A completely different perspective

Rembrandt's brilliance and a new perspective

Looking down one of Amsterdam's many canals on a beautiful and cool fall day

I traveled to Amsterdam last week and found myself with a whole day and nothing planned. Well!!!! Walking around exploring Amsterdam is always interesting, but I decided instead to visit the Rijks Museum where many of the Dutch Masters work is displayed. Pictured here is the Rijks "lobby" looking in from outside. Though cold and somewhat austere, it nevertheless was a warm and welcomed sight after braving the windy 4 degree temperature on the 1 hour walk from my hotel. And yes - I was dressed in "Africa-wear". I should have thought of that before leaving Nairobi but didn't....frozen dumb-ass......

This fine fellow guards a gallery just down the road from the Rijks. I had to include the photo as I found it really spoke to me. From deep within me stirred long forgotten memories of construction projects with my father. This one is the classic "where did I leave that damned hammer".

Surprisingly I didn't see the cool figure in the background doing  a handstand on the edge of the building. It was only after looking at the photo that I noticed. And that reminded me of my mother who always manages to get a thousand  things done at once and still have time and energy to entertain in dazzling and spectacular fashion!

Once into the Rijks there is a dizzying array of great works from the past. Van Gogh and Rembrandt are definitely the lead acts but it's a pretty darn good collection of supporting artists as well.

I'm not usually a big fan of painting (rooms or canvasses) but as I wandered from room to room I found myself more and more engaged. In part, this was due to Joeleen, who I'd met on Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar. She completed a graduate degree focusing on symbolism in early Renaissance art. Her "teaching" over beers one night gave me more insight than I had previously had. Also, the museum provides an ''Idiots guide to Dutch Masters" handout at each room adding to the experience. With time and patience the experience was richer and more memorable than I had anticipated.

I sat on the bench with this classic for quite some time trying to bring understanding to the "value" of the work. It was the first time that figures had been captured in movement rather than still and portrait-like. And here it isn't just a figure or two but a whole group involved in something united by the space and tasks ahead. I started to understand the brilliance of the work...

But it was this Rembrandt piece that finally did it for me. It was like an awakening as I discovered and understood the true brilliance. I became fascinated by the consistency of the light splashed on the subjects as they huddle conspiratorially in the glow. The casting of light and shadow is flawless as you examine each face and fold of clothing.

And it was here that my understanding of what happened at Kunduz Afghanistan fully registered within me for the first time. I wept then for my fallen teammates but more for the feeling of loss of innocence that reached deep within.

I now see the world differently than I once did. The lives of so many lack the value I had attributed or placed upon them. This is a concept that was almost impossible to understand from my previous perspective.

And in the days that followed the bombing I desperately searched for a "good" explanation for what happened that night in Afghanistan. I discussed with many people inside the organization and generally.

Suddenly, I could no longer suspend my disbelief and was forced to confront this reality. The hospital was targeted because it assists the Taliban - it means that the Taliban will be busy dealing with their wounded as MSF will no longer be there to assist. It means that the Taliban who were injured and being attended to by our team were considered targets and the cost of innocent lives was a price worth paying to kill them. It means that even though the injured are legally no longer combatants in war, their deaths suited the overall objectives of a government that conducts itself with impunity and reckless disregard for the misery it leaves in it's wake. It means that I will never again see the world through the veil of trust and comfort that coddled the first 50 years of my life. It leaves me feeling astonishingly naive about the world around me. It is indeed a unfathomable tragedy from all perspectives

A colleague whose opinion I value greatly said to me "Layne, the President of the most powerful country in the world has just apologized to an humanitarian aid organization.This is significant."

And while I appreciate both the opinion and perspective it's hard to reconcile this with an act of war perpetrated upon those who have so generously given themselves to the cause of alleviating the suffering of others. It is significant in that  it has called to action many who are outraged by this injustice. In that, there is some comfort.

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever does”

 

Margaret Mead

Thanks for reading - Layno