As the temporary collection they created notched its 5,000th visitor, Mike Blasenstein and Michael Dax Iacovone — the pair who were “banned” from the Smithsonian museums last December after protesting the removal of David Wojnarowicz’s “A Fire in My Belly” from the National Portrait Gallery — are now allowed to return to the the Institution’s museums.

Photo by FishFeathers. It’s been nearly two months since the Smithsonian removed David Wojnarowicz’s “A Fire in My Belly,” and the criticism towards Smithsonian Secretary G. Wayne Clough’s decision has not died down. In fact, one of the Smithsonian’s own museums, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden released a statement on their website decrying the precedent that Clough set. The statement reads, in part: The attempt by any individual or group to restrict the…

Photo by KentonNgo.News came out late this week that the Museum of Modern Art in New York has acquired the video, David Wojnarowicz’s “A Fire in My Belly,” that the Smithsonian removed from an exhibit in the National Portrait Gallery in December. The MoMA, a private institution, has certainly never scared away from exhibiting controversial art. While this is certainly a powerful statement to the merit of the video, as Kriston Capps points out,…

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.