Windows and Mirrors Press Release

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For Immediate Release
WINDOWS AND MIRRORS: REFLECTIONS ON THE WAR IN AFGHANISTAN
A TRAVELING MURAL PROJECT OF THE AMERICAN FRIENDS SERVICE COMMITTEE
WITH TABLA PERFORMANCE BY: EHSAN HABIB

SPARC’s Planet Siqueiros Series presents a mural exhibition:

On Saturday, February 19th, at 685 Venice Blvd, Venice, CA (Old Venice Jail), SPARC’s historic headquarters since 1977, SPARC’s Planet Siqueiros Series hosts an opening exhibition of Windows and Mirrors: Reflections on the War in Afghanistan, a free exhibit sponsored by the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), a Quaker organization dedicated to peace and nonviolence.

Windows and Mirrors is a collaboration of more than 40 artists from around the world, including U.S. students. Forty-five, 4-foot by 6-foot panels, each uniquely designed by an artist or group of artists, comprise one large display memorializing Afghan civilian casualties. The exhibit also includes images collected from Afghan high school students by Dr. Zahir Wahab, a professor at Lewis and Clark College who asked young Afghans to draw images from their daily reality.

“It is the hope of the AFSC that visitors to Windows and Mirrors will join us in the nationwide dialogue about the war and how we can move toward positive alternatives,” says Anthony Marsh, Tour Director of Windows and Mirrors in Los Angeles. “We hope that each person will make a commitment to speak to just ten of their friends, family or neighbors about the human cost of the war in Afghanistan.” AFSC has called for an end to the Afghan war coupled with a commitment to the country’s reconstruction. This approach will provide the best means for reconciliation and security for the Afghan people. AFSC recommends that: No additional troops be sent to Afghanistan; a timeline be created for the withdrawal of U.S. troops; all parties involved in the war engage in diplomacy and dialogue – without preconditions; civilian-led organizations provide badly needed development aid; Congress redirect the more than $44 billion spent yearly on war funding to human needs in Afghanistan and at home.

Windows and Mirrors will run through Sunday, March 13, and will continue on to Guilford College in Greensboro, North Carolina through April 15, 2011. For a full schedule and frequent updates, please visit www.afsc.org/WindowsAndMirrors . For more on AFSC’s programs for peace, visit www.afsc.org.

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