Total Records Found: 1362 |  Showing: 990-1004, ordered by most recent first

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Name: Aids: A Living Archive   [ Edit ]

Date: 1995 - 2005

Location: North America

Subject: Explicit Sexuality ,Sexual/Gender Orientation

Medium: Mixed Media

Artist: group of artists

Confronting Bodies: Museum of the City of New York

Date of Action: April 2001

Specific Location: Museum of the City of New York

Description of Artwork: "Aids: A Living Archive" was a part of "Gay Men's Health Crisis: 20 Years Fighting for People with H.I.V./AIDS" and included art / historical items documenting the public campaign against AIDS as well as interactive informative elements for museum visitors.

Description of Incident: The Museum of the City of New York altered some of the works in the exhibition. According to Jane Rosett, one of the two curators of the show, "Photos were cropped to exclude images of intimacy between men, and museum officials rejected representations of condoms." She was also told to exclude depictions of male genitals. A poster entitled "800 Men" had been cropped to such an extent that an image of two men was taken out, leaving only the words visible. Marty Algaze, the spokesman of Gay Men's Health Crisis, was told by a museum official that the works were modified because "The museum gets a large group of children and some sexually explicit material would be inappropriate for them to see."

Results of Incident: The incident was dismissed, as the Gay Men's Health Crisis group wanted to keep a partnership with the museum and did not protest the censorship.

Source: The New York Times, Friday, April 27, 2001, NCAC

Submitted By: NCAC

Date Input: Monday, June 24, 2002

Date Edited: Wednesday, July 31, 2002


Name: Muntadas, 'TVE: Primer Intento'    [ Edit ]

Date: 1985 - 1995

Location: Europe

Subject: Political/Economic/Social Opinion

Medium: Television ,Film Video

Artist: Antonio Muntadas

Confronting Bodies: Spanish Television T.V.E.

Date of Action: 1988

Specific Location: Spain

Description of Artwork: TVE: Primer Intento; a documentary of Spanish Television

Description of Incident: In 1988 the program METROPOLIS of TVE invited me to produce a new work. I propose to do a work about the Spanish Television. At that time there were no private channels. The title TVE: Primer Intento was the a result of approximately two years of work. During these two years I conducted a research on the archives of the Spanish Television and recorded on the studios and outside. Finally I did the final edit at those studios; a final piece of 40 minutes.

Results of Incident: This work was never broadcasted and neither did I get an official explanation.

Source: Muntadas

Submitted By: Muntadas

Date Input: Tuesday, May 14, 2002

Date Edited


Name: I'm yout friend...tell me your secrets. Je suis ton ami(e)...tu peux me dire tes secrets.   [ Edit ]

Date: 1995 - 2005

Location: Europe

Subject: Political/Economic/Social Opinion

Medium: Electronic Media

Artist: Nicolas Frespech. Frac Languedoc-Roussillon. France

Confronting Bodies: Nicolas Frespech VS Conseil Régional Languedoc-Roussillon

Date of Action: 7 december 2001

Specific Location: Montpellier (France)

Description of Artwork: A collaborative artwork on the net presenting secrets, sent by e.mail.

Description of Incident: The 7 december, the http://www.fraclr.org/secret was illegaly close by Zarcrom, the host of this artwork. The URL was closed.

Results of Incident: No body can have acces to this art work, and me too, i can take this web elements, the ftp was closed too.

Source: Artist source : Nicolas Frespech

Submitted By: Frespech Nicolas

Date Input: Thursday, May 9, 2002

Date Edited


Name: LIFE DRAWINGS STRIPPED FROM THE WYVERN THEATRE GALLERY IN SWINDON   [ Edit ]

Date: 1995 - 2005

Location: Europe

Subject: Nudity

Medium: Painting

Artist: artist Sarah Hope

Confronting Bodies: Wyvern Theatre Management

Date of Action: December 2001

Specific Location: Wyvern Theatre Gallery, Swindon, England, UK

Description of Artwork: Charcoal drawings of male nudes

Description of Incident: Taken down by Swindon theatre gallery because they believed the drawings might cause offense to families durring pantomine season.

