Attack on the National Museum of Bardo – Culture AgTuesday, 24 March 2015, Against Terrorism
The Kamel Lazaar Foundation offers its unequivocal support to the National Museum of Bardo, Tunis, and denounces the act of terrorism that targeted it on Wednesday, March 18, 2015.
We also want to express our sincere condolences to the families of the victims of this heinous act and to the governments whose citizens were killed in the attack.
The attack on the National Museum of Bardo was designed to undermine the nascent democratic model of Tunisia, the country's economy, the voice of its people, and the vibrant culture of the region by targeting innocent people in a museum renowned for its outstanding mosaic collections and exceptional works of art.
This attack will not succeed in achieving those goals.
The Foundation remains committed to the National Museum of Bardo and will continue organizing and supporting cultural and artistic events at the museum, as we did in 2013 and 2014 with Jaou-Tunis, and more recently through our support for the "Klee, Macke, Moilliet" exhibition in 2014.
Furthermore, the Foundation is dedicated to the implementation of an artistic policy and cultural forum that will counter the violent forms of obscurantism that we see across the region. We therefore resolutely promise to redouble our support for cultural platforms where diverse voices and peoples can come together to prepare for our country's future and that of the region as a whole.
In the spirit of this, we are pleased to also reconfirm that Jaou-Tunis will take place at the National Museum of Bardo from May 28-31, 2015, with support from the Foundation and its initiatives, including Ibraaz Publishing (www.ibraaz.org).
We would also call upon the international arts community to join us in condemning the attack at the National Museum of Bardo and join us in May for Jaou-Tunis. The Foundation will endeavor to find a way to accommodate as many participants as possible for the Jaou-Tunis conference and affiliated events so as to ensure global debates can be had about how culture can and will prevail in the face of extremism, violence and indiscriminate killing.
Further information on Jaou Tunis 2015 conference can be found here: www.kamellazaarfoundation.org/initiatives/3/47/
