Ozschwitz: Insane Censorship Hysteria: Henson exhibition shut down

The opening night of an exhibition by the photographer Bill Henson featuring images of naked children was dramatically cancelled after police visited the Paddington gallery to investigate child pornography claims.

The future of the exhibition at the Roslyn Oxley9 gallery, which featured images of a girl and a boy, aged 12 and 13 - some of which also appear on the gallery's website - is now in doubt.

Superintendent Allan Sicard from Rose Bay local area command cancelled the opening after consulting the gallery owners. The future of the show was yet to be decided.

Talkback radio switchboards were swamped with calls after the Herald wrote about the exhibition yesterday.

The gallery's owner, Roslyn Oxley, said she had been showing similar work by Henson since 1990 "and they have never offended people".

Asked by Channel Seven if she would let her daughter pose for Henson, she said: "She's been in some of his shots."

Henson said last night he was determined the exhibition should go ahead.

One artist who attended the exhibition opening, Eugenia Raskopoulos, said the cancellation was "censorship of the worst kind".

"I cannot believe that they have cancelled this opening which features pictures that are honest and beautiful and in no way pornographic," she said.

LNK
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The statist insanity continues...
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"Taking money without permission is stealing unless you work for the IRS then it's taxation. Killing people en masse is homicidal mania unless you work for the Army then it's National Defense. Spying on your neighbors is invasion of privacy unless you work for the FBI then it's National Security. Running a whorehouse makes you a pimp & poisoning people makes you a murderer unless you work for the CIA then it's counter intelligence." R. Wilson. ANCAPS Forum Headquarters, Ancapolis

THE art world has denounced a "dark day in Australian culture" after police seized up to 21 photographs of naked child models and said they would lay charges over an exhibition by the renowned artist Bill Henson.

While the Prime Minister described the works as "revolting" and devoid of artistic merit, the art community and former models for the artist defended Henson, rejecting the accusation that his works are pornographic.

At 3pm yesterday police announced charges would be laid under both the NSW and Commonwealth Crimes acts for publishing an indecent article. The NSW action could involve the hung work and promotional material while the Commonwealth action involves internet catalogues. It was unclear whether Henson or people from the Roslyn Oxley9 gallery in Paddington, which published several of the controversial images on its website and on promotional material, would be charged.

Both Henson and the gallery owner Roslyn Oxley went to ground yesterday. Henson is understood to be distressed by the planned charges.

In dramatic scenes, police took his pictures in packing cases to a truck outside the gallery. The Rose Bay police commander, Superintendent Allan Sicard, told media there: "This morning police have attended the gallery and executed a search warrant and seized several items depicting a child under the age of 16 years of age in a sexual context."

The Herald understands that previous Henson works are also being examined by the police. Henson has been producing similar works for years without police intervention, and they have been lauded worldwide, as long ago as the 1995 Venice Biennale. But police raided the gallery on Thursday night following a complaint. It has emerged that complaint came from Hetty Johnston, of the child sexual assault advocacy group Bravehearts.

"I did make a complaint yesterday, absolutely," Ms Johnston said. "I asked them to prosecute, both the gallery and the photographer, but I'd like to see the parents as well looked in to. What parent in their right mind would allow their 12- or 13-year-old to strip off naked and display themselves all over the internet? That's not in the interests of the child. What's happening here is that the arts community have felt that they've been able to get away with this under the guise of art for a number of years, and I think this is the community drawing a line in the sand and saying, 'Enough's enough'."

Earlier yesterday the gallery released a statement: "After much consideration we have decided to withdraw a number of works from the current Bill Henson exhibition that have attracted controversy. The current show, without the said works, will be reopened for viewing in coming days."

http://www.smh.com.au/news/arts/henson-finds-support-over-photos/2008/05/23/1211183097197.html
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OZschwitz: This is not porn, say Henson's models

Zahava Elenberg was 12 when she posed for a series of dark and evocative photographs taken by Bill Henson.

More than 20 years later she still has vivid memories of working with the artist, but "absolutely no regrets".

