This week I travelled to the Bastogne War Museum in Belgium for the opening of the 3rd stage of the Art of Remembrance Project (seen in previous posts). I was struck by the monumental Mardasson Memorial just beside the museum. The memorial was dedicated in 1950 and it commemorates the 76, 890 US Army soldiers who were killed or wounded in and around Bastogne between December 1944 and January 1945 as part of the Battle of the Bulge - or Ardennes Offensive. Designed by architect Georges Dedoyard, with mosaics in the crypt by Fernand Leger, the memorial is in the shape of a five pointed American star. Part of the inscription states that the memorial is " Dedicated to the enduring friendship of the peoples of Belgium and the United States who forged a bond from their common struggle to defeat the enemy of all the free peoples". True at the time, no doubt, I wonder how this statement stands today and what has changed (geo-politically at least) about the nature of friendships, who now is considered the enemy and what is meant by freedom? As the US continues to pursue its own singular form of politics and foreign policy, it seems that the friendship it once offered the world, has now become toxic to some. Much as in our personal relationships , can we rely on bonds forged in the past to sustain us into the future? Can we still be friends with someone if that friendship comes with conditions that do not align with our own world view or do we ignore their present behaviours in the hope that somehow that toxic friend will return to how they were, our cherished ally from the past? It's hard to let go but perhaps, in some cases, it's for the best.
RSS Feed