ancient cities, hearing strange languages, and understanding world religions. It seemed an enormous and impossible task.
In 1999-2000 I traveled on a Thomas Watson Fellowship to write poetry and study Christianity in Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Syria and Spain. That year I stood in the face of political violence for the first time, climbed through tons of Roman cities, sailed down rivers, and began to understand that a big life was just as important to me as big art. I also managed to write most of the poems for my book, entitled "Towards Genesis." For me, art became one component of my never ending search for meaning in the world.
Last year, I moved to Beijing, China, and began to work as a journalist. I never intended to be a journalist. To be honest, I realized that journalism would allow me to travel to all kinds of far off places and make a little money doing it. I became a freelance travel writer, and that meant seeing the ice festival in Harbin, traveling the silk road, and writing about everything from Hui Muslims in Xian to Tibetans in rural Gansu province. At the same time, I was writing lots of poems. This Fall, I found myself in Beirut, Lebanon on Sept. 9 with my brand new job as a reporter for the Lebanon Daily Star. Two days later, the world was falling apart. My first job ever as a newspaper reporter was to cover the reactions to Sept. 11 in Beirut. I threw myself into the job, and realized that when I was working, I was never scared. Work helped me make sense of the world.
Since I've been here, I've written lots about art and artists, about books by Middle Eastern authors, about the internet and the intifada, about Palestinian refugees. I've written about the last soapmakers in Lebanon, the last glassblowers. I still climb through as many old cities as I can. Most of all, I write about the Middle East because I need to make sense of the world somehow, and writing is the only way I've ever figured out how to do it. I live in a very particular place in a very particular moment in history, and I have come to see ordinary moments as tiny threads that weave the complicated hour in time that is the present. Lebanon is a beautiful country that has seen terrible, terrible times. I've come to realize that every time I get into a cab, I'm sitting with a man who played some role in a 15 year Lebanese civil war. Every time I speak to a child in a Palestinian refugee camp, I am having a conversation with a character who is moving the pages of history. When I speak to a glassblower, I am watching an entire way of life disappear. When I watch Palestinian refugees on the internet, speaking to family members in the West Bank that they have never seen on-line, I am watching an entire new world appear. Art matters. But people matter too. And writing about art, at the end of the day, is a way of crawling through other people's windows in the middle of the night and spying on their lives. It is a way of understanding history. And for me, it is a way of holding on to hope. Questions? I'm looking forward to chatting about the world, about art, about dreams, and about history. Write me.
ART & HISTORY/BEIJING
Amber Hillman - Re: stephanie saldana
4/3/02; 4:06:31 PM (reads: 2213, responses: 0)
I have to repsond to what you wrote in this last passage:
"In an interesting note related to recent comments on the Buddhas in Afghanistan, the hands of a statue of the Virgin Mary were blown off in Bethlehem recently, and today the Church of the Nativity, one of the oldest churches in the world, is swallowed in a bath of smoke and gunfire. The destruction of art, in the end, is about so much more than merely art disappearing- inherent in art somewhere is a will to survive."
What I find odd is that you describe these episodes as destruction of "art". I would have leaned towards "religious relics" or, more likely, "parts of history". It is strange to me to hear you describe them, first and foremost, as art.
Not to undervalue what art gives to the world, but I think these objects, pre- destruction, had much more than an artistic value. They made strong religious, as well as political statements. Art, in my opinion, is not about politics, and in this day and age, not about religion either. I find these to be seperate entities.
I just thought I'd throw that idea in there; although perhaps if I saw these objects I too would realize they are "art". For now, I consider them important historical landmarks and relgious relics.