Results of Incident: Local Newspaper Swindon Evening Advertiser ran a story on the 15th December 2001 regarding the incident. Drawings were replaced with work by other artist which happened to depict female torsos

Source: See the Swindon Evening Advertiser newspaper article on my website http://www.sarahhope.com

Submitted By: Sarah Hope

Date Input: Sunday, April 28, 2002

Date Edited


Name: lady chatterly's lover   [ Edit ]

Date: 1951 - 1975

Location: Europe

Subject: Explicit Sexuality

Medium: Literature

Artist: d. h. lawrence

Confronting Bodies: not known

Date of Action: 1962

Specific Location: london

Description of Artwork: 67

Description of Incident: high court

Results of Incident: not known

Source: not known

Submitted By: adrian francis

Date Input: Saturday, April 20, 2002

Date Edited


Name: Censored 'NBC Meet The Press' in Australia during CHOGM.   [ Edit ]

Date: 1995 - 2005

Location: Australia

Subject: Political/Economic/Social Opinion

Medium: Television ,Print Journalism

Artist: NBC News.

Confronting Bodies: NBC, Australia, Muslim representatives.

Date of Action: 4th March 2002

Specific Location: Australia - Melbourne.

Description of Artwork: TV Pollitical Journalism

Description of Incident: Monday 4th March 0230am ESST. Australia. The entire 20 minute segment of the Arab vote that 'Arabs were not responsible for Sep 11' was stealthily extracted from the Meet The Press with Tim Russert. Strangely enough, CHOGM is in progress in Queensland, where all billboard advertisements with bathing costumes have been taken down so as not to offend Muslem deligates.

Results of Incident: Sensitivities of Muslem nations not embittered, but Australians eyes are a little scratchy from the wool.

Source: Personal Observation.

Submitted By: Scott Gowans

Date Input: Monday, March 4, 2002

Date Edited: Monday, April 1, 2002


Name: The Computer Science and Development Law   [ Edit ]

Date: 1995 - 2005

Location: Asia

Subject: Political/Economic/Social Opinion

Medium: Electronic Media

Artist: Military Government of Burma

Confronting Bodies: Complete population of Burma

Date of Action: 1996

Specific Location: Burma

Description of Artwork: Law

Description of Incident: This law forbids Every unregistered use of modem, networking facilities & fax with a punishment of 7-15 years imprisonment

Results of Incident: Effective prohibition of Internet with all of its contents

Source: http://www.myanmar.com/gov/laws/computerlaw.html

Submitted By: Heiko Schaefer

Date Input: Monday, March 4, 2002

Date Edited


Name: Ralph Ginzburg, publisher, "Eros"   [ Edit ]

Date: 1951 - 1975

Location: North America

Subject: Explicit Sexuality

Medium: Print Journalism

Artist: Ralph Ginzburg

Confronting Bodies: US Supreme Court

Date of Action: Unknown - but see below.

Specific Location: Unknown - but see below.

Description of Artwork: Erotic art, unusual in that it wasn't "common smut", but rather poems, paintings, and the like.

Description of Incident: Ralph was tried under the usual anti-pornography laws, and found guilty. Court specifically ruled that material had "no redeeming social value", despite its obvious artistic content.

Results of Incident: Jail time for Mr. Ginzburg.

Source: Go purchase a copy of "Eros on Trial", which is available for sale on the web. This short booklet describes the incident in detail, including trial transcripts. It's very interesting reading.

Submitted By: Josh Yelon (jyelon@egenesis.com)

Date Input: Tuesday, February 26, 2002

Date Edited


Name: Student Newspaper Editors put on trial for politcal speech.   [ Edit ]

Date: 1985 - 1995 ,1995 - 2005

Location: Australia

Subject: Political/Economic/Social Opinion

Medium: Print Journalism

Artist: "Editors" - elected student officials of Student Newspaper "Rabelias"

Confronting Bodies: Director of Public Prosecutions (akin to the US Federal Attourney General)

Date of Action: Many,

Specific Location: Melbourne, Australia Canberra, Australia

Description of Artwork: Student Newspaper. In particular a newspaper article describing "The Art of Shoplifting". This was a political statement about the lack of opportunity and funding for the poor (and students especially).

