The Ghost of Marcos

The premature closing of the Kulo exhibition at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) has found its way into the world’s media not so much for its questionable content but for the fact that it was closed due to the intervention of the Philippine President.

The open sentence from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s (ABC) website says it all “An art show featuring a poster of Jesus Christ with a wooden penis glued to his face was closed Tuesday after President Benigno Aquino intervened amid threats, vandalism and claims of blasphemy.” (Emphasis mine)

The outrage that flows from artist’s poking their tongues out at the religious establishment happens on a fairly regular basis. Last year a woman in Colorado attacked Enrique Chagoya’s "The Misadventures of Romantic Cannibals" with a crowbar because it depicted Jesus receiving oral sex.  In 2005 we saw the furor that erupted over the publication of an unflattering series of cartoons depicting the the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Andres Serrano’s 1987 photograph “Piss Christ” has been physically attacked with blunt and not so blunt instruments when exhibited in both France and Australia. But the head of a country stepping in, now, that is a first in quite some time and a cause for concern.

A group exhibition, Kulo, opened on June 17 and was scheduled to be on show until August 21. A week ago a TV crew did a story on the exhibition and in the best “if it bleeds, it leads” tradition focused on the naughty bits. The aforementioned poster of Jesus Christ with a wooden penis glued to his face and a second depiction of the Christian deity with a clown’s nose and the Disney rodent’s ears. They are two small parts of Mideo Cruz’s  “Poleteismo” which translates as ‘many beliefs’ or ‘many deities’ and is a three-wall installation with a large variety of images. 

Prior to the President’s call, the CCP had been staunchly defending the exhibition citing the country’s constitutional right to free speech as their rationale. The day following the presidential call the exhibition was closed. A statement justifying the closure said "With an increasing number of threats to persons and property... the board of the Cultural Centre of the Philippines has decided to close down the main gallery." 

Yeah, right. 

The President may not have said jump, although it is reported that he told the CCP staff “he opposed the artwork” sight unseen, as far as one can tell. The CCP’s timing suggests they have guessed how high.  

As worrying as this censorship is, President Aquino’s interpretation of constitutional rights is a cause for greater concern. Whilst in general terms he is correct when he states “There is no freedom that is absolute” the freedom of speech has been constitutionally enshrined so that offensive statements can be made. It is a freedom that underpins the influential 19^th Century liberal philosopher John Stuart Mills’ words “. . . there ought to exist the fullest liberty of professing and discussing, as a matter of ethical conviction, any doctrine, however immoral it might be considered."

With the freedom of speech being amongst the first casualties in a totalitarian state and in the light of the Philippines’ recent history many with an attention span that extends past the next commercial break will be wondering if the leopard has indeed changed its spots.

The Eloquence of Silence

In May, racism in Australia once again made its way into the world’s headlines. Navi Pillay, the UN Human Rights Commissioner was reported by the China Daily News, amongst others, as saying there was a strong undercurrent of racism in Australia. "There is a racial discriminatory element here which I see as (the) rather inhumane treatment of people, judged by their differences, racial, colour or religions," China’s largest English language daily reported her as saying.

Four days before the end of June, The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) online Opinion page, The Drum, published an article which inadvertently provided a clue to the depth of this undertow that pollutes the perception of the Land Down Under around the world in general and Asia in particular. In an article about the National Broadband Network, The only NBN monopoly seems to be on ignorance, its author, Stilgherrian stated “There will still be cheap ISPs offering over-crowded international links and a call centre in the Philippines that might finally answer your call after an hour on hold, only to present you with a human who barely understands what email is.”

The extent of the ignorance that underscores this statement is only exceeded by The Drum reader’s mute acceptance. With over 12 million more internet users than Australia, it should come as no surprise that the average urban Filipino’s IT knowledge and hands on experience encompasses all levels of society.

I live in the inner city suburb of Poblacion, a stone’s throw from the central business district of Makati. The compound I call home has four houses with seven computers connected to the internet of which only one is owned and operated by the Kano (foreigner). A five minute walk from my front door, in this un-gated working class suburb, gives me access to half a dozen internet cafes which at 20 pesos (a little under 50 cents) an hour is an affordability that attests to their sustained popularity.

Recognised as the world’s third largest English speaking country, a second language about which the Philippine Government claims 75% of the country’s 99 million inhabitants are fluent, Call Centers have been a major growth industry for the last decade. Unlike Australia where the admission of being a call center agent is mumbled into a beer followed by a quick change in the conversation, in the Philippines it is job that often evokes envy.