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Stephanie Saldana - Re: stephanie saldana
4/4/02; 8:13:22 AM (reads: 2209, responses: 0)
Amber- I couldn't disagree with you more. Art and religion have historically had extremely strong ties. Think about ancient Greek or Roman art or architecture, and chances are high that it might have something to do with gods. What about the Sistine Chapel. Is that not art, simply because it happens to be a chapel? And Michelangelo's Pieta- is that not art simply because it is the Virgin Mary? The Buddhas in Afghanistan- Buddhist art throughout Asia? I don't think that many would argue that Da Vinci's The Last Supper is not art. Most architects would be rather astonished to hear that their work is not "art." In many museums in Europe, a good old fashioned knowledge of the bible is, in my opinion, almost a prerequisite. But I am old fashioned that way. I don't believe that the Church of the Nativity, or the statue of the virgin mary, are 'first and foremost art." But I do not believe that labeling something as "art' is mutually exclusive. St. Peter's in Rome is a fantastic work of art, as well as an enormous Basilica, as well as a political statement regarding the power of the papacy. Art can be many things at once.
Though I am anxious to throw this one out for discussion: Is art about politics and religion even today? I would argue strongly that it does not have to be, but that in many cases it is. In my experience, art is made within history- not beyond history. Look at all of the exhibits in NYC these days about Arab Americans, about Sept.11- are these not political? The Holocaust museum, the Jewish museum- aren't these political?
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Sophia Walter - Re: stephanie saldana
4/4/02; 3:26:16 PM (reads: 2114, responses: 0)
Hello Stephanie. I'm Sophia. I have questions! I know that when I am going through a rough time or am not in a particularly good mood I am drawn much more to art and people and television (should there be means) that are positive and uplifting. When my friend had to leave Middlebury I felt really drawn to happy songs on the radio...and really sensitive about the songs that mentioned reasons why she had left. In In the middle east how do you escape intellectually? can you ever part with the political turmoil? also- do you ever feel like art has saving capabilities? I mean- at this time do you feel sometimes like reviewing art is superficial compared to other newspaper articles...do you feel less important? or do you think that by reviewing art you're allowing the people to see freedom and give hope? or both? I'm really curious about Lebanon actually because my friend Christine who I went to summer camp with was from there...and she told me some pretty shocking stories about her country's problems, but she was also a dear...and happily told me of how she could go the beach and to the mountains in one day- how beautiful the country, yet how ugly the political situation. That's just personal attachment to the country. I think my parents once went there and bought our living room's rug...so when I think of Lebanon I think- beautiful, produces beautiful things...I'm curious about your thought process back when you decided to go to Lebanon...or when you found out that that was where you were going...what did you expect and are you disappointed and horrified or are you motivated to stay and contribute as much? Art- how trivial in comparison to genicide.
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Stephanie Saldana - Re: stephanie saldana
4/4/02; 4:27:18 PM (reads: 2077, responses: 0)
Sophia-
What a beautiful letter. Thank you.
Contrary to what it may sound like, writing about art is only part of my job- I write about politics as well. I have been extremely involved in the situation in the Middle East with work- I cover Palestinian refugee issues often, and this week I reviewed an incredible documentary called Gaza Strip. Today, I wrote an article about personal accounts on the siege of Ramallah. Despite the stress I have been happy- I feel as though I am using my job for the powers of Good.
I am relieved to go to America this week because I cannot escape intellectually from this coflict- I look at tragedy on the wires all day long, it is my job to be submerged in tragedy. I'm not convinced that this is completely healthy. I look to art to heal myself- though I am not all that religious, I have been writing prayers as a means of making sense of chaos. As I was reading the classes' threaded discussions on art, I must admit that I was touched with a certain amount of jealousy. I find it extremely difficult to simply discuss art or music these days, something like kissing a boy during a funeral. I was just reminiscing with a friend about being in Vermont only 3 and a half years ago, when I knew nothing of the Middle East, and what a glorious innocence that was.
Lebanon is beautiful- that quip about going to the mountains and the sea in one day is something Lebanese pride themselves on. The people are lovely, the food incredible, the scenery breathtaking, and the political history...depressing. But there is so much to learn here- and despite the country's problems, people manage to live life far more fully here than many of those I know in America. It will be hard for me to leave.
And one last thing about art- I do feel good, even when I am writing about non-political art. Today, anyone picking up the newspaper here has to thumb through 12 pages of misery. An art review is a breath of air, and a reminder that though the chaos here disturbs us, it need not define us.
