Poles fail to see any humor in nude Mickey with a swastika
Source: Agencies |
July 15, 2010, Thursday
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A HUGE outdoor art poster that blends Mickey Mouse's image with that of a swastika and a nude woman's body is causing a stir in Poland, where memories of the suffering inflicted by Nazi Germany remain strong.
The poster, which went up in June in the western city of Poznan near a synagogue, is an Italian artist's take on what he calls the "horrors" of the American lifestyle and is one piece of artwork in a contemporary art exhibition opening in the fall.
But the reaction shows that there is little appetite in Poland for satirical or artistic uses of images linked to Nazi Germany, which invaded Poland in 1939 and built ghettoes and death camps across the country in which millions were murdered.
"This art provocation is a form of violence against the sensitivity of many people," said Norbert Napieraj, a city council member who asked prosecutors to ban the poster. Prosecutors, however, said the poster is art and does not violate the country's laws against glorifying Nazism.
The poster has been vandalized twice since it first went up, and on Tuesday was no longer stretched across a building in the city center. Despite the uproar, gallery director Maria Czarnecka plans to put it back up.
"Art should be provocative and controversial," she said, insisting the poster does not seek to propagate Nazism but instead wants to explore "symbols and how they work."
"The Mickey Mouse head and swastika are on the same level - they don't mean anything and they are both part of the globalized world," Czarnecka said.
Jewish leaders, who have been outraged at the poster, would disagree, saying the swastika still means something very real to many Poles, Jews and non-Jews alike.
Poland was once home to Europe's largest Jewish community, which numbered close to 3.5 million people before it was nearly wiped out in the Holocaust. The Nazis also committed atrocities against the non-Jewish people, and killed some 6 million Poles.
The work - "NaziSexyMouse" by Max Papeschi - is part of a series of works that blend iconic American cartoon figures with images of warfare or destruction.
The poster, which went up in June in the western city of Poznan near a synagogue, is an Italian artist's take on what he calls the "horrors" of the American lifestyle and is one piece of artwork in a contemporary art exhibition opening in the fall.
But the reaction shows that there is little appetite in Poland for satirical or artistic uses of images linked to Nazi Germany, which invaded Poland in 1939 and built ghettoes and death camps across the country in which millions were murdered.
"This art provocation is a form of violence against the sensitivity of many people," said Norbert Napieraj, a city council member who asked prosecutors to ban the poster. Prosecutors, however, said the poster is art and does not violate the country's laws against glorifying Nazism.
The poster has been vandalized twice since it first went up, and on Tuesday was no longer stretched across a building in the city center. Despite the uproar, gallery director Maria Czarnecka plans to put it back up.
"Art should be provocative and controversial," she said, insisting the poster does not seek to propagate Nazism but instead wants to explore "symbols and how they work."
"The Mickey Mouse head and swastika are on the same level - they don't mean anything and they are both part of the globalized world," Czarnecka said.
Jewish leaders, who have been outraged at the poster, would disagree, saying the swastika still means something very real to many Poles, Jews and non-Jews alike.
Poland was once home to Europe's largest Jewish community, which numbered close to 3.5 million people before it was nearly wiped out in the Holocaust. The Nazis also committed atrocities against the non-Jewish people, and killed some 6 million Poles.
The work - "NaziSexyMouse" by Max Papeschi - is part of a series of works that blend iconic American cartoon figures with images of warfare or destruction.
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