Authors remove "Uncensored" exhibition because of censorship
The Kamerades collective, consisting of a group of photographers, on Tuesday removed their exhibition of documentary photographs from the Artget gallery of the Cultural Center of Belgrade (KCB), in protest against censorship, after several exhibits were removed from the gallery's windows by orders of the acting director of the center, Ivona Jevtić. A group of program directors of KCB supported the decision of the authors and condemned censorship, dismissing the claims of the director about the matter being nothing more than a misunderstanding, as unacceptable.
At the "closing" of the exhibition, in the presence of about a hundred visitors, members of the photo-collective Kamerades reiterated that they would not consent to censorship and invited the visitors to help them remove the 114 photographs that were on display at the exhibition "Dirty Season - Uncensored". A group of about a dozen policemen were in front of the gallery at that time.
The exhibition was closed because of the earlier removal of four photographs of damaged campaign posters of several party leaders from the windows of the Artget gallery, without consultations with the authors. The art director of this year’s season of the Artget gallery, Ivana Tomanović, and the representatives of the program sector of KCB, also said that they had not been informed about the removing of some of the photos.
“The exhibition has the word UNCENSORED in its title, and deals with the perpetual election campaign, manipulation with masses, the fight for votes, with censorship and self-censorship, the deluge of posters, billboards and advertisements with promises of a better tomorrow,” said the authors, who are six documentary photographers.
The exhibition was opened just five days ago, on Thursday, March 10th, and officially marked the start of the new season in Artget, dedicated to documentary photography, with the title “All the Faces of Documentaries”.
“The very thing this exhibition is about, happened to our work. The photos that were removed are its integral part and, without them, the exhibition loses power and meaning, and this act makes the whole idea of the exhibition pointless,” the authors said, explaining the reasons why they closed the exhibition.
While explaining her decision, the acting director of the center, Ivona Jevtić, said that permission from the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments was needed for the displaying of exhibits in the windows of the Artget gallery, which face the Republic Square. However, the employees of the program sector and the art director denied this. Ivana Tomanović said that the acting director was present when the exhibition was set up and that she did not inform her, or the authors, about any limitations. The employees of KCB corroborated, saying that much more provocative photos had been displayed in the gallery’s windows, as well as advertisements for cultural events, and that no permission was ever needed for that.
Ivona Jevtić denied that the Kamerades’ exhibition had been censored, claiming that it was all a misunderstanding. She said that “four posters were removed, not photos”, for the displaying of which a permit was needed, and that the program and art directors had done that without her knowing.
The program sector of the Cultural Center of Belgrade has stated that it supported the photographers’ decision about the early closing of the exhibition.
“The professional obligation of us working in culture is to open spaces for artists/artist groups and for other authors, not to abolish and limit cultural production. Support of the freedom of speech, of critical thinking and the honoring of integrity of artistic work are the fundamental values on which activities in institutions of culture and art should be based. We oppose the decision and act of the acting director of the Cultural Center of Belgrade, Ivona Jevtić, about which the program sector has not been informed, and who censored the contents of the exhibition by removing parts of it, thus causing the early closing of the exhibition Dirty Season – Uncensored.”
Because of censorship in Artget, the association Independent Cultural Scene of Serbia urged the city authorities to dismiss the acting director of KCB.