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Sophia Walter - Re: stephanie saldana
4/4/02; 7:53:14 PM (reads: 2001, responses: 0)
Wow- how insightful and poetic. I think that you have an outlook that is indeed integral in dealing with chaos...I just went to this calligraphy demonstration in Johnson- so ironic because the building represents a spontaneous combustion of a cement factory while the Zen Master represented peaceful unity with nature. Amidst the hideous concrete chaos I let go...I forced myself to compromise ugliness with peacefulness. I know this is a much smaller scale metaphor, but I think that it taught me more about what you are saying- finding solace amidst the chaos- the bigger picture- don't forget how to live... If I remember correctly you worked in Beijing as well. I was just there this summer and I couldn't stand it...in relation to Shanghai and I suppose Hong Kong. I couldn't deal with the enormous painting of Mao, the overwhelming uneasiness I felt walking in an empty Tianamen Square and the looming over of Mao- little red books of his communist manifesto were being sold everywhere. I felt really frustrated...more because this man's "not good" legacy was still everywhere in the city. I was frustrated that the city couldn't just move on and I was disturbed so much by the haunting qualities of the square. I was there with my school's orchestra and choir so we were there on an "artistic/peaceful mission" that George Bush (graduate of my high school) had set up. I felt, though, really akward. There was so much pressure coming from "America" for me to, with my music, make ammends...in in Beijing I was simply not motivated...too disturbed or something. So should art simply happen when it will...naturally...or should these "peaceful" artistic outreaches happen? Also- what was it like going from China to Lebanon...looming strife to active strife?
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Lucas Klein - Re: stephanie saldana
4/5/02; 5:12:15 AM (reads: 1995, responses: 0)
I hope you don't mind, Sophia, but I'm going to add my piece into this discussion for a (not so brief) moment. I may be getting off topic a bit, but only to respond to your comments about Beijing, which is a city I've got an at times explosively complex relationship with, but overall through the complexity comes the simplicity of love.
(Stephanie didn't like Beijing, so I'm rushing to get my opinion in here before she does). I lived in Beijing for the first time in 1995 as a senior in high school when I was one of a group of thirty American students enrolled in a four month study abroad program. We were the first group of students to have long-term stays in Chinese families ever, and I learned as much about China and Chinese life then as I've ever learned in class. The second time I lived in Beijing was last year, from August 2000 to August 2001, where I was working as the Student Director to an American study abroad program decidedely different--but with a similar focus--to the one I had attended in high school.
You compare Beijing to Shanghai and Hong Kong and find that it comes up short. In this you are not unlike many Americans who like the comfort of commercialism and skyline and thriving business of those cities--and I like these things, too--but are not in either of these places long enough to realize that, in the end, Beijing has more history. Shanghai is about 150 years old; before the French came, famously, it was a fishing village. Hong Kong was a wasteland when the British "purchased" it from the Qing emperor also roughly 150 years ago for the purposes of selling opium. As such these cities have maintained a western-style assertiveness in their urban layout, but they're lacking any real sense of Chinese history. Hong Kong is not China, the handover of '97 (I was there; it was a lot of fireworks and not much else) notwithstanding; on my more polemical days, I'll say that Shanghai is hardly China, either (but I won't say this to my Shanghai friends). Compare those cities to Beijing, which has been there for about a thousand years; Kubilai Khan (son of Genghis) moved it from one location to another--making it an anomaly among cities for having no real access to water--because he heard a prophecy that his people would rebel if the city remained in the original plot. Consider the low-rise network of courtyard bungalows in twisting alleyways that are older than many of the buildings we find so beautiful in Paris. Consider what's behind the portrait of Chairman Mao in the Forbidden City, which is at its oldest about 700 years old. And on top of that, you still have a commercialism that comes close to Shanghai's, as there are nearly as many businesses, enterprises, and international organizations with headquarters in Beijing as there are in Shanghai.
