HUMAN RIGHTS & EQUALITY FOR ALL,FREEDOM & JUSTICE FOR PALESTINE, ZIMBABWE, BURMA, EVERY COUNTRY SUFFERING FROM WARS, DROUGHTS, STARVATION, MILITARY ADVENTURES, DICTATORSHIPS, POLICE STATES, RELIGIOUS OPPRESSION, HOMOPHOBIA, CENSORSHIP & OTHER OBSCENITIES.INTERNATIONAL ASYLUM SEEKER SUPPORT
A BLOG SITE, "BLOGNOW" COLLAPSED IN 2009, SO USE THE GOOGLE SITE SEARCH ENGINE
An
internationally renowned Australian artist whose anti-war works were
removed from a gallery has accused conservative politicians of
misrepresenting his art and stoking outrage.
What Nationals MP
George Christensen slammed as an attack on the reputation of Australia's
armed forces amounted to fair political comment on the emotional cost
of war, Sydney artist Abdul Abdullah says.
Abdul Abdullah in his St Leonards studio.Credit:Sam Mooy
His works were pulled from a Queensland gallery show intended to examine difficult truths around racism, violence, and discrimination.
''In
a strange way, it's the voices who rail against political correctness
that seem to be the first to want to have politically correct speech -
in their minds - from an artist who comes from a background which they
see as violent or threatening," Abdullah said.
"I wonder if I had a different name or a different religion whether this would have been news at all."
Mr Christensen and former NRL player turned councillor, Martin Bella, led calls for the removal of the two works, For we are young and free and All Let us Rejoice, from
a council-run gallery. They were joined by the local RSL which said
they feared for the mental health of local servicemen and women.
A spokeswoman for Mr Christensen directed the Herald
to an October statement in which the member for Dawson said he was all
for free speech and freedom of expression but taxpayers and ratepayers
should not subsidise political messages that attacked soldiers. Clr
Bella did not respond to questions put by the Herald.
For
we are young and free' by Abdul Abdullah, which was pulled down from a
Queensland art gallery because they were deemed to be an attack on
soldiers. Credit:Äbdul Abdullah
Tensions
got so heated that extra gallery security was needed, the artist
received hate mail and poppies were dropped at the gallery entrance.
The
tapestries bear Abdullah's signature style of an emoji, cartoonish
character or motif over a traditionally painted backdrop. This year the
artist was a finalist for the Sulman and Wynne prizes for paintings with
similar imagery.
"The
smiley face is an emoji I've used in a few different series of works
where I've talked about the difference between a person's lived
experience and the perception of them and what they project - the
difference between how we feel and how we seem," Abdullah said from his
studio in St Leonards.
"In the case of these images of the
soldiers, there's the dark experience of war and all the turmoil they've
experienced but in every case where I've met a soldier they've said
they've always had to put on a brave face."
Mr Christensen took issue with the artist's description of soldiers as surrogates
involved
in "'illiberal, destructive actions in other places'' and that those
coming across Australian soldiers in action would see them as an
''existential threat''.
The MP said it was particularly affronting to veterans that the exhibition would have run during Remembrance Day.
After
initially defending the artist's right to freedom of expression, Mackay
Mayor Greg Williamson announced the work's removal. He declined to
respond to the Herald.
Abdullah
said he was never asked to explain his intent and he'd be the last
person to disrespect servicemen. Two of his great grandfathers fought in
Belgium and France in World War I. One grandfather fought in Papua New
Guinea in World War II, the other with the British Navy in a submarine
torpedoed in the Indian Ocean.
"What’s happened here is so
unfair," said Esther Anatolitis, executive director of the National
Association of Visual Artists. "It’s deeply unfair to the veterans and
veterans’ groups who’ve been misled on work they never saw by an artist
they never met."
Following its opening in Noosa Regional Gallery on Friday, the exhibition Violent Salt
is scheduled to travel to Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery, but those
dates are also in doubt with the mayor Paul Antonio telling local media
he did not want Abdullah's works displayed. Staff at Noosa Regional
Gallery elected to add kids labels to the interpretation of the touring
exhibition including one for Abdullah’s works, and a sign at the
entrance with a Lifeline number.
Independent
curators Yhonnie Scarce and Claire Watson said that they were surprised
and disappointed that Abdullah’s embroideries were taken down from the
exhibition in Mackay without consulting with them or the artist.
Censorship
of the work, they said, and particularly "hostile remarks" leveled
towards Abdullah, only demonstrated the value of exhibitions such as Violent Salt.
The
show is scheduled to travel to Lake Macquarie City Art gallery in June,
then Canberra Contemporary Art Space and Swan Hill Regional Art Gallery
and Bundoora Homestead Art Centre in Victoria.
Iraq Veterans Against the War: Support Our Work: Donate Now
THANK YOU! Make an end-of-year gift to IVAW. Send us your feedback.
Dear Mannie,
We wanted to express our deep gratitude for all of the support you have shown us. Your donations, letters, emails, and phone calls have made possible all of our accomplishments this year.
Here are some of the ways you've made a difference:
We launched our Operation Recovery campaign, which enabled us to support soldier, Jeff Hanks, to refuse deployment back into combat until he received treatment for his PTSD and Traumatic Brain Injury from previous tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. Thanks to your phone calls, emails, and donations, today Jeff Hanks is getting the treatment he needs for his war wounds. Ten thousand of you signed the Operation Recovery pledge of support, and your donations have sustained a team of organizers down at Fort Hood, Texas who have already surveyed close to 400 soldiers' about their experiences of war trauma. Your emails and postcards are helping to pressure Fort Hood Commander, General Don Campbell, to stop violating service members' right to heal and end the deployment of traumatized troops back into combat. Donations from some key supporters brought together our first women veterans' retreat out of which the first issue of Ain't I a Veteran?, our zine for and by women soldiers and vets was published at the start of the year. If you are one of them, we thank you. You stood with us when we told Wisconsin Governor Walker not to deploy the National Guard against citizens protesting his attacks on the rights of public sector workers. Together with labor and community groups, we helped link the fight against economic cutbacks to the fight to end war spending, and we led a large march and rally in Madison on the anniversary of the Iraq invasion. Your support made possible a landmark peace mission to Afghanistan by two members of our Afghanistan Veterans Against the War committee. Brock and Jacob met with Afghan peace groups who also are using nonviolent organizing to bring about peace in their country. To mark the occasion of the ten years of U.S. occupation in Afghanistan, we helped organize the forum, War Voices, which featured testimonies and cultural performances by veterans, Afghans, and military families about the effects of ten years of war. Your support allowed us to livestream this event to a national audience. Finally, your abiding support has allowed IVAW members around the country to participate in their local Occupy Wall Street movements. And when IVAW member, Scott Olsen, was shot in the head by a police projectile in Oakland, you sprung into action to condemn Mayor Jean Quan and raise an unprecedented amount of money for a healthcare fund (over $30,000!) for Scott. We and Scott thank you very much.
Whether Thanksgiving for you is a day of family celebration, or a time for reflection on our nation's colonial past, we ask that you remember our IVAW active duty sisters and brothers away from their families on bases across the world, including Iraq and Afghanistan. We are holding them in our thoughts and hearts.
Thank you,
Iraq Veterans Against the War national staff
Aaron, Amadee, Andrew, Bryan, Chantelle, Jose, Maggie, and Selena
Iraq Veterans Against the War is a 501(c)(3) charity, and welcomes your tax deductible contributions Donate Now
To ensure delivery of IVAW emails please add webmaster@ivaw.org to your address book. P.O. Box 3565, New York, NY 10008.
