The British art exhibit which flamed New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and sparked a row between Giuliani and the Brooklyn Museum of Art may do likewise for the National Gallery of Australia, which canceled a planned showing of Sensation.
The National Gallery's decision is drawing fire similar to that which Giuliani drew. A Sydney resident, Kit Messham-Muir, demanded gallery director Brian Kennedy resign in an angry letter to the Sydney Morning Herald. The letter accuses Kennedy of "cultural cowardice".
Beside "The Holy Virgin Mary," the multimedia work by Chris Ofili which sent Giuliani's temperature off the mercury, the exhibit includes mannequins with genitals as facial features and other graphic exhibits, some using actual animals or animal parts.
Kennedy has defended his decision, admitting it was made as a direct result of the controversy in New York. "The easy one would have been to bash on regardless and just do it and be a hero," he tells the Herald. "But I have learned, as director of a national gallery, that in a situation like this, where something has become so deeply controversial six months ahead of doing the show, you've got to weigh it very carefully. And the balance comes down very strongly now on not doing the show."
A federal U.S. judge overturned Giuliani's bid to freeze public funds for the Brooklyn Museum of Art, prompting Giuliani to appeal while saying the judge was out of control.
Kennedy did get one letter of support which was published in the Herald. "Hearty congratulations to Brian Kennedy and the gallery council for canceling the show," Ursula Laverty wrote. "Quite simply, this is blasphemous and disgraceful."
