A conference in New York about artists’ responses to 9/11 was attacked in advance. “The conference was built on the solid premise that mourning and remembrance evolve over time, and that art of all kinds – challenging, comforting, even rude – is a valuable element in the process. That doesn’t deny that the grief is still raw for many people, and may always be. But the media attacks on the show were hardly about grief. At best they display a yahooism that says art doesn’t matter, at worst a political agenda that says anti-government opinions have no place in any event linked to 9/11.”