"Bill asked my mother at an exhibition opening if I would like to pose for him and we talked about it and decided to do it," says Ms Elenberg, now a 34-year-old mother. "We went to this old building in Melbourne. It was quite dark but I never felt uncomfortable. Bill made you feel incredibly safe and calm. I was involved in the artistic process and I never felt that I wasn't in control.

"I absolutely support Bill Henson. I'm a parent myself and I abhor child pornography, but this is not child pornography. It's artistic and creative."

Ms Elenberg did not pose nude - she and her mother had decided that "under no circumstances" would she take her clothes off, even though they said Henson did not directly ask her.

All the women who have spoken to the Herald about posing for Henson tell a similar story. They paint a picture of a Melbourne artistic community where it is common for artists and photographers to approach parents to ask if their children will be part of their next project.

"She [Ms Elenberg] was brought up with artists - this kind of thing was just normal, it is normal," says Ms Elenberg's mother, Anna Schwartz, a gallery owner. "Through our involvement with his work and our friendship he said he'd like to take photographs of my daughter and we agreed.

"She was involved in the whole process. She was encouraged to look through the lens and to learn about the artistic process."

Joelle Baudet, who posed naked for Henson as a 24-year-old, said she was approached by the photographer at a gallery opening in the mid-1990s.

"The experience was enlightening. It never crossed my mind that what I was doing was pornographic," Ms Baudet said.

"His work is sublime and only a warped mind could associate it with such crassness. My children and I enjoy seeing his photographs daily in our home.

"He's always had total consent from his subjects and their families and would never have made any of his models do anything they were uncomfortable with."

While Henson made efforts to ensure that his young subjects and their parents were comfortable and informed, child advocates say no one can consent to such a practice.

"It is clear from the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child that parents do not have the right to make that decision on behalf of their children," the chief executive of Child Wise, Bernadette McMenamin, said.

"And children, at the age of 12, 13 or 14, do not have the experience or the understanding to make an informed consent. They don't understand how those images will be used or re-used. When they're 18 or 20 or 30 they may look back and say, 'My god, I made a mistake.' "

LNK
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OZschwitz: Turnbull condemns police invading art galleries

Malcolm Turnbull has criticised the police raids of galleries displaying the work of photographer Bill Henson.

"I don't believe that we should have policemen invading art galleries," the Opposition treasury spokesman said on Sky News.

"I think we have a culture of great artistic freedom in this country."

Mr Turnbull's comments follow police inquiries at two galleries yesterday - the Newcastle Regional Gallery and the National Gallery of Victoria.

Last Friday, the Albury Regional Gallery took down three photographs by Henson on police advice. Police also raided the Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery in Paddington and seized a number of images.

Mr Turnbull said he had two of Henson's photographs in his home - one of a face in profile and the other of a sunset.

But Prime Minister Kevin Rudd today said he was unapologetic and would stand by his criticism.

"I gave my reaction. I stand by that reaction and I don't apologise for it and I won't be changing it," Mr Rudd told reporters in Canberra.

"I am passionate about children having innocence in their childhood."

It was not appropriate for politicians to comment or intervene with the legal process, he said.

"It is properly in the hands of independent processes."

He said he was unaware that Mr Turnbull owned a couple of Henson photographs.

LNK
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About fucking time they came out in defense of a few garden variety shots... hell, you can see more nakedness on any frigging god damn beach!
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"Taking money without permission is stealing unless you work for the IRS then it's taxation. Killing people en masse is homicidal mania unless you work for the Army then it's National Defense. Spying on your neighbors is invasion of privacy unless you work for the FBI then it's National Security. Running a whorehouse makes you a pimp & poisoning people makes you a murderer unless you work for the CIA then it's counter intelligence." R. Wilson. ANCAPS Forum Headquarters, Ancapolis

Now it's the artists who are revolting

THE trouble, if you are a Prime Minister, with mixing politics and art is that every now and then the artists bite the politicians.

Kevin Rudd got some nice mileage — to say nothing of great pictures — from having Cate Blanchett and others from the arts world as high- profile summiteers.

Now members of the "creative stream" have come together again and sent the PM a sharp message.

