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Ambassador Blake's Remarks at the opening of the “Paradise in Tears” photographic exhibition
It is a pleasure for me to join you this afternoon to celebrate the launching of the “Paradise in Tears” photographic exhibition at the Sahajeevana Center.
Anyone who has the chance to view the impressive collection of photos presented in this collection will agree that the establishment of such a center is a powerful and worthy endeavor.
The American people know the importance of remembering tragic historic events. Museums such as the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC bear similar witness. In the Museum’s own words, the Museum seeks to “stimulate leaders and citizens to confront hatred, prevent genocide, promote human dignity, and strengthen democracy. The Museum provides a powerful lesson in the fragility of freedom, the myth of progress, the need for vigilance in preserving democratic values.”
The United States also has talented historians who have made powerful use of photographs to bring history to life. Perhaps the most successful and best known is Ken Burns who made a series of documentaries for American public television that made extensive use of historical photographs.
Burns’ most famous, and perhaps the most relevant for us today, was the epic he produced on the American Civil War. Burns described his experience as follows.
“The Civil War was the greatest event in American history – where paradoxically, in order to become one, we had to tear ourselves in two. We wanted to tell the story of the bloodiest war in American history through the voices of the men and women who actually lived through it. And, to the greatest extent possible, we wanted to show the war and the people who experienced it through a medium that was still in its infancy in the 1860s – photography.
A photograph of citizens scanning the casualty lists to learn which of their sons, fathers, and husbands would be coming home – and which would not – speaks volumes about the grief and horror that washed over our country…..
The careful use of archival photographs, live modern cinematography, music, narration, and a chorus of first-person voices that together did more than merely recount a historical story. It was something that also became a kind of "emotional archaeology," trying to unearth the very heart of the American experience; listening to the ghosts and echoes of an almost inexpressibly wise past.”
That is what we hope this exhibit does; illuminate the shadows. That is why the U.S. and the American people are pleased to support such a museum in Sri Lanka.
For over two decades, Sri Lankans have experienced unfathomable tragedy, pain, and loss due to the conflict, and certainly the whole story cannot be told in one afternoon at a museum, but this center makes a valiant attempt to remember the past in hundreds of stirring photos and insightful captions in an effort to educate all who view it and pave the way for a brighter future.
We hope that the photos and displays housed in this building me will impact Sri Lankans young and old and provide a vehicle for thought, discussion, and action by all those who view it.
Thank you.