On Friday, October 4, 2019, I was on BBC World News to discuss Paris’s latest public art work, which is by Jeff Koons. The issue has faced a lot of controversy for the process, and journalist Joseph Nechvatal even spoke to a survivor that was upset and told him, “In the case of Jeff Koons, if one likes or not the aesthetics of ‘Bouquet of Tulips,’ that is not the question for me. The question is: why make a monument for the victims of terrorism without asking those that were victimized what they think? In the Koons case, no parents of the dead victims, nor direct living victims, were consulted.”
So many questions, which we didn’t have time to get to in this short segment, but I was happy to be on a program I’ve listened to and watched all my life. When I listen to BBC, I’m always reminded of my Uncle Hovhannes who would listen religiously to it every day whether he was in Beirut or elsewhere. I’ve picked up the habit, but I listen to the podcasts more than the radio nowadays.
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