London museum pulls religious art
Steve Dufour
http://www.washingtontimes.com
London museum pulls religious art
By Al Webb
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Published September 29, 2005
LONDON -- The Tate Britain museum has made an unprecedented decision to
pull a work of religious art from an exhibition over fears that it
might offend Muslims.
Artist John Latham's "God is Great" features copies of the Koran,
Bible and Judaic Talmud that have been cut apart and embedded in thick
glass.
"We believe the particular circumstances we find ourselves in
post-7 July make it difficult for this work to be viewed as the artist
had intended -- as a commentary on the evolution of religious thought
from an original state of nothingness -- but instead as an overtly
political act," a Tate spokeswoman told The Washington Times.
The July 7 suicide bombings killed 52 passengers on three subway
trains and a bus.
Mr. Latham, an 84-year-old British artist who first came to note as
a member of what critics have called London's "1960s artistic avant
garde," was furious at the decision.
"Tate Britain have shown cowardice over this," Mr. Latham told the
Observer newspaper.
"I think it's a daft thing to do because, if they want to help the
militants, this is the way to do it.
"It's not even a gesture as strong as censorship. It's just a loss
of nerve on the part of the administration."
The case marked the latest in a series of disputes in Europe over
religion in the arts, including rioting by Sikhs protesting a play in
Birmingham, England, and the assassination of a Dutch filmmaker over a
10-minute movie that some Muslims deemed anti-Islamic.
"As far as I'm aware," the Tate spokeswoman said, this marked the
first time the museum had dropped an exhibit over religious concerns.
If a similar problem arose again, "we would judge things on a
case-by-case basis," she said.
In other brushes with controversy, Mr. Latham presented a work that
involved burning copies of an encyclopedia, and another in which he
chewed up a volume of art criticism.
Unease in the art world, which on occasion has spilled over into
violence, appears on the upswing in Europe.
Late last year, about 400 Sikh demonstrators stormed the Birmingham
Repertory Theater in the Midlands and forced it to cancel a play,
"Behzti," that depicted rape and killing in a Sikh temple. The play's
author, Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti, fled into hiding. In the Netherlands,
filmmaker Theo van Gogh was fatally shot and his body mutilated by a
Dutch-born Muslim terrorist. His film, titled "Submission," featured
women in see-through Islamic robes that revealed their breasts.
In Britain earlier this year, Christian groups as well as thousands
of viewers complained to the British Broadcasting Corp. for televising
"Jerry Springer -- the Opera," a musical that is loaded with swearwords
and depicts Jesus wearing diapers.
Tate Britain said it planned to hold a discussion at its London
premises on Nov. 8 in which "a panel of leading figures on art, ethics
and religion will debate art's claim to cultural independence."
The Muslim Council of Britain told the BBC that "we have not
received any complaints about" Mr. Latham's piece and that "we would
have preferred to have been consulted by Tate Britain before the
decision was taken to remove" it.
"Sometimes, presumptions are incorrectly made about what is
acceptable to Muslims, and this can be counterproductive," the group
said.
Bert Hyman
news:1128014484.1...@g43g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:
> "Sometimes, presumptions are incorrectly made about what is
> acceptable to Muslims, and this can be counterproductive," the
> group said.
Perhaps, in order to be completely safe, all mention of Islam and
Muslims should be erased or removed from all museums, media and the
like.
--
Bert Hyman | St. Paul, MN | be...@iphouse.com
B1ackwater
>stevej...@yahoo.com (Steve Dufour) wrote in
>news:1128014484.1...@g43g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:
>
>> "Sometimes, presumptions are incorrectly made about what is
>> acceptable to Muslims, and this can be counterproductive," the
>> group said.
>
>Perhaps, in order to be completely safe, all mention of Islam and
>Muslims should be erased or removed from all museums, media and the
>like.
Wouldn't hurt if the Queen converted to Islam either ...
Jim E
"Bert Hyman" <be...@iphouse.com> wrote in message
news:Xns96E07E442DB...@127.0.0.1...
> stevej...@yahoo.com (Steve Dufour) wrote in
> news:1128014484.1...@g43g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:
>
>> "Sometimes, presumptions are incorrectly made about what is
>> acceptable to Muslims, and this can be counterproductive," the
>> group said.
>
> Perhaps, in order to be completely safe, all mention of Islam and
> Muslims should be erased or removed from all museums, media and the
> like.
>
Wouldn't it be more effective to just eliminate the source of the problem?
Eliminate the moslims.
Jim E