Description of Incident: Further details are listed on a website. Here is a complete link: http://libertus.net/censor/rabelais.html

Results of Incident: Case dropped by DPP but could theoretically be resumed any time until the statue of limitations applies.

Source: As mentioned, plus I was an editor of another newspaper at another University at the time.

Submitted By: Brendan Searle nosfucious@hotmail.com

Date Input: Tuesday, February 26, 2002

Date Edited


Name: Of Mice and Men, student production   [ Edit ]

Date: 1985 - 1995

Location: North America

Subject: Racial/Ethnic ,Language

Medium: Theatre

Artist: Student production at Dacula High School

Confronting Bodies: High School Principal Donald Nutt

Date of Action: May 1, 2001

Specific Location: Dacula High School, Atlanta, Georgia

Description of Artwork: A John Steinbeck classic that chronicles the relationship between two men during the Depression. It is a story of their pursuit of home-roots that they can believe in, land that they can care for, and the painful search for self. One man is inarticulate, dumb, and sometimes violent in his need; the other clever, hopeful, and tied to a responsibility he thinks he doesn't want.

Description of Incident: Principal Donald Nutt had called off the show only hours before the scheduled curtain, because of profanity and racial slurs that students and drama teacher Phillip Cate refused to delete from the script.

Results of Incident: The Belladonna Repertory Company donated its theater for the students to produce the play, uncensored. The play ran for two weekends.

Source: NCAC, atlanta.creativeloafing.com, 5.9.01

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Name: Terrence McNally, Corpus Christi   [ Edit ]

Date: 1985 - 1995

Location: North America

Subject: Religious ,Sexual/Gender Orientation

Medium: Theatre

Artist: Terrence McNally/Manhattan Theater Club, Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne

Confronting Bodies: Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, "National Security Movement of America," and other Christian protesters.

Date of Action: May 1998

Specific Location: Manhattan Theater Club, New York, Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne

Description of Artwork: Corpus Christi is a contemporary version of the story of Jesus and his disciples set in the town of Corpus Christi, Texas. Jesus and some of his disciples (who in this play are young professionals) are depicted as gay men and ultimately Jesus is killed by gay-bashers. Thirteen barefoot male actors in modern clothing perform a play within a play, starting with the birth of Joshua (the Jesus figure) in a Texas motel. Soon evils emerge, such as wife-beating, loveless sex, gay-bashing and clerical humiliations. The playwright uses this parallel story of Christ to tell a contemporary, colloquial tale of the fight against cruelty, division, hatred and, above all, hypocrisy. Love and acceptance are the antidotes.

Description of Incident: New York: Terrence McNally’s new play, Corpus Christi, was to be premiered in the fall of 1998 at the off-Broadway theater, The Manhattan Theater Club. On May 1, 1998, an article in the New York Post headlined, "Gay Jesus May Star on B'Way." The article claimed that the play featured a Jesus-like figure "who has sex with his apostles." This instigated wide protest from the Christian right community, notably the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights. They called the play “insulting to Christians” and vowed to “wage a war that no one will forget” against its production. President William A. Donahue sent letters to numerous public officials demanding “an immediate halt on public monies that support the Manhattan Theater Club.” A group calling itself the "National Security Movement of America" made telephone threats against the "Jew guilty homosexual Terrence McNally." The message went on, "Because of you we will exterminate every member of the theater and burn the place to the ground." Indiana: Similar protests transpired when students at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne planned a production of the play. In July 2001, State lawmakers made up 21 of the 32 people that filed suit against the university. The group wanted to halt the production of the controversial play. The lawsuit argued that by staging this play, taxpayer funds are being used to attack religion. Defenders of the production say it's a matter of free speech. Anthony S. Benton, an attorney for the university, said in a letter that shutting down the play would infringe on students' academic freedom. The Indiana Civil Liberties Union also is involved in the case. The group is representing the play's student director, IPFW senior Jonathan Gilbert.