It's elegantly worded of course; you'd expect nothing less from Cate and crew.

They've also sent an erstwhile colleague, Peter Garrett, a rocket, calling on him to "stand up for artists against a trend of encroaching censorship".

Garrett can't stand up for anything much at the moment. He's a cabinet minister, and his leader has pronounced the Henson photographs "absolutely revolting".

Garrett has been sitting firmly on the barbed wire fence, saying while artists have a right to challenge and confront audiences, they have a responsibility to operate within the law.

Well, yes.

But it's hard to think that if he wasn't in politics, Garrett wouldn't be a name on the letter.

Rudd let fly last Friday in the strongest possible terms, with an art critique included for good measure.

"Whatever the artistic view of the merits of that sort of stuff — frankly I don't think there are any — just allow kids to be kids," he said.

His opinion on artistic value flies in the face of the experts. His opinion on the core issue is not unexpected — in the present climate it is the obvious line for a political leader — but disappointing, even more so that he expressed it so unequivocally, lacking any doubt whatsoever.

His spokesman said Rudd had put his "personal" opinion.

What does this mean? He is Prime Minister, and there is no doubt that his ministers would think this "personal" view is the one they should follow.

As the creative stream members wrote, political leaders are "influential in forming public opinion, and we believe their words should be well considered".

That Cate Blanchett has been willing to lend her name to the letter should at least give her admirer cause to pause.

She is mother of young children, no doubt aware of all the arguments about children, and hardly someone to be publicly defending anything "absolutely revolting".

LNK
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OZschwitz: Model's mother defends Henson

THE mother of the 13-year-old girl at the centre of the Bill Henson controversy has broken the family's week-long silence to defend the artist's portrayal of her daughter.

The parents of the teenager - whose nude image on the invitation to Henson's exhibition at Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, in Paddington, sparked a complaint to police that led to pictures being seized - have known the artist for more than a decade. The exhibition also included pictures of a naked boy.

The girl lives with her parents in Melbourne. In a statement yesterday her mother said: "There is a police investigation under way and we cannot say anything other than [that] we are very strong supporters of Bill Henson and his work."

The girl is said to have a keen interest in the arts. Her identity is known to police but her family have so far refused to answer any police questions via their lawyer.

The girl, who is still 13, posed for Henson over the past year. Her parents met him through family and friends and were aware of the nature of his work before their daughter posed nude, sources said.

Since the controversy flared, the family have been anxious to protect their privacy. The Sydney lawyer Mark O'Brien is representing the family, Henson and the gallery owners, Roslyn and Tony Oxley.

Mr O'Brien declined to comment last night. He recently advised Channel Nine about the suppression in Victoria of the series Underbelly. All the parties have also retained the same public relations firm.

It also emerged yesterday that police have begun separate investigation of Henson's work at the National Gallery of Australia, in Canberra. Officers have interviewed the gallery's director, Ron Radford. The gallery holds 79 pictures by Henson, none of which have been displayed since 2006. Some of them have been seized by police.

Media organisations that reproduced Henson's work online are being investigated by the Australian Communications and Media Authority.

Photographs used by media websites reporting the investigation of Henson have been referred to the Classification Board, said the Minister for Home Affairs, Bob Debus. He would not name the websites.

LNK
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A timely crackdown on the lewd, rude drawings of naked infants in Snugglepot

HUNDREDS of decadent, pornographic or otherwise unsuitable works of art have been seized in raids on galleries and bookstores around NSW. Strike Force Picasso was initiated to investigate illegal art works in December, comprising detectives from the Art Crime Squad, the Dog Unit and Ballistics.

Yesterday evening, as a result of further inquiries, undercover police disguised as left-wing intellectuals attended premises in Paddington and Newtown at which it was alleged illegal images of an offensive nature were being trafficked. Detectives seized posters or prints depicting the following:

� Le Dejeuner sur l'Herbe, by Edouard Manet. Believed to be by a French person, this work shows a naked young woman picnicking outdoors with two bearded but fully clothed male suspects described as of Mediterranean or Middle Eastern Origin.