You decry the Chinese inability to "get past" Mao. I'm sorry to remind you this, but China is still communist. It's also still primarily rural. But the portrait of Mao right there affects Beijingers or Chinese citizens these days about as much as a Coca-Cola advertizement or Starbucks logo really compels most Americans to drink one of these quintessentially American beverages. Some people do, some people don't. Have you ever seen an ad and decided that you really needed a Coke right now? In Vermont you don't have billboard advertizements lining the highways, but in every other state you do; do you really notice them, or do they all blend together? In China, where as you know they also have the billboard ads, the propaganda just melts away among it all.
A better example is that Mao's picture in Tiananmen Square, his face on most of Chinese money, is like "In God We Trust" on American money. How many people in America don't believe in God, or don't consider themselves actively religious? Every so often someone might cry up that it violates the separation of Church & State, but most of the time no one cares. Wouldn't a Chinese atheist visiting America and deciding she didn't like the place because the religious beliefs are expressed on the money be a little ridiculous? Yes, of course it would.
So I implore you to give Beijing another chance, this time opening yourself up to the richness of experience you can find there, rather than being bound by your interpretation of the politics that go on there. Getting out and seeing the city on your own instead of being cattle-herded around would help, too.
As for your delegation, your politically-charged children's crusade of peace: I promise many of your audience members found an American high school performance of some of their favorite classical arrangements performed for them in person. And I'm sure that many of them were, at least for a moment, compelled to raise their views of American politics, life, and culture. When I took my dad and his fiancée through some of the aforementioned alleyways, or took them to the Xinjiang muslim restaurant, and Chinese people would cry "Hallo!" to us, my dad decided this increased world peace. And if art can do that--even in the otherwise allegedly oppressive regime of Beijing--then art has achieved an ends that has eluded it for so long.
But this is not to say that, aside from the billing of the event, aside from W.'s blessing, that your performances were essentially political, or that your group was more of a delegation than a collection of high schoolers with music. You were there for the music and the tourism. In this case the tourism interfered with your music. That is an essentially personal reaction, however, and if the Little Red Books--which are on sale for tourist's shopping for Chinese kitsch, as Chinese people put those books down for good in about 1976--prevented you from performing at your best, then I'm sorry (for many reasons) that they're still selling those books, that you couldn't perform at top notch.
So should these outreaches of peace still happen? I say they should. They potentially enrich the lives of the audience, which is one of the goals of art anyway, isn't it? if the tourism blockades the passage of great art, then that is a problem of the tourism and not of the mission itself.
I'll stop myself now before another tome, this time on tourism, unrolls.
--LRK1563
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Sophia Walter - Re: stephanie saldana
4/5/02; 8:12:24 AM (reads: 1989, responses: 0)
okay...now I agree that music should bring the two countries together...when some 13 year old Chinese piano prodigy played Rhapsody in Blue with us it was an amzing connection both to think about on a political level and on a social level. As for which Chinese city is most westernized...that would, in my opinion have to be Hong Kong, then Beijing, then Shanghai. Shanghai was my favorite...its architecture represented an otherworldly aesthetic with strange flourescent pink glass on the strangest looking building I've ever seen and the airport was shaped like a sea gull. One of the graduates from my highschool had started an art museum in the city and it was large and filled with interesting art that took us back in Chinese history- it was educational. In the streets there were none of the North Face rip-off or Ralph Lauren rip-off stores that were simply everywhere in Beijing. Also- I felt that it was the city where the natives were most surprised to see us...the staring was the most I thought...pointing and staring...perfectly natural, but more pronounced in Shanghai- and this led me to believe that it was more in touch with itself than Beijing was...in Beijing I couldn't see above the frustrating politics and the overly commercialized...there were Starbucks and GAP stores...could it have been the placement of both of our hotels that led me to get this impression? Also I didn't get a chance to go to the Forbidden City because it wasn't even included in our trip...instead we took trips outside the city the Empress Dowager's Summer Palace and the Great Wall...I had bad experiences both places- I got lost in the palace and at the great wall an American tourist had a heart attack and died right in front of me...SO- yes personal bad experiences in Beijing that I did not have in Shanghai might have made me feel like I liked Shanghai better, too...I also might think that Beijing was more commercial because that travel agent we were using had, for some odd reason, to take us to all of the jade stores and all of the silk stores outside of Beijing...it couldn't have been more commercial for me. SO that's why I did not like Beijing...also- wait I forgot about the weather...it was the most humid weather I've ever experienced. Hong Kong on the other hand I felt was pretty amazing, but not really Chinese...except that we were staying in the shark fin district...and that made it a very poignant memory. So art- representation of freedom and peaceful interaction- is good for the america to bring to china...and I suppose my experience playing with some students in the Chinese Conservatories was amazing, but in Beijing I was bombarded with negative vibes. Okay- speaking of art in China...what about the art students who come up to you in public places to ask you if you want to go to their studio...and all their painting is alike...is that art? it's seemed so programmed.
