Shortly after we sent out today’s communique on the anti-Israel Melbourne window exhibit, ABC reported that the exhibit has been taken down.
Good. But we’ll reiterate the main point from the communique — the key issue isn’t the debate over whether or not ‘art’ or ideological statements that some consider upsetting should be permitted or funded. It’s the gross factual errors on this exhibit, which spread false information about Israel and the Mideast conflict with no indication that anything but the facts were being conveyed.
So this statement by the artist (complete with requisite Nazi comparison) is just off the mark:
One of the most common questions raised over the last 24 hours is ‘what is art’? Hitler similarly held views about what constitutes degenerative art.
Then there’s this:
Liberty Victoria president Greg Connellan criticised the removal. “I wonder, if it had been an anti-Palestinian work and portrayed the Palestinians as terrorists, whether it would have been taken down?” he said. “We are not children. We don’t need protecting from artists’ unpopular political views.”
If it had portrayed 21 million Palestinian terrorist attacks since Sept. 2000, instead of the actual 21 thousand, then it should have been taken down. And then Connellan would have a valid comparison.
