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CNN Live At Daybreak
Some of Iraq's Treasures Awaiting Display in New York Museum
Aired May 05, 2003 - 05:36 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: As you know, Iraq's museums were looted after the war in Iraq, and much of the region's history may have been lost forever. However, some of Iraq's most precious treasures were already outside the country, awaiting display in a New York museum.
CNN's Maria Hinojosa takes a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARIA HINOJOSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For so many Americans, their history and the history of Iraq are closer than they know.
ELIZABETH STONE: Iraq has been kind of demonized in certainly recent American history. On the other hand, it was the cradle of civilization. It was the place where we all come from. We wouldn't be living in cities if it weren't for them. We wouldn't be writing if it weren't for them. We wouldn't have the wheel if it weren't for them.
HINOJOSA: Many Americans feel saddened by the looting of Iraq's museums. But for an archaeologist like Elizabeth Stone, who spent years digging Iraqi deserts for their roots, and ours, it's so much more painful.
STONE: We were horrified, because we had warned them. We had communicated with the U.S. military. I mean every single archaeologist -- (UNINTELLIGIBLE) archaeologist in this country and around the world had told them if there's anything you're going to protect, it has to be the museum. It is, you know, it is this treasure house that you have to protect. And they didn't.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) at three o'clock.
HINOJOSA: Just weeks after the U.S. military spent millions of dollars bombing Iraq, New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art opens an exhibit exalting the first Iraqi cities.
Joan Aruz is the head curator of the exhibit, Art of the First Cities, that opens on Monday morning.
JOAN ARUZ, CURATOR, "ART OF THE FIRST CITIES": The fact that this exhibition is taking place proves that are transcends politics.
HINOJOSA: The exhibit is a huge undertaking, exquisite pieces never seen in the United States before. And were it not for the recent war, perhaps this show wouldn't be drawing the attention of the public.
ARUZ: I want people to come out of this exhibition with a sense that we are all one, with a sense that the tragedy in Iraq was a tragedy, was our tragedy, that the losses to human civilization were universal.
HINOJOSA: And that now together we can appreciate the art of our own so very distant roots.
Maria Hinojosa, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Museum>
Aired May 5, 2003 - 05:36 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: As you know, Iraq's museums were looted after the war in Iraq, and much of the region's history may have been lost forever. However, some of Iraq's most precious treasures were already outside the country, awaiting display in a New York museum.
CNN's Maria Hinojosa takes a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARIA HINOJOSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For so many Americans, their history and the history of Iraq are closer than they know.
ELIZABETH STONE: Iraq has been kind of demonized in certainly recent American history. On the other hand, it was the cradle of civilization. It was the place where we all come from. We wouldn't be living in cities if it weren't for them. We wouldn't be writing if it weren't for them. We wouldn't have the wheel if it weren't for them.
HINOJOSA: Many Americans feel saddened by the looting of Iraq's museums. But for an archaeologist like Elizabeth Stone, who spent years digging Iraqi deserts for their roots, and ours, it's so much more painful.
STONE: We were horrified, because we had warned them. We had communicated with the U.S. military. I mean every single archaeologist -- (UNINTELLIGIBLE) archaeologist in this country and around the world had told them if there's anything you're going to protect, it has to be the museum. It is, you know, it is this treasure house that you have to protect. And they didn't.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) at three o'clock.
HINOJOSA: Just weeks after the U.S. military spent millions of dollars bombing Iraq, New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art opens an exhibit exalting the first Iraqi cities.
Joan Aruz is the head curator of the exhibit, Art of the First Cities, that opens on Monday morning.
JOAN ARUZ, CURATOR, "ART OF THE FIRST CITIES": The fact that this exhibition is taking place proves that are transcends politics.
HINOJOSA: The exhibit is a huge undertaking, exquisite pieces never seen in the United States before. And were it not for the recent war, perhaps this show wouldn't be drawing the attention of the public.
ARUZ: I want people to come out of this exhibition with a sense that we are all one, with a sense that the tragedy in Iraq was a tragedy, was our tragedy, that the losses to human civilization were universal.
HINOJOSA: And that now together we can appreciate the art of our own so very distant roots.
Maria Hinojosa, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
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