"A new sculpture in Brussels, commissioned by the Czech Republic in honor of its stint as holder of the European Union presidency, has rankled some EU members." From
Der Spiegel.
Now I guess I can see that some countries might be a little upset with their representations in this piece. My inclination would be to say, "but it's just art... one person's interpretation (in this case, a small team worked on it)." However, art is powerful. And not only can it lend legitimacy and momentum to a point of view, by its mere existence, it says "this point of view exists; it is real." People often don't appreciate that. They'd prefer to pretend that some points of view don't exist. So, for example, the image of a group of Catholic priests rasing a gay pride flag over Poland is threatening and offensive to some. (I thought the "Is the Pope Polish" jokes were obsolete- is there some ongoing reason Poland is associated with the Catholic Church?)
I'll leave it for the aggrieved parties to work it out for themselves. In the meantime...
Hee Hee!
1 comment:
People should know better. The Czechs have quite the reputation where art is concerned. I imagine Robert Maplethorpe would have been an advertising photographer over there :-) They take their art seriously, and like many artist aim to shock.
Post a Comment