� David, by Michelangelo Buonarroti. This depicts a statue of a nude male youth with a penis which can be clearly seen and which police will allege is inflammatory to persons of a homosexual nature.

� Snugglepot and Cuddlepie, by May Gibbs. Apparently an Australian work of pedophile pornography, this book contains numerous images of naked infants, some with their genitalia barely covered by a gumleaf, others in which children's buttocks are clearly displayed.

The Commander of the Art Crime Squad, Detective Superintendent Ernst Hanfstangel, congratulated Strike Force Picasso officers involved in the investigation.

"It is not easy for police to be confronted by such filth, but I warn artists and purveyors of similar shocking materials that we will not hesitate to act to protect the community," Superintendent Hanfstangel said.

Members of the public or female newspaper columnists offended by unsuitable or criminal works of art are urged to contact Crimestoppers on 1800 333 000.

THE moral panic over the Bill Henson photographs is wondrous to behold. It reminds you of Lord Macaulay's remark that there is "no spectacle so ridiculous as the British public in one of its periodical fits of morality". Or Heinrich Heine's prophecy that "where they burn books, they will ultimately burn people".

Roasting Henson at the stake might be taking things a bit far in this enlightened era. A few years in Goulburn Supermax should be enough to teach him some decency, as the Daily Telegraph amusingly calls it. Thank heavens we have Kevin Rudd and Morris Iemma to speak up for hard-working Australian families. The Premier was especially quick to declare that the show at the Oxley9 gallery was "offensive and disgusting," no mean feat of art criticism given that he was actually in China at the time.

Of politicians, only Malcolm Turnbull, the millionaire eastern suburbs rake and libertine, was brave enough to say that he felt uncomfortable at the sight of police swooping on art galleries. If that doesn't disqualify him from the Liberal leadership, nothing will. Liberals like police swoops, Malcolm.

Heine, incidentally, was referring to the Spanish Inquisition burning the Koran, an act of literary criticism they might like to consider at Camden now the council has kiboshed the proposal for the Muslim school there.

I particularly enjoyed the apple-cheeked old granny who was angry that the ABC had turned up to the council meeting. "Why is Channel 2 against Australia ?" she hissed to the camera, eyes like hot coals.

Another wild-eyed woman, a Pauline Hanson lookalike in a hat festooned with Australian flags, insisted she was not racist. Why, she even had a Turkish friend. "It's just that Camden is a white area," she explained.

THOSE two women, and all right-thinking Australians, will be delighted the NSW police are shielding us from more than offensive art.

Earlier this month, the Counter Terrorism Task Force turned up one evening at the Norton Street branch of the Leichhardt Council Library to inspect an exhibition about Palestinian refugees. It was called Al-Nakba, or The Catastrophe, which is how the Palestinians refer to their expulsion from their lands by the Israelis 60 years ago. There were, I understand, some confronting photographs of pain and misery.

But not any more. After a quiet word from the coppers, Leichhardt Council cravenly closed the show even before it had opened to the public. Why we do not know. Was there a grave threat to national security? A police spokesperson told the Herald the officers were from a "community contact unit �c they just had a quick chat to the librarian".

The weasel explanation from the mayor, Councillor Caroline Allen, was that there had been "a breakdown of managerial process".

With the police now so busy censoring art galleries and exhibitions, the Premier must act. NSW urgently needs a super-ministry for Police and the Arts, like the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice they have in Iran. He's not a member of the Labor Party, but I am sure the Reverend Fred Nile would accept the job.

LNK
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Aquarchy Rules. Liquidate the Reds

ANCAPS Forum, Ancapolis, Aqua-Terra Atlantis Division.

_________________
"Taking money without permission is stealing unless you work for the IRS then it's taxation. Killing people en masse is homicidal mania unless you work for the Army then it's National Defense. Spying on your neighbors is invasion of privacy unless you work for the FBI then it's National Security. Running a whorehouse makes you a pimp & poisoning people makes you a murderer unless you work for the CIA then it's counter intelligence." R. Wilson. ANCAPS Forum Headquarters, Ancapolis