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sector capital for a single scientific research/conservation program in South America. This blocked currency donation would be among the largest by any single financial organization for conservation and scientific research.

[[underlined]] QUINCENTENARY PROGRAMS [[/underlined]]

At the Smithsonian the continuing process of encounters and transformations since 1492 is the main thrust of the many activities commemorating the 500th anniversary of the voyages of Columbus. In its presentations, the Institution is acknowledging the demographic and attitudinal shifts that are occurring in America.

The development of Quincentenary programs at the Smithsonian Institution was initiated at about the same time that the Christopher Columbus Jubilee Commission was being established by Congress in 1985. There are approximately 54 state, city, and county Quincentenary commissions functioning in the United States and its territories; in addition, 32 countries have Quincentenary commissions, and UNESCO and the OAS are also involved in the commemoration. There are other commissions that focus on the contributions of specific groups, including the National Hispanic Quincentennial Commission, the National Italian American Foundation, the National Congress of American Indians, and Spain '92, to name a few. The Office of Quincentenary Programs at the Smithsonian, which serves as the coordinating body for the Institution, is also a part of this vast network of museums, commissions and national and international organizations.

On February 13, 1990, the Secretary signed a letter of agreement establishing a framework for cooperation between Spain and the Smithsonian on a variety of Columbus Quincentenary programs and future Ibero-American activities was signed in Madrid, Spain. National Air and Space Museum Director Martin Harwit will soon sign an agreement with the Sociedad Estatal for co-sponsorship of the "Where Next, Columbus?" exhibition to the above, the Smithsonian is collaborating with Sephard '92 and the World Sephardic Federation to bring the exhibition, "Golden Threads: A Tapestry of Creativity," to the International Gallery in 1992.

The Ibero-American ambassadors and cultural attaches have been instrumental in assisting the Smithsonian with program development and in identifying fund-raising prospects. Development efforts continue to concentrate on five exhibitions--"Seeds of Change" (National Museum of Natural History), "American Encounters" (National Museum of American History), "Latin American Pioneers of Modernism" (Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden), "The West as America" (National Museum of American History), and "Court Portraiture in 16th-Century Habsburg Spain" (National Portrait Gallery). The "Seeds of Change" exhibition is supported primarily by a $1.2 million contribution from Xerox.

With close collaboration from the Ibero-American cultural attaches, the agenda has been established and participants identified for a Symposium of the Americas to be held in May 1991. Four of the five programs for the [[underlined]] Buried Mirror [[/underlined]] television series have been completed; the fifth and final script is completed and is being reviewed before filming begins along the border between the U.S. and Mexico; scholarly advisors will be reviewing rough cuts for