December 15, 2016
Remarks, PAO Chase Beamer,
AFCP Closing Ceremony
“The Conservation of the Mirabal Sisters’
Textile Collection”
Museo Memorial de la Resistencia
Thursday, December 15, 2016
Honorable Museum Director, Luisa de la Pena;
Distinguished Coordinator Noris Gonzalez;
Distinguished Guest Minou Tavarez Mirabal;
Friends, guests, and members of the media;
It is an honor to be here tonight to witness the completion of a worthy project commemorating an important aspect of Dominican history. Through the preservation of the Mirabal sisters’ textile collection, we ensure that the legacy of these brave and determined women lives on and is accessible to future generations of Dominicans.
In 2014, the U.S. Department of State, through the Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation, awarded a grant for more than 47,000 dollars to the Mirabal Sisters’ House Museum in Salcedo, a project that was selected from more than 100 proposals submitted to Washington by all of our embassies in the world. The U.S. Congress established the fund to as a way to demonstrate our respect for other cultures and to preserve and protect cultural heritage around the world. Since 2001, the fund has awarded 55 million dollars in support of more than 870 projects in 125 countries. Currently, the fund is providing more than 80,000 dollars to restore the mural of the Haitian massacre which you saw upon your entrance to the museum.
It is extremely gratifying to see this grant through to completion, and to appreciate its results displayed so beautifully at the Museo Memorial de la Resistencia. I would like to thank Luisa, Noris, Liza, and all those who spent countless hours restoring these lost threads of history.
We deliberately chose December as the month to hold this closing ceremony, because this is a period in which we observe and recommit ourselves to protecting human rights around the world. We hope this exhibit prompts you all to reflect upon the sisters’ activism and their contribution to building democracy in the Dominican Republic. Through this exhibit, we honor their legacy and also rededicate ourselves to the fight to end violence against women.
I know that thousands of school children visit this Museo in Santo Domingo and the Casa Museo in Salcedo yearly, and I hope that when they contemplate this exhibit, they feel the vibrancy, creativity, and activism of the Mirabal sisters.
Once again, thank you all for your dedication to this project.
