FREE VENICE

LETS TALK ABOUT THE “SHARED SENSE OF PUBLIC DECENCY”?

An open letter to Massimo Cacciari, Mayor of Venice

Your Honour,

In a letter dated 18 March 2009, the Direzione Interdipartimentale Finanza e Bilancio - Area Gestione Tributi Canoni of the Municipality of Venice announced the refusal of the project 100 Sexes d’Artistes by Jacques Charlier (which should have officially represented the French-Speaking Community of Belgium in the present Biennale) because “certain posters could offend the shared sense of public decency”.

On 14 April1, we sent you a letter (in Italian) in which we posed the following questions:
- could you tell us where the “shared sense of public decency” begins and ends by indicating which of the 100 posters might be considered offensive?
- is the “shared sense of public decency” so fragile in Venice that it cannot tolerate the presence of a few posters dispersed around the city? And, in addition, are the same criteria applied to advertising, which is more invasive and sexist? - finally, who decides what constitutes the “shared sense of public decency”?
We have received no reply as yet.

You may be aware that the project censored by the Biennale and by the City of Venice has since been presented in public space in nine European cities (Antwerp, Belgrade, Bergen, Brussels, Linz, Luxembourg, Metz, Namur and Sofia) where it was welcomed with the good humour appropriate to this project which is amusing but also full of references to art since Marcel Duchamp (see www.jacquescharlier-venise2009.be).

What is more, for our part, we have met no one in Venice (whether Biennale goer, tourist or Venitian) who finds the project offensive (see http://jacquescharlier.over-blog.com).

However, thanks to the unconditional support of the Ministry of Culture and Broadcasting of the French-Speaking Community of Belgium and Wallonie-Bruxelles International, we are going to publish a book relating the incredible story of this double censorship. It will contain the documents that have already surprised all those who have consulted them on our boat moored on the Riva dei Sette Martiri, during professional days last June: letters from the director Daniel Birnbaum and the president Paolo Baratta, our correspondence with your services as well as the replies from artists to the question of whether or not the project by Jacques Charlier ‘‘offends’’ them (which is the reason why Paolo Baratta rejected it, according to Daniel Birnbaum).

In addition, the book will contain the press release by the League of Human Rights that firmly denounces this double censorship, following the open letter which the Observatory of Creative Freedom addressed to Paolo Baratta and Daniel Birnbaum to which only the Biennale Press Service has replied to date… (see www.ldh-france.org).

Thus, to be thorough, and because we think our questions are still topical, we would be very happy to be able to include your answers in this publication, all the more as we know you to be a trained philosopher. Indeed, many of us are worried about the censoring of this project on the grounds of moral considerations that we believe to be outdated: are the freedoms contemporary art has gained (particularly since Marcel Duchamp and his famous Objet Dard) therefore in doubt in the city that hosts the biggest biennale of contemporary art in the world? We hope to hear from you in the near future so as not to delay publication of the book.

With our absolute consideration,

Jacques Charlier (artist) and Enrico Lunghi (curator)
May 2009

DOES THE VENICE BIENNAL SEEK VIRGIN OR CASTRATED ARTIST?

In 1973, Jacques Charlier began a series of drawings of “artists’ genitalia”. Using caricature, he set himself the task of making imaginary portraits of the “procreative organs” of artists whom he considers to have been major figures in 20th century art since Marcel Duchamp. Through the years, Jacques Charlier has put together a veritable gallery of portraits based on conceptual analysis and personal interpretation of the “artistic attributes” of major representatives of modern and contemporary art, thus enabling, among other things, a humorous and satirical re-reading of recent art history.

The Ministry of Culture and Broadcasting of the Frenchspeaking Community of Belgium was in favour of the idea of showing hundred of these drawings in the form of posters in the public space of Venice. A little open air museum, with a rather theatrical aspect perfectly adapted to the Venetian atmosphere, could have been presented to visitors of the Biennale, the inhabitants of the Serenissime and passing tourists.

The project was officially submitted to be included in the collateral events of the 53rd International Art Exhibition. However, in a letter dated 18 December 2008, the director Daniel Birnbaum stated that he regrets “to inform that after careful evaluation of the proposal he does not believe that it is possible to include it in the collatéral events”.

Surprised by this awkward formulation and convinced that it must be a misunderstanding, we offered to resubmit the project to the Biennale with updated information, accompanied by a letter of support from the relevant Ministry. Daniel Birnbaum accepted to re-examine the dossier, but in his reply of 21 February 2009, “he regrets to confirm his original judgement”. During a telephone conversation, the director affirmed that “it was the president Paolo Baratta who opposed the project because he believed there was a risk of offending the artists concerned”, an argument that Daniel Birnbaum subsequently confirmed by email. We therefore wrote to the President to try to convince him to change his mind. However, on 8 April 2009 he replied that “the validation of the projects fell exclusively to the director”. Obviously, nobody wants to take responsibility for this piece of censorship.

However, in spite of the problems of organization, présentation and visibility due to this rather arbitrary exclusion, and thanks to the unconditional support of the Ministry of Culture and Broadcasting of the French-speaking Community of Belgium, we have continued working on the project. As we believe that the artists are adult enough to decide for themselves what offends them or not and are free to reply, in their own manner, to any possible provocation, we wrote to them (with the exception of some who are impossible to contact, such as the late lamented Marcel Duchamp).

As the City of Venice also refused to give us the public advertising space required for the billposting, by arguing that “certain posters could offend the shared sense of public decency”, we also wrote to the mayor, Massimo Cacciari, to ask him (among other things) where this “shared sense of decency” begins and ends, how it is constituted and who decides its limits. All answers received plus the documents related to the project will be available for consultation, from 3 to 7 June 2009, on the boat serving as a refuge for the “100 Sexes d’Artistes” project. The boat is moored at the Riva dei Sette Martiri in Venice, near the Giardini.

What is more, galvanized by this inadmissible censorship, we contacted other cities and art institutions who have accepted to present the “100 Sexes d’Artistes” project in public space with no hesitation. Which just goes to show the ridiculous nature of the Venetian position. During the month of June 2009, the posters will therefore be on display in Antwerp (B), Belgrade (SR), Bergen (N), Linz (A), Luxembourg (L), Metz (F) and Namur (B). Their inhabitants can participate in the photo game “Free Venice” and win a catalogue published for the occasion. Other cities will certainly follow suit.

At the same time, a Quizz Art specially conceived by Jacques Charlier allows everybody (via the website www.jacquescharlier-venise2009.be) to win a t-shirt displaying the motif of the genitalia of the artist Jacques Charlier himself.

It only remains for the art world and journalists (at any rate, those who don’t just parrot the official press releases) to ask themselves what values the Venice Biennale is promoting if it censors an artistic project in such a dubious and irresponsible manner. Is it up to the Biennale to castrate artists by deciding for them what might offend those whose very existence consists of forever extending the limits of freedom?

Members of the public (for the Biennale, but also passing tourists and the inhabitants of the Serenissime) might wonder to what extent the Biennale and the local authorities in Venice intend to infantilize them by denying them the possibility of being confronted with a humorous and satirical project that is full of references to art history from Marcel Duchamp to the present day. Do they henceforth only have the right to be exposed to advertising and art that is formatted, digested and castrated?

Jacques Charlier (artist) and Enrico Lunghi (curator)

May 2009

Producteur-délégué / Executive producers: AICA-Association Internationale des Critiques d’Art, section Luxembourg et Mudam Luxembourg.