Robert Rauschenberg: Artist and Citizen

Go to the Smithsonian’s Robert Rauschenberg Traveling Exhibit website.

Robert Rauschenberg, Artist-Citizen presents 17 framed prints produced between 1970 and 1996 that reverberate with Rauschenberg’s commitment to making the world a better place .

The exhibition includes posters created for and often donated to such organizations as the United Nations, UNESCO, and the AFL-CIO as well as work from the Rauschenberg Overseas Culture Interchange (ROCI), an evolving multi-media traveling exhibition of the artist’s paintings, sculpture, prints, and objects. All of the posters in the exhibition, which was developed by the University Art Gallery, California State University, Hayward, have been lent by the artist.

Robert Rauschenberg: Artist and Citizen

Go to the Smithsonian’s Robert Rauschenberg Traveling Exhibit website.

Robert Rauschenberg, Artist-Citizen presents 17 framed prints produced between 1970 and 1996 that reverberate with Rauschenberg’s commitment to making the world a better place .

The exhibition includes posters created for and often donated to such organizations as the United Nations, UNESCO, and the AFL-CIO as well as work from the Rauschenberg Overseas Culture Interchange (ROCI), an evolving multi-media traveling exhibition of the artist’s paintings, sculpture, prints, and objects. All of the posters in the exhibition, which was developed by the University Art Gallery, California State University, Hayward, have been lent by the artist.

The International Council of Museums

The ICOM Home Page.

The International Council of Museums (ICOM) is an international organisation of museums and museum professionals which is committed to the conservation, continuation and communication to society of the world's natural and cultural heritage, present and future, tangible and intangible.

Created in 1946, ICOM is a non-governmental organisation maintaining formal relations with UNESCO and having a consultative status with the United Nations' Economic and Social Council.

13 Specialist International Organisations are affiliated to ICOM. They are:

* AEOM - Association of European Open-Air Museums
* AIMA - International Association of Agricultural Museums
* AMOI - Association of Museums of the Indian Ocean
* CAM - Commonwealth Association of Museums
* IACM - International Association of Custom Museums
* IATM - International Association of Transport and Communications Museums
* ICAM - International Confederation of Architectural Museums
* ICMM - International Congress of Maritime Museums
* MAC - Museums Association of the Caribbean
* MINOM - International Movement for a New Museology
* PIMA - Pacific Islands Museums Association
* SADCAMM - Southern Africa Development Community Association of Museums and Monuments
* SIBMAS - International Association of Libraries and Museums of the Performing Arts

The International Council of Museums

The ICOM Home Page.

The International Council of Museums (ICOM) is an international organisation of museums and museum professionals which is committed to the conservation, continuation and communication to society of the world's natural and cultural heritage, present and future, tangible and intangible.

Created in 1946, ICOM is a non-governmental organisation maintaining formal relations with UNESCO and having a consultative status with the United Nations' Economic and Social Council.

13 Specialist International Organisations are affiliated to ICOM. They are:

* AEOM - Association of European Open-Air Museums
* AIMA - International Association of Agricultural Museums
* AMOI - Association of Museums of the Indian Ocean
* CAM - Commonwealth Association of Museums
* IACM - International Association of Custom Museums
* IATM - International Association of Transport and Communications Museums
* ICAM - International Confederation of Architectural Museums
* ICMM - International Congress of Maritime Museums
* MAC - Museums Association of the Caribbean
* MINOM - International Movement for a New Museology
* PIMA - Pacific Islands Museums Association
* SADCAMM - Southern Africa Development Community Association of Museums and Monuments
* SIBMAS - International Association of Libraries and Museums of the Performing Arts

U.S. Participation in UNESCO Deliberations

Read the full article, "Damage Control." By Barbara Crossette in the current edition of Foreign Policy. (Subscription required.)

In an article generally critical of U.S. Representative to the United Nations John Bolton and U.S. Ambassador to the Economic and Social Council Richard “Terry” Miller, Barbara Crossette makes the following comment:

At the United Nations, with 191 nations and foreign policies, compromise is inevitable. The trick is to know when to quit debating and cut a deal.

Take the case of UNESCO, the United Nations’ social and cultural arm. Fed up with its anti-American bias, the United States withdrew from the organization in 1984. After winning some important reforms, the United States returned to unesco in 2003. First lady Laura Bush was even dispatched to Paris to mark the American return to the fold. Yet by the fall of 2005, Bolton’s team was embroiled in a nasty fight over a draft Cultural Diversity Convention. Let’s be clear: The convention was clumsily written and contained provisions that were a transparent attempt to protect the French entertainment industry from competition. The way the United States (often represented by Terry Miller) went about opposing it, however, was disastrous. Almost all U.S. amendments were voted down unanimously; in retaliation, Bolton’s team voted against the agency’s budget. “Japan was particularly troubled and outspoken in opposition,” reports former U.S. diplomat Ray Wanner. “It is difficult to understand how this vote served the national interest.”

Bolton almost always has a solid rationale for the arguments he makes. But having U.S. representatives bravely charging up well-defended diplomatic hills only to be mowed down is not good strategy, particularly when it irritates critical allies. Your office needs to do a better job of making him choose his battles.

Barbara Crossette was United Nations bureau chief for the New York Times from 1994 to 2001. She is now a consulting editor at the United Nations Association of the United States.

U.S. Participation in UNESCO Deliberations

Read the full article, "Damage Control." By Barbara Crossette in the current edition of Foreign Policy. (Subscription required.)

In an article generally critical of U.S. Representative to the United Nations John Bolton and U.S. Ambassador to the Economic and Social Council Richard “Terry” Miller, Barbara Crossette makes the following comment:

At the United Nations, with 191 nations and foreign policies, compromise is inevitable. The trick is to know when to quit debating and cut a deal.

Take the case of UNESCO, the United Nations’ social and cultural arm. Fed up with its anti-American bias, the United States withdrew from the organization in 1984. After winning some important reforms, the United States returned to unesco in 2003. First lady Laura Bush was even dispatched to Paris to mark the American return to the fold. Yet by the fall of 2005, Bolton’s team was embroiled in a nasty fight over a draft Cultural Diversity Convention. Let’s be clear: The convention was clumsily written and contained provisions that were a transparent attempt to protect the French entertainment industry from competition. The way the United States (often represented by Terry Miller) went about opposing it, however, was disastrous. Almost all U.S. amendments were voted down unanimously; in retaliation, Bolton’s team voted against the agency’s budget. “Japan was particularly troubled and outspoken in opposition,” reports former U.S. diplomat Ray Wanner. “It is difficult to understand how this vote served the national interest.”

Bolton almost always has a solid rationale for the arguments he makes. But having U.S. representatives bravely charging up well-defended diplomatic hills only to be mowed down is not good strategy, particularly when it irritates critical allies. Your office needs to do a better job of making him choose his battles.

Barbara Crossette was United Nations bureau chief for the New York Times from 1994 to 2001. She is now a consulting editor at the United Nations Association of the United States.

Announcing the new Americans for UNESCO Website

Americans for UNESCO (AU) has just remounted its website on the Internet. We hope to make it a useful source for Americans interested in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. At the moment it has information on the AU itself, and links to some useful website at UNESCO and the State Department.