Results of Incident: New York: In accordance with these threats and demands, Trans World Airlines, one of the corporate sponsors of the MTC, withdrew its financial support. On May 21 the Manhattan Theater Club announced that it was canceling its production of the play due to their concern for security, after anonymous threats of violence to the theater and its staff. Playwrights, directors, club members, the media, and others heavily criticized this decision. Freedom of speech advocates, including NCAC, National Campaign for Freedom of Expression, New Yorkers for Free expression, PEN American Center, People for the American Way, Visual AIDS, playwrights Christopher Durang, William Hoffman, David Henry Hwang, Tony Kushner, and author Judy Bloom collaborated on a letter urging the Manhattan Theater Club to not cave in to terrorist-tactics. On May 28, the theater reversed its decision, claiming that they now had assurance from the police department that the production would be safe. The show ran as scheduled. Indiana: The outcome of this incident has yet to unfold. Controversies over productions in other cities continue to arise.

Source: World Socialist Web Site (wsws.org), NCAC, Florida Atlantic University press release for their production, March 2001, Indianapolis Star, July 05, 2001

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Name: The Story of Colors / La Historia de los Colores: A Bilingual Storybook from the Jungles of Chiapas   [ Edit ]

Date: 1985 - 1995

Location: North America

Subject: Political/Economic/Social Opinion

Medium: Literature

Artist: Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos, author/ Cinco Puntos Press

Confronting Bodies: William J. Ivey, Chief of the National Endowment for the Arts

Date of Action: March 9,1999

Specific Location: National Endowment for the Arts, Washington, D.C.

Description of Artwork: The Story of Colors is a Mexican folk tale for children. It is based on a Mayan creation myth that addresses diversity and tolerance.

Description of Incident: The NEA had approved funding in November 1998. After reviewing a copy of the manuscript and a biography of the author, the NEA budgeted $7,500 for the publication of The Story of Colors. After a call on March 8 from New York Times reporter Julia Preston, who had called to verify facts for her story, NEA chairman William Ivey personally withdrew the part of the grant that supported the publication of this book. He was concerned that some of the money would be used to support the Zapatista movement in Mexico, of which the book’s author is a prominent leader.

Results of Incident: The Lannan Foundation—the same organization that stepped forward to fund the Mapplethorpe exhibition after it too had lost funding—promptly offered to reimburse Cinco Puntos Press for the money lost and continued to doubled it. The story made the major papers across the nation, and it also became big news in Mexico. Additionally, freedom of expression groups collaborated on a letter urging Ivey to reconsider his decision.

Source: Cinco Puntos Press 1999, NCAC

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Name: Hulbert Waldroup, Diallo Mural   [ Edit ]

Date: 1985 - 1995 ,1985 - 1995

Location: North America

Subject: Racial/Ethnic

Medium: Painting

Artist: Hulbert Waldroup

Confronting Bodies: Unknown

Date of Action: April 2001

Specific Location: Storefront in the Bronx, New York

Description of Artwork: This mural commemorates the death of West African immigrant Amadou Diallo, who was shot forty-one times by four police officers who claimed they thought he had pulled a gun. Even though Diallo was unarmed, a jury acquitted the officers. The mural features a portrait of Diallo, a skeletal Statue of Liberty raising a gun with skulls at its feet, a burning American flag, and the four officers wearing Ku Klux Klan hoods.

Description of Incident: This controversial mural was vandalized when someone had used black paint to erase the images of the officers. The vandal remains unknown

Results of Incident: Waldroup restored the work to its original state. He said in response to the mural’s alteration, "I will come back here a hundred times and do it all over again, and each time it will be better than the time before.” The police have expressed their wish for someone would take down the mural.

