ART OR PROFANITY?
Opposing views over “Kulo” exhibit
MANILA – Reacting to public sentiment, the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) closed down on August 9th its controversial exhibit, Kulô: more than just blasphemous art, which included defaced religious images in the work by Medeo Cruz, Poleteismo. It opened on June 21, 2011. Not unexpectedly, some artists were not happy.
National Artist for Literature Bienvenido Lumbera, leader of the Concerned Artists of the Philippines, said the closure of the exhibit was “an unfortunate move on the part of CCP,” adding that it only makes the CCP “open to every little whim by a certain sector in Philippine society.”
“That leaves CCP open to pressure anytime something, an art object being displayed, raises the ire of certain sectors,” Lumbera said in a media interview last week.
While the exhibit included the works of several artists, it was Mideo Cruz’s works that sparked the controversy ¬– images of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary adorned with objects not related to Christianity such as a crucifix with a wooden penis to a Christ the King figurine with rabbit ears.
Lumbera said he understands that “there is very little ground on which the CCP and the Church can agree on,” but stressed that an artist “should be allowed the freedom to create what he thinks is art.”
“I just regret that the CCP did not put up an argument that would protect the artist and his creation,” he said.
On the same day the CCP closed the controversial art exhibit, the artist group called Palayain ang Sining posted on its FaceBook page a condemnation of the decision urging artists and members of the press to fight against censorship and attacks on freedom of expression.
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