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Stephanie Saldana - Re: stephanie saldana
4/5/02; 9:02:23 AM (reads: 1986, responses: 0)
Sophia- I am liking you more and more. And Lucas- you are the only person I have ever met who likes Beijing more than Shanghai. Even Ben can now admit that Shanghai is better. Get ready Lucas- but my love of art made Beijing unbearable. I love old buildings, narrow alleys, I'm a huge fan of architecture. I think that Beijing had not only its heritage but its artistic soul stolen. Any city that has the official color as 'grey" (no joke, students) is not for me. And any city that had narrow alleys full of character plowed down in favor of long, endless wide boulevards is just horrible. I ain't gonna wax poetic about it. Sophia, I understand what you are saying because I went through a long, dry artistic spell in Beijing. I couldn't write. I have no problem living in a place like Jerusalem, full of bullets and bombs, as long as I can feel alive there. But Beijing, to me, inspired a sense of feeling numb, exhausted- as artists we thrive on what is unique and particular, and to live in a city where uniformity is state sponsored and encouraged is just depressing. Those of us who lived there used to have an ongoing discussion- the Chinese were famous for inventing many things in the past (paper, fireworks, etc.) So we would try to see what people in China had invented lately. I think we settled on fake fireworks (real ones are banned in the cities - they have plastic ones that flashed on and off). Other than that, they are masters at copying DVDs, North Face Items, and anything else you can think of. This of a huge generalization (tear in to me Lucas, I'm ready), and of course it has zero to say about Chinese people and their artistic talents. But there are few forums for real art anymore within China itself, especially in Beijing. The government doesn't encourage invention- it encourages uniformity. As Lucas himself mentioned, some of the finest Chinese artists and intellectuals have had to do their best work in exile. But interestingly enough- I loved much of China, particularly Gansu and Xinjiang Provinces. Sophia, there's nothing wrong with loving Shanghai and Hong Kong- I loved Harbin (created by Russia), Kashgar (inhabited by Turkic Uighurs) and Xiahe (inhabited by Tibetans and Hui Muslims) the best. Does that make me shallow? I would hope not. But I am inspired by places where different kinds of people come together- where cultures overlap. I love borders, and what happens there. And oddly enough, I am not totally opposed to globalization coming to China. When China opens up, they might have another artistic renaissance yet (now come in for the kill, Lucas.)
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Lucas Klein - Re: stephanie saldana
4/5/02; 12:50:50 PM (reads: 1980, responses: 0)
Sophia:
If people stared at you in Shanghai, if you didn't see North Fakes or Starbucks or Gap stores in Shanghai, if you think the architecture along the Bund is not Western, then the Shanghai you went to and the Shanghai I've been to are not the same place.
The Forbidden City is impressive and you should go, but it's not the heart of Beijing (though its location is right at the center). I only suggest that it gives a historical and cultural sense to the city, a sense its people feel very strongly, and which makes Beijing a rich place to live. I've been to the Great Wall nine times, and if I ever go again it sure won't be on purpose. There are three sites near Beijing that you might have gone to, the nearest of which is horrible (unless you like eating Kentucky Fried Chicken while taking a gondola up to the top), the middle of which is decent, and the furthest of which is spectacular. Seeing anyone having a heart attack in front of you could make any trip anywhere pretty bad, and I'm sorry it happened. I'm also sorry you got lost in the Summer Palace; it's a pretty fascinating place if you walk around it right.
