VAALA’s F.O.B.II: Art Speaks, after an eventful seven-day run, closed its visual display on Thursday, three days ahead of schedule. Its performance portion has been moved to another location (at 209 N. Broadway — see more below). VAALA’s press release follows the jump, but first, some thoughts.
Something said by UCI Professor and Department Chair Linda Vo in the L.A. Times fanned some anger because of the word “test” which was translated into Vietnamese as something like “throwing down the gauntlet.” The Times story here attributed this statement to Vo, without quotation marks:
“The exhibit will test the Vietnamese American community, said Linda Vo, chair of UC Irvine’s Asian American Studies department.”
Anyway, leaving aside the no-doubt-intentional mistranslation, if indeed the exhibit was a test, then the self-proclaimed community, let’s say, did not pass.
How did the community not pass? It failed to respect the freedom for which it claimed to seek when leaving Vietnam.
In the words of Nguoi Viet’s Ky-Phong Tran here, “Freedom of speech is not just being able to say what you want and speaking your mind. That dear friends, is the easy part. TRUE Freedom of speech is that AND more so: listening to someone yap about something you disagree with, something you might morally or politically abhor, and grinning and bearing it.”
Now protesting is fine. Protests are forms of expression too.
The Bolsavik, for one, has a very expanded definition of freedom of expression. At FOB II, someone spit on one of the photos on display. An L.A.-based reporter asked the Bolsavik if he thought that was free speech too and the Bolsavik said yes, to the extent that the damage is not permanent then not only it is speech but it should also be protected speech. Spitting on something you despise is an age-old form of expression that the law and morality should respect — short of allowing destruction of property.
The problem is not with protesting. No. The problem is with the way the protests are organized and called. The Bolsavik’s mailbox, which monitors the right-wing listservs, lit up with something like 200 emails a day over this exhibit, and a fair guesstimate is that 90% are vulgar and maybe 5 or 6 are threats of physical violence including murder and arson.
But even that is not the whole problem. The whole problem is, instead of having a protest to express an opposing viewpoint, the protests are intended to – and called for as a means toward – shutting down ideas and expressions they don’t like.
Which is, of course, legal and all. But it proves that the protesters are not lovers of freedom or democracy or human rights or whatever else they claim they are in favor of.
And that, dear readers, is what’s wrong with this picture.
So, as mentioned above, the self-proclaimed community failed. But, hey, not badly.
Here and there in the whole saga are nuggets of instances where people who disagreed with the organizers wanted to carry out a dialogue.
Even at the meeting of the protest organizers, there were isolated words from some men who once held guns to fight for freedom to allow the exhibit curators to address the body. Those few men were outnumbered and the group refused to talk to the curators, but those men did speak up in favor of dialogue.
Hints, therefore, that, kicking and screaming though it may be, this community is slowly dragging its way out of the dictatorial ways of its country of origin.
And that, dear readers, is the silver lining in this picture.
Here’s the text of VAALA’s press release:
There you have it :
it’s a lose-and-lose battle for all Santa Ana VIETNAMESE, on all sides.
I’m not surprised the protest happens over that photo, but I’m really surprised that FOB2 organizers raised the white flag that quickly. Too bad I couldn’t get a chance to check out the show.
I cried my heart out loud today . So disappointed . So much ! when you say” living in fear”, you mean it . You mean it . and must understand what it mean in order to follow through.
oops. I mean” Living without fear” as Art Speak motto for the show .
How is free speech listening to some idiot like Ky-Phong and then not responding and grinning and bearing it? That’s like allowing him to rape you by lying flat on your back and taking his little cu when you could bitch slap him and cut his cu off like a real Viet Nu warrior. I’m not gonna grin and bear it! I’m gonna tell you how stupid your remarks are right in your face and if it’s offensive art you’re trying to sell I’m gonna do everything in my power that is LEGAL to make sure everyone finds out about your offensive art so you go out of business. That’s how my Daddy taught me about being a Viet woman and our strong history of fighting for what we believe in. As long as it’s legal, each side can express their freedom of speech or freedom of expression or freedom to assemble and protest. That is freedom. Don’t ever let anyone actually define for you what you’re freedom should be. Go experience it for yourself.
good column, bolsavik. you said it very eloquently. as for helen, her words speak for themselves (as well as the fact that she won’t use her real name or whole name).
* it is huge loss for VAALA to let ONE artwork to dominate and ultimately destroy the whole art exhibit that so many excellent artists have worked so hard to organize.
* it is a huge loss for the protesters as the main stream media portray them as oppressors of free expression.
In a democratic county, minds are changed by the power of persuasion.
In a communist regime, control of minds is achieved by intimidation.
sounds like vax all over again… so sad that the adult vietnamese community uses these tactics and doesn’t realize they THEMSELVES are hypocritically embracing the communist ways we so dearly fought to escape. *sigh*
one more thing. i think it’s fucking lame how i’m forced to be paranoid and must hide my name when leaving any such comments in support of vaala and the exhibit, for fear that i myself will be labeled as a communist in the community.
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This will be my last comment since I only started reading this site because is a friend of Hao Nhien and told me of this site. I left my penny’s worth according to the requirements and left my email for the website as requested by them. To insinuate that I’m a coward for not leaving my true name shows a lack of intelligence that most of the Bolsa community exhibit on a daily basis. It goes with out saying the danger of the internet and those that are on it regardless of your viewpoint of this lame art exhibit. Those that choose to use their real names indeed have courage but they also have their own reasons and that’s why they are in the business of the press. Threats of violence are illegal, threats of protests are not. If the art exhibit coordinators truly believe that they are expressing something of a profound nature they can continue to fight for that expression but I think they caved for a strategic purpose and not out of fear of the protesters. And I don’t understand why protesting over art exhibits with the intent to “shut down ideas and expressions they don’t like” should be intepreted as unAmerican or unConstitutional? This has been done by everyone and every entity you can think of including political parties to not only express your point of view but like Ky-Phong said, it’s somewhat a game, and they are doing it to WIN. (I’m somewhat biased because my mom and dad are out there protesting, Go MOM and DAD).
http://orangejuiceblog.com/2009/01/why-did-the-city-of-santa-ana-close-the-viet-fob-ii-art-exhibit/
The City of Santa Ana closed this exhibit because of pressure from Van Tran and his Trannies.
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Nguoi Viet Newspaper did the right thing when it kicked your ass out of its door.
Shame on you and your thugs for turning your heads away from the very your own Vietnamese people who are daily victims of communism.
Why? Money? Sex? Fame? Which ones did the VC use to buy your souls out?
Don’t cry about your first amendment rights. There nothing has been violated about F.O.B.II exhibit and demonstrations.
To fully test how would you be protected by the First Amendment in this country I suggest you guys to step out the small boundary of your community, by going to the larger audience, like, the Jews in New York,
the Cubans in Florida. Let put up some of Hitler’s pics, fascism artifacts, swastika symbols, Castro’s pics, etc,.. at those locations to see what kind of outcome you could get. You might be amazed how nicely your own community have treated you for your bigotry.
F.U
ZFsGNv hi! how you doin?
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