War and Memory
September – December 1987.
A multi-disciplinary series examining the integration of the Vietnam experience into the lives of artists and the public. Primarily centered on commission of new works but also including readings, music, and video.
Exhibition Artists: Terry Allen, Denise Black, Kevin Bowen, Larry Burrows, T.C. Cannon, Cynthia Carlson, Alan Carter, Thomas Daniel, Nancy Floyd, Anthony Guiffreda, Kim-Ly Harbin, Nyguen Hien, Sal Lopes, Danny Lyon, Julianne Newton, Don North, Hanh Thi Pham, Richard Posner, Alfred Quiroz, Marc Riboud, Joseph Shannon, William Short, Richard Thomas, William Tiernan, Richard Turner, John Warren, Wendy Watriss, Lloyd Wolf.
War and Memory tapped into the creative energy of the artistic community to confront the difficult and often painful legacy of the Vietnam War. In the decade framed by the defeat of US forces in 1975 and the inception of the project in the mid-1980s, the public continually struggled not only with a crushing military failure that jeopardized the American position on the international stage, but also with the consequences of an unpopular draft, a staggering loss of American lives in combat, a high civilian casualty rate across Southeast Asia, and the killing of student protesters in the US. In the wake of the conflict, veterans decried the federal government’s reluctance to build a commemorative monument and initiated a national fundraising campaign for this purpose. Even after the dedication of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in 1982, the sting of war remained fresh for many. At the same time, some young people seemed to know nothing about it.
War and Memory, organized by WPA executive director Jock Reynolds in collaboration with curator Philip Brookman, provided a representative framework for preserving historical memory, confronting and understanding differences, and moving the country toward reconciliation after the Vietnam experience. The project brought together nationally acclaimed artists and scholars in the visual and performing arts, film and video, installation, and literature, to present a broad spectrum of ideas intended to inspire debate and provide a springboard for further exploration. The works were presented at the WPA Galleries, located at the time in the Jenifer Building at 400 7th Street NW, and at venues offered by the American Film Institute, the Martin Luther King Memorial Library, the Shakespeare Theater at the Folger, and the Smithsonian Resident Associate Program.
Certain works in War and Memory were commissioned expressly for the project. An important part of this effort was a WPA artists-in-residence program, which enabled artists to access resources in Washington. Texas musicians Terry Allen, Joe Ely, Jimmie Gilmore, and Butch Hancock, for example, examined musical holdings at the Library of Congress and studied commemorative objects and writings at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial before creating and performing new songs about the war.
Other projects collectively illustrate the variety of approaches that artists brought to their task. A film by Joe Martin, an army cameraman, sympathized with Vietnamese civilians who witnessed the land on which they depended ravaged by bombing campaigns. Nancy Floyd’s installation about her brother, James M. Floyd, a helicopter gunner who died in battle, confronted the difficult personal sacrifices of the war. To commemorate her brother and make clear the catastrophic nature of her family’s loss, the artist presented his diaries and letters alongside telegrams and other government documents announcing his status, first as missing and then as killed in action. Similar themes run through Unwinding the Vietnam War—From War into Peace, a collection of writings by various authors, including teachers, activists, and veterans, that was complied and published by WPA Bookworks. Discussions held throughout the duration of War and Memory invited the public to reflect on such issues and to move forward toward national reconciliation.
above image: installation shot of War and Memory, work by artist Richard Posner