Library hosting event on Picasso, 9/11

Portland State’s Millar Library will be showing facsimiles of initial sketches for Pablo Picasso’s “Guernica” Oct. 5-10, exploring the historical significance and social relevance between the work’s origins and the Sept. 11 attacks.

The drawings and sketches will be on display as part of The September Project, an international program sponsored by American libraries that explores social issues of peace and democracy after Sept. 11.

Allen Hauser, PSU adjunct professor, will describe the historical impact of the 1937 bombing of Basque City, Guernica, by Hitler’s Luftwaffe, the German air force.

Hauser will speak about how the bombing relates to the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) and World War II. Fatality estimations for the bombing have ranged from 200-1,600.

Sue Taylor, associate professor of fine and performing arts, will discuss how Picasso’s 1937 work relates to the bombing. The mural presents a scene of death, violence, brutality, suffering, and helplessness, without portraying their immediate causes.

“There are parallels between the Guernica bombing and 9/11 that build awareness and will be discussed,” Taylor said. “It should be really interesting and will make the paintings seem alive.”

2007 is the third year that the library has participated in the project, and the second year that they have presented both an event and an exhibit, said Kimberly Willson-St. Clair, the library’s public relations coordinator.

“It [The September Project] provides an open forum to heal and question democracy after 9/11,” she said. “It is a great opportunity for students to engage in conversation about 9/11 and its effects on the world today.”

Willson-St. Clair said that last year focused more on words, but this year’s focus will be more on art.

This year’s event should be just as popular as in previous years, said Wilson-St. Clair, and she hopes this year’s event will be the last, because it would mean there was world peace. There are approximately 600 Iraq War veterans that are attending PSU this year, Wilson-St. Clair said.

The event will be held Friday 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Portland State Library, second floor. Admission is free and open to the public.