And I know that Beijing is westernized--whatever that might pretend to mean--and that it has commerce and business, but it also has art and culture and history in a way that Shanghai and Hong Kong do not. If you went to a bunch of big stores to buy pre-packed merchandise and could hardly get out on your own, then I'm sorry, too, because you got the tourist version and not the real version. The tour guide took you to those shops because he (or she) gets a commission on those sales, rather than in the outdoor stands where they sell ugly porcelain, Mao's little red book, or chirping plastic birds in an oversized peanut.
So, in effect, you did not see Beijing at all. And that's too bad, because it's a fascinating city with its own great cache of museums, sites, galleries, great food, and local culture. The politics is a facade, both for them and for you, and if you're letting that--or the shops you were dragged to, or the dead man on the great wall--convince you that Beijing is not a great city on its own right, then you're doing yourself a disservice.
As for the "artists": they're crap, their art is crap, and they're conning foreigners whom they believe to be easy prey. Unfortunately, many of them are easy prey, and they continue to practice their English and make lousy art for money (some of them may be making more interesting art that you're not seeing, may be making more interesting art they think they can't sell, but maybe not) because foreigners continue to buy it. And they're not just in Beijing. A nice trick: when anyone asks you if you can speak English, say no.
Stephanie:
I'm not the only person I know who likes Beijing more than Shanghai. Just because many of these people are Chinese doesn't mean they're not people. In fact, my girlfriend--born in Xinjiang, raised in Beijing, now living here in Paris--put it this way (her mother is from Shanghai; her grandparents live there still and she visits often): Beijing has everything, but in Shanghai you've got good food and clubs to go to, but nothing else. Beijingers know about anything while people from Shanghai know about money.
That's certainly a more informed opinion than mine. I've spent four days in Shanghai, but I haven't really wanted to spend much longer there.
As for art, the best contemporary galleries in China are not in Shanghai, they're in Beijing. The best artists--in paint, sculpture, or in writing--are not in Shanghai, they're in Beijing. China is perhaps an anomaly among countries, which is to say that just about everywhere in the world art tends to follow money--New York is more renowned for its arts than Chicago, Paris more than Bordeaux, London more than Liverpool--but in China, the arts capital is in Beijing.
So Beijing may be an ugly city with ugly architecture, wide streets that bottleneck traffic, dust storms all spring long making walking down the street difficult, cold and snowless winters where everything is dead, a polluted grey sky only a shade lighter than the street, and overall bad urban planning, but it's also a metropolis of green grass and quiet parks, of colorful markets and bustling storefronts, temples and churches and teahouses and restaurants and an underground punk scene.
To say that Beijing is artistically dead may be true if you're talking about architecture, but not if you're talking about theatre, and not if you're talking about music, and not if you're talking about poets other than Stephanie. To believe that Duo Duo, Bei Dao, or Gao Xingjian left Beijing for artistic purposes is pretty silly. Zhang Jie, Mo Yan, Su Tong, Yu Hua, and Mang Ke continue to make art--and interesting, provocative art--in Beijing, and they're just a handful of writers. Feng Mengbo or Su Wei or any number of others in the visual arts just add to the list, as do Cui Jian or Liu Yuan or Liu Yue in rock and jazz.
And no, I don't oppose "westernization," either. I'm a translator: I've got to believe that cross-polinization has inherent benefits. And I do hope for an artistic renaissance, too. But give me a list of 20th century French inventions, or Canadian, or Chilean, Nigerian, Nigerien, or anything other than American? This doesn't mean they don't exist; it means that we don't learn them. I myself can only think of one Italian invention for all of europe in the twentieth century. To believe that Chinese society doesn't promote creativity is like saying all Americans are bad at math. I'm bad at math, but I wouldn't want to represent all of my fellow countrymen.
So go ahead and dislike Beijing. That's fine. But if you're going to dislike it, dislike it for the right reasons, or at least for reasons that are right. Just because you couldn't find that artistic spirit in Beijing doesn't mean it wasn't there.
--LRK 1583
