- Egypt
- Announcements
I couldn't help but be mesmerized by the events in Egypt these past weeks. One item concerning the National Museum especially stood out for me in the reporting.
"The military, which has taken over security duties throughout Cairo and in many other cities, did not arrive on the scene until 10 p.m. In the meantime, ordinary Cairenes, aware of the security vacuum, flocked to protect the museum. The citizens, as well as three police officers who refused to leave their posts, apprehended nine alleged culprits as they tried to flee the museum with their loot, including two mummy skulls and a statue of Isis."
I do not know what will follow in the weeks and months ahead, but reading how everyday Cairenes honored their art and artifact history by risking their lives to protect it has given me a sense of hope.
Why? Because creating meaningful social and political institutions, like creating meaningful and lasting art, is based upon two volatile but symbiotic elements. The first is respect for the best of the past and the second is a willingness to step into the future without fully knowing what that future holds.
Let me explain. The great artists were both great iconoclasts and great traditionalists. They aspired to create newness in art while building on the work of the great artists who went before them. Just listen to Paul Cezanne whom many consider to be the father of modern art. "The Louvre is the book in which we learn to read," he tells us. He and many of the young artists who rebelled against the artistic conventions of the day did not begin from a rebellious stance out of the box. First they paid their respects to those who went before them. They learned their craft by actually sitting in the Louvre and copying the works of the great masters. That is what Cezanne meant when he said the Louvre is "the book in which we learned to read." The Louvre was the repository of tradition, of the standards of great art and before he and other artists could go beyond and create a vibrant new art they had to begin in the tradition, with tradition as the stepping stone into the unknown future.
That is because Cezanne and the others knew that art is a great experiment that stands on the shoulders of a rich past. The past is context for the future.
And this is why I had a sense of hope from the reporting in Cairo. A society where its citizens first act is to preserve and protect the repository of its great tradition understands its importance. They see the future not as a clean break from the past but as rooted in the best aspirations of the past. And while the past is not a prescription for the future it is a critical reference point. And that is where the unknown comes in---.
I don't know how things will turn out in Egypt. But it seems to me that Egyptians have an opportunity to create a vibrant new society out of the interplay between its unique past and its present unknown. Much like the great artists created a new art out of the interplay between the greatly honored old masters and the unknown future. That's the great experiment.
Announcements:
- If you are in New England join me on February 15th from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. for a special program I will be doing for the International Coach Federation New England Chapter. To learn about the program entitled "What the Great Masters of Art Can Teach Us About a New Coaching Paradigm" click here.
- I will also be speaking on the topic "Becoming a Life Change Artist" at the 92nd Street Y Tribeca in New York City on March 3rd for their special lunch program. To register and learn more please click here. The program is co-sponsored by the innovative organization The Transition Network--an inclusive community of professional women 50 and forward whose changing life situations lead them to seek new connections, resources and opportunities. Check them out here.
