Dear Lacemakers, The season when we are traveling by air across the world to attend lace conventions is upon us. This note is not to overly-alarm you, but to suggest you consider carefully how you will take along your lace teaching samples, your lace exhibit entries, and even your laces to wear. And, think how you will describe lace purchases on declaration forms when returning home.
It has always worked for me to simply declare needlework, or antique needlework. When you are overly-specific, it is possible you will attract too much attention. The necessity of extra care became painfully clear when I read in the American "Fiberarts - the Magazine of Textiles" Summer issue a notice of an entire exhibition that is missing. The exhibition "Symbolic Defiance: Palestinian Costume & Embroidery Since 1948", organized by the Australian-based Palestine Costume Archive, was taken for a security check and X-ray at the Los Angeles airport on Nov. 1 and disappeared. The courier accompanying this exhibition was the Archive's director, someone we would suppose was experienced in traveling with these valuable textiles. The exhibit had toured Europe, Australia, Asia and U.S. since 1995 and was on its way to be displayed at the Middle East Studies Association of North America conference in Anchorage, Alaska, and the Arab Festival in Seattle, Washington. Personally, I think the choice of name for the exhibit attracted evil attention. More info is at: http://www.palestinecostumearchive.org International politics and hate may have a lot to do with this disappearance, and I do not want to initiate this hot non-lace topic on Arachne - PLEase! However, I do want to suggest you perhaps put the things you cherish most into your carry-on luggage. I have heard that some airlines require that checked luggage not be locked, a matter of considerable concern to anyone, considering whom will be pawing through personal belongings -- people that cannot be traced and arrested. Some travelers have been reporting in newspaper accounts that carefully-packed clothing has arrived at destinations in complete disarray, and with some items missing! I am also sufficiently concerned to suggest you do not put your Social Security number (which is on some health insurance cards) and financial information into checked luggage! Kind regards, Jeri Ames in Maine USA Lace and Embroidery Resource Center - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
