'Museum of Censored Art' Green-Lighted
Anyone who missed David Wojnarowicz's "A Fire in My Belly" before it was removed from the National Portrait Gallery exhibit Hide/Seek on November 30 will soon be able to see it right outside the museum. Mike Blasenstein and Michael Dax Iacovone, who were detained on December 6 for playing the video on an iPad in the NPG lobby, have followed through on their promise to host a temporary gallery for censored work.
When we spoke to Iacovone last month, the pair were still working out what kind of permits and set-up they would need, but they've now obtained everything they need to park a trailer outside the Gallery's F Street NW entrance. The "Museum of Censored Art" will be open seven days a week, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. (mirroring NPG's hours), until Hide/Seek closes on February 13.
The City Paper quotes Iacovone as saying, "we haven't said anything to NPG, but I suspect they're going to find out real soon." Aside from Secretary of the Smithsonian, G. Wayne Clough -- who was behind the decision to bow to criticism from a conservative website and pull Wojnarowicz's video -- one wonders if some folks at the NPG might secretly welcome the video's return. Inside the main exhibit, curators have installed a comment book below a display asking visitors thoughts about the exhibition, including:
What's your feeling about the controversy over the video "A Fire in my Belly"? How should a federally supported museum respond when public controversies erupt about images or themes?
While skirting the issue a bit -- visitors not in the loop might assume it's a video they just missed in the somewhat large exhibit -- it's nice to see the NPG doing the least of what they should have done before the video's removal: open a conversation.
The book already has at least a hundred pages full of visitor's comments, many echoing this sentiment:
I was here for the slideshow at the Corcoran 15 years ago. Now I see Mapplethorpe here and applaud the NPG for that. But the show is tainted by the omission of the provocative and tame "A Fire in my Belly."
Along with this excellent idea, "NPG should publish all these comments. This is the real reception of the exhibit."
This is the conversation that Blasenstein and Iacovone hope to continue outside the museum. The Pink Line Project is hosting a fundraiser for the "Museum of Censored Art" next Tuesday, January 11, at American Ice Company (917 V Street NW) from 6 to 8 p.m. A $10 donation includes a raffle ticket for gift certificates to local eateries like Marvin, Room 11 and more.
One final note: the Smithsonian just announced this afternoon that Secretary Clough will finally field questions about his decision to censor the exhibit -- in Los Angeles on January 20. Modern Art Notes has the details.
