By Martin Banks - 21st January 2009
It is not a question of censorship
Jan Vytopil
The EU Czech presidency has defended its decision to pull a black curtain over the part of its art exhibition that portrays Bulgaria as a toilet.
The huge three-dimensional "Entropa" mosaic, which hangs over the entrance to the main EU Council building, depicts each of the EU's 27 countries using provocative symbols linked to national stereotypes.
Bulgaria, which joined the EU in 2007, protested against being depicted as a squat toilet.
A black cloth appeared on Monday night to cover up the Bulgarian section of Entropa.
"We have covered the part devoted to Bulgaria at the request of its foreign ministry," Czech presidency spokesman Jan Vytopil told this website on Wednesday.
“It is not a question of censorship or an attack on artistic freedom. On the contrary, it is because we support such freedoms that we allowed the exhibition in the first place. Hopefully, this will be the end of the matter.”
The exhibition, to run until the end of the Czech presidency, also depicts the Netherlands as a sea with minarets rising from the waves: a likely reference to religious tensions that culminated in the murder of Dutch director and Islam critic Theo van Gogh by a Muslim.
“It is a pity that it was not understood as a joke. I don’t know if you can call it censorship, I think it is oversensitivity,” David Cerny, the Czech artist, was reported to have said.
Cerny says that he has had three approaches from art buyers keen to purchase the eight-tonne artwork once it is removed in June and completes a six-month stint in Prague.
MEPs have also joined the row over the art work. Nigel Farage, leader of the UK Independence Party, said, “The whole thing is a complete waste of money.Once again, we are subjected to the ‘European family’ bickering among itself.”
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