Source: New York Times 4.25.01, NCAC

Date Input

Date Edited: Thursday, April 18, 2002


Name: Ed Pepe, But   [ Edit ]

Date: 1985 - 1995

Location: North America

Subject: Sexual/Gender Orientation

Medium: Photography

Artist: Ed Pepe

Confronting Bodies: Gallery Director Johanna Darrow of the Helen Day Art Center

Date of Action: June 1998

Specific Location: Helen Day Art Center, Stowe, Vermont. The work was part of the exhibit Transformations of Text: Visual Art and the Written Word. *Three images of superimposed professional texts on gay male erotica to form statements about sexual identity.

Description of Artwork: Three images of superimposed professional texts on gay male erotica to form statements about sexual identity.

Description of Incident: Director Johanna Darrow expressed concern to the board of directors that the piece entitled But would be considered pornographic and inconsistent with Stowe’s community standards. Darrow then asked curator Peter Gallo to replace the series with any other work by Pepe.

Results of Incident: Gallo did not comply, seeking assurance from the gallery’s Visual Arts Committee that But would be included in the show. After receiving letters supporting Pepe and Gallo from the National Campaign for Freedom of Expression and the National Coalition Against Censorship, the gallery board voted to include the But series. Gallo did compromise on certain points. He agreed to post notices by Pepe’s work advising viewers that they should determine for themselves whether the series was appropriate for children. Additionally, Gallo agreed to move two pieces by Jenny Holzer from the lobby into the gallery. The show ran from June 20 through August. During that time, Darrow suggested that the board draft a set of guidelines for the center to use in selecting future works of art. The board rejected her proposal, saying that such guidelines were not necessary.

Source: NCAC

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Name: Elaheh Massumi, Trial   [ Edit ]

Date: 1985 - 1995

Location: Europe

Subject: Political/Economic/Social Opinion ,Religious

Medium: Video Art ,Installation

Artist: Elaheh Massumi

Confronting Bodies: Curator Michket Krifa, the supervising committee of the exhibition, which includes members of the Paris municipality, the Ministry of Culture, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Date of Action: June 2001

Specific Location: Paris

Description of Artwork: A video installation on the subject of Jewish-Muslim relations in Iran, with particular reference to the trial in the previous year of thirteen Jews convicted of spying for Israel. The film is to be projected on facing five-meter-high walls, a brown "Jewish wall," and a bluish "Muslim wall". The piece combines words from the Koran, the Iranian constitution, and Cyprus the Great with computer images and descriptions of Iran's persecution of the Jews. A closing sequence includes the names, ages, jobs, and official charges against the Iran 13. This information is followed by, "Trial circumstance: closed door trial, no jury, judge also acting prosecutor."

Description of Incident: The Iranian Muslim artist, who is known for her human-rights related work, was asked by curator Michket Krifa to do a piece on Iranian photography and video for a Paris exhibition. Upon the arrival of the piece, the response was positive. Later Massumi was informed that the film was to be viewed on four television monitors instead of on two walls due to space limitations. When Massumi protested, arguing that this display undermines the integrity of her work, the curator said she would present the film again to the supervising committee of the exhibit. After two days the artist became aware that there were deeper issues beyond spaces limitations. The curator expressed concern for the safety of the Iranian photographers who will attend the exhibit for when they return to Iran. She also conveyed that French cultural institutions were more interested in promoting better images of Iran and focusing more on the country's artistic achievements and less on politics. Therefore, they informed Massumi that it was up to her to edit-out the end sequence that reveals the personal information of the Jews on trial and the following statement claiming they did not receive a fair trial.

Results of Incident: Massumi decided to withdraw Trial from the exhibit. She expressed frustration at the response to her work since she made it clear that her piece would deal with human rights, and therefore speak out against the government. She believed that the French institutions did not want to create any hostility between France and Iran due to her work. The French government denies they had any political agenda influencing their responses to her work. Nicholas Mirzoeff, an art and comparative studies professor at SUNY Stony Brook, has attempted to spread awareness of the case by contacting curators of Jewish museums in the US. The curators apparently do not feel confident that they can influence French officials. Trial is anticipated to travel to Tehran's Museum of Contemporary Art in October 2001.

Source: The Forward 6.8.01.

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