Palmyra destruction despicable

All that is ignorant and barbarous is represented by that one act, compounded by the following systematic destruction of the ancient ruins of the city (art, architecture and artefact) that had stood for over two millennia.

What do you do when you discover that your sacred scripture, delivered by the Archangel Gabriel and written down verbatim by the prophet proves to be problematic?

You deny the evidence, or go one better and audaciously claim that the findings actually confirm your beliefs.

Recent carbon dating of one of the oldest extant manuscript fragments of the Koran, conducted by scientists at the University of Oxford, suggests that it predates the life of Mohammed.

It’s like finding a copy of a gospel with the sayings of Jesus before he was born. Of course, it makes no difference to the devout believer. Denial is the only course open to those for whom religion is a controlling force in their life.

That force, as we well know, can propel its more demented and narcissistic followers to commit unspeakable acts of violence against not only people but also against art, beauty and things of irreplaceable architectural heritage. There must be no more sickening and abhorrent sight than the mutilated body of revered antiquities scholar Khaled-alAsaad strung up in the town square of Palmyra by Isis bandits. All that is ignorant and barbarous is represented by that one act, compounded by the following systematic destruction of the ancient ruins of the city (art, architecture and artefact) that had stood for over two millennia.

This is the new fascism sprung up in the East with all the viciousness of mafia killers.

In direct contrast, in the West, the recent film festival at the Lido showcased the work and life of famous art collector and patron Peggy Guggenheim. If it hadn’t been for this one woman’s passion, dedication and commitment to the arts at a pivotal time in the history of modernism, the world would have been a culturally poorer place. She almost singlehandedly put America on the map in art terms, which then overtook Paris as the new creative centre of the Western world.

It was a close-run thing though. She managed to flee Paris (where she’d been living and collecting art) just a few days before another barbarian horde, the German fascists, reached Paris. By then she’d amassed many modernist artworks – the cubists, abstractionists and the surrealists. In her luggage were 10 Picassos, 40 Max Ernsts, four Magrittes, three Man Rays, three Dalis and many others.

Arriving in New York, her art safe from the destructive hands of the Nazis, she set up a gallery which became the hub and focus for the patronage and promotion of modern art. It was from there that she supported and encouraged some of the new emerging American artists who would subsequently go on to become famous figures in the art world, notably the abstract expressionist Jackson Pollock.

Two famous galleries, one in New York and the other in Venice, carry her name and legacy and are tourist magnets for lovers of art world wide. Both places were crowded the times I visited.

The equivalent here in New Zealand might be the patronage of people like Rob Gardiner, who inaugurated the Chartwell Collection over 40 years ago (lost to Hamilton some years back) and Sir James Wallace, who runs and helps finance two galleries, one in Auckland and another in Morrinsville. Sir James’s collection numbers 7000 works, a selection of which is often on display in the rural town gallery. Morrinsville is fortunate to have such a patron, but the gallery is close enough to Hamilton for it to add to the cultural wealth of the city as well as the wider Waikato.

But there have been recent losses. Two Hamilton avant-garde galleries have been forced to close because of building demolition. The Casbah and Pilot galleries served us well, particularly for younger artists in town, so it’s sad to see their demise. A big thank you to director Karl Bayley for his outstanding contribution to the cultural heath of the city.

Some build up while others tear down. What happened in Palmyra beggars belief.. These selfabsorbed criminal fanatics, unable to exist inside any multicultural domain, will never hear about carbon dating and even if they did, it wouldn’t change a thing. But through all the good people, the Peggy Guggenheims of the world and others, one hopes, as refugees keep pouring across into Europe, that they will prevail.