by Bethany Shaffer

 Picture a large expanse of ice, hardened over a lake. Imagine that slick coating to be the protectorate of artistic freedom in Poland. Now, peruse this: in 2003 Polish artist Dorota Nieznalska was convicted of insulting religious feeling with her installation “The Passion.” The installation, which appeared at the Wysp Gallery in Gdańsk from January 2001 to January 2002, consisted of a Greek cross portraying a man’s exposed genital area. Suspended from the ceiling, the cross swung before a continuos video of a man bench-pressing weights in obvious torment.  Nieznalska was convicted and sentenced to six months community service.

Now envision a small crack and sliver streaming out from it in all directions on our icy lake and you have the situation in Poland since Nieznalska’s conviction. The idea, known as “censorship creep,” is that what began as an outrageous, but legally based case of censorhip, has slipped down the camel’s nose resulting in an “anything goes” attitude.

Disturbing as it sounds, Nieznalska’s conviction was based on Article 196 of Polish law which states “anyone found guilty of offending religious feelings through public calumny of an object or place of worship is liable to a fine or a maximum two-year prison sentence” (Paweł Leszkowicz, Feminist Revolt, www.bad.eserver.org). Needless to say this law is arbitrarily practiced and favors the strong Catholic sentiment in Poland. If there was any hope of a reversal of such a law or a relaxation of censorship in general after the 2005 and 2006 elections, that hope was diminished when identical twin brothers Lech and Jarosław Kaczyński took the positions of president and prime minister, respectively. The Kaczyński’s favor an extremely conservative, populist based system in which tradition takes precedence over progress, and if the recent events in the towns of Bytom and Bielsko Biala are any measure, several Polish city officials agree.  

This June at Kronika Gallery’s “Bad News” exhibition in Bytom a photo montage of Pope Benedict XVI holding the decapitated head of Elton John by Czech artist collective Guma Guar was removed by gallery director Sebastian Cichocki after he spotted a right-wing journalist in the crowd. The piece, entitled “You All Queers,” also falls under article 196. Cichocki was taken in for questioning by local police, and stated in a letter calling out to artists for work in a reactionary exhibition, “With a right-wing, populist government currently in power, such attempts at censoring contemporary art and gaining control over art institutions will certainly become more frequent.” (www.ganahl.info/religion_opium_of_people.html)

Sadly, Cichocki’s prediction came true only three months later, in a form of censorship with no basis in law. The feared “anything goes” went last month at the BWA Gallery in Bielsko Biala at “Shadows of Humour” curated by William Hollister. Shortly after “Shadows of Humour” opened, Deputy Mayor Zbigniew Michniowski demanded a particular piece be removed from BWA and out of town, threatening the gallery director with the loss of her job if she did not comply. The piece, by infamous Czech artist David Černý portrays a life size Saddam Hussein bound at the wrists and ankles floating in a rectangular fish tank. In Hollister’s own words, “Shark” “is a cartoon image in three dimensions, with a stinging but abstract commentary about the conflict in Iraq.” Though initially debated over in Belgium by some blatantly uninformed political officials who thought Hussein was a religious leader, the piece has not experienced any difficult, including the four months it appeared at the Biennale 2 in Prague.

Hollister explains that Michniowski refused to provide reasons for the censorship only saying that the Polish are “special people.” Luckily, however, voices of reason remain in Poland. When ordered out of town, “Shark” took up residence in the Szara Galerie in Cieszyn, where Michniowski followed it, phoning the Cieszyn mayor and demanding he not allow the piece either, to which the mayor replied with a colorful denial, followed by a public statement that the government has no place interfering in the world of art.

For the sake of the future, let’s hope those voices are enough to quell the cracking ice.


William Hollister
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