TARGETING THE ARTS 2016
Most alarmingly, while many complaints stop or are extremely delayed at the prosecution stage (trials involving police abuses for instance), complaints involving artistic freedom are almost always taken forward. As a result, artists and curators rush to remove artworks in order to avoid conviction. This was the case with the exhibition ‘Outlook’ that was organised in 2003 during the so-called ‘Cultural Olympiade’ (which coincided with Greek Orthodox Easter), where a painting by Belgian artist Thierry de Cordier, entitled Asperges me, and representing a penis ejaculating on a cross sparked controversy. Following complaints by the Bishop of Athens, as well as conservative MPs, a prosecution was again initiated and the exhibition’s curator Christos Ioakeimidis was indicted and asked to appear before a first instance criminal tribunal. While the artist defended himself by pointing out that ‘he was not Christian’, the curator removed the painting in order to avoid criminal conviction.
De Cordie’s ‘Asperges me’. Photo: tovima.gr
Banning gay kisses Debates over gay identities are another exemplary illustration of the turn towards conservative attitudes in the last years. The first gay kiss that sparked controversy was aired by private channel ‘Mega’ during the series ‘Close your Eyes’ (Κλείσε τα μάτια) in 2003 and earned the Channel a fine of 100,000 euros by the National Radio and Television Council (Ethniko Symvoulio Radiotileorasis). Following an administrative complaint against the tv channel, the Supreme Administrative Court (ΣτΕ) annulled this decision with a judgement hailing artistic freedom and its prevalence over moral sensibilities. Given that LGBTI rights have never been effectively accepted in Greece however, other ‘gay kisses’ that followed the Court’s judgement equally became the object of debate in the Greek cultural scene. In 2009, a theatrical play at the National Opera Scene (Ethniki Lyriki Skini) triggered once more extreme reactions. The play was based on Antonin Dvorzak’s melodic fairytale ‘Rusalka’ and directed by French director Marion Wasserman, in a co-production with the Opera House of Nice. Prior to the opening of the play, a homophobic text signed by the Administrative Board of the Opera was circulated and handed to the audience stating that the specific version of the play embraced homosexual attitudes ‘attributing to the main protagonist of the play homosexual tendencies through extreme scenes’.
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