Remember Guernika

I understood what it meant to be an artist when I first saw Picasso's Guernica mural at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC. So this trip to the town of Guernika was in a sense, a pilgrimage. The town has been completely rebuilt and the only reminders of that destruction by the Luftwaffe and Italian planes are the Peace Park and the carcass of the original oak . It and the present Casa de Junta (now the seat of the Basque Parliament)were the only things remaining. Many oak trees originating from that tree have been planted. The oak has become a striking symbol/metaphor for the Basques. The world forgets quickly and there are only 2 sculptures that were donated out of the many promised, in the park....note the graffitti on the Henry Moore shown here. The Casa has a video presentation of the bombing, etc. that unfortunately isn't as traumatic in our battle weary world where civilian casualties are taken for granted.