My nephew-in-law, Rod Corpuz, who has a BSc in Agriculture, works the grave yard shift for one of the bigger call centers. He says “the money is too good to ignore.” And he is not alone. A graduate teacher can earn double the teacher’s wage on a call center’s base salary and for a top performer the performance bonuses can almost triple the teacher’s stipend.

Stilgherrian’s piece attracted a goodly number of comments, 173 before being closed, which argued the merits and otherwise of the NBN along with displays of ideological bias that underpin many of the stances this strangely controversial topic attracts. But, amongst them all, not one challenged the racial stereotyping inherent in the underlying assumption that Filipinos are computer illiterate especially in comparison to their Australian counterparts.

This silence gives eloquent support to the China Daily’s reading of the UN Human Rights Commissioner’s comments about the undercurrent of racism exists in Australia. A mise en scène about which the American writer, Mark Twain said “that eloquent silence, that geometrically progressive silence, which often achieves a desired effect where no combination of words, howsoever felicitous, could accomplish it.”

But, perhaps the final word should be left to one of the first to comment on the article, the “VillageIdiot”, who said in part “Thanks for a clear, balanced & factual article.”

Mmmmmmmmm

The Fall Guy

Julian Assange is cooling his heels in a British prison as he awaits his day in court on Tuesday, December 14. On that day he will discover whether he is to be sent to Sweden to face 4 counts of sexually inappropriate behavior which include an accusation of rape. With Geoffrey Robinson QC, the human rights lawyer par excellence, rumored to be flying back to the Old Bailey to take part in the proceedings it is destined to be compelling reading.

The interesting part of all this is that back in August when these allegations first saw light of day, Assange was in Sweden and the initial charges were dropped and he was allowed to leave the country. Since then Cablegate has happened.

It is an interesting description for the WikiLeaks exposés to be called Cablegate. Does this have something to do with the gated communities that the privileged elites build for themselves? Could it be supposed that if, when reading this you are in such a community, you are part of the problem rather than the solution? But I digress.

Now there is overt political pressure, read Joe Lieberman and Amazon as one example, being placed upon anyone who has an association with WikiLeaks the question does arise, what pressure is being placed upon Sweden? Unfortunately there are no leaks on this subject.

But as Assange does is porridge, presumably sans an internet connection, the infant terrible website keeps drip feeding its selected MSM outlets with juicy tidbits.

I mean just how dumb are our political masters? Do they really think that WikiLeaks is just one person? Do they think that if they chop off one hydra head another 100 won’t take its place?

It is the problem that got them into this mess in the first place. Whilst they continue to dissemble be assured the truth will come out eventually. And as to Julian Assange, the fall guy, I wish you all the best of British luck.

And The Subject Is

“The subject of drawing is drawing itself," said the 2010 Dobell Prize for Drawing judge, Sydney artist Alun Leach-Jones, in his comments about Suzanne Archer’s winning work Derangement. He elaborated about his decision saying “Suzanne Archer’s winning work clearly shows her awareness of this profound aspect of the art of drawing – regardless of its apparent subject matter.”

Archer’s charcoal, ink and chalk pastel work, which the judge described as “expressive, darkly poetic and full of drama”, is a self portrait in which she is surrounded by the paraphernalia of her studio. A dehydrated kangaroo, a horse’s head sculpture along with a dead bird, snake skins, skulls, shells and various kinds of road kill, that have either been donated or found in nearby bush land, decorate the artist’s working space. "People say my studio's a little bit like a museum," she told The Australian newspaper.

Her interest in dead animals stemmed from a series of drawings she made in 2002 at Sydney University’s veterinary laboratories. About her subject matter Archer told the Sydney Morning Herald ''Often they're quite contorted and they're much more interesting poses than a live animal.” The 65 year old artist also said "Because I'm a mature-age artist, there is some concern with what the afterlife is about. I suppose because I've worked a lot with those animals that are actually dead, there is a link to thinking about life and death."

The Dobell Prize for Drawing is Australia’s most prestigious award for drawing, with a purse of $25,000 for the winning artist. The acquisitive award was initiated by the Trustees of the Sir William Dobell Art Foundation in 1993 and is administered by the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

Derangement along with the 45 finalists selected from 635 entries is on show at The Art Gallery of New South Wales until January 30 next year. More information is available at the Gallery’s website, here.