My work in Italy

Beneath the Surface

As a member of AIMC (the international association of contemporary mosaics) I was able to send a work to a members’ exhibition in Ravenna for the Ravenna Mosaico biennale and the AIMC’s biennial congress. Since we were planning to go to the event in person this year, I figured what the heck. I know international shipping can be a problem, but I took a chance and sent it. My risky choice was to use the USPS. I figured it was a cheaper option, but as it turns out it was the wrong choice. My package was stuck in Italian customs for 3-1/2 weeks! I was philosophical about this, feeling a little sheepish for choosing the carrier I did, but not upset. The AIMC people were super nice, saying that when it ever did arrive, they’d hang it in the show, which runs till the end of November. Lo and behold, it arrived on Friday, October 14! So it joins the member show for the rest of the run.

You can be sure that I will be choosing another carrier for the return journey! For future reference, I now know that when you use the national postal service, the tracking number you receive is useless once it arrives in the destination country. That country has no record of that US tracking number, and they didn’t contact the recipient of the hold. The customs people decided there was duty owed on my box, even though it was marked as of no commercial value. Live and learn!