Andy Warhol Foundation Threatens to Pull Funding Over Smithsonian Censorship
Still from A Fire in My Belly
Except taxpayer dollars don't pay for the exhibitions or the works themselves, only the museum facilities. (Which are admittedly fairly important for holding an exhibition.) The Andy Warhol Foundation, on the other hand, does provide a great deal of private funding to the museum - over $375,000 in the past three years to be exact - and they're not happy about seeing A Fire in My Belly disappear from the exhibition. In a letter from President Joel Wachs sent to Smithsonian Secretary Wayne Clough yesterday, the Warhol Foundation spoke out saying:
Such blatant censorship is unconscionable. It is inimical to everything the Smithsonian Institution should stand for, and everything the Andy Warhol Foundation does stand for. ...we cannot stand by and watch the Smithsonian bow to the demands of bigots who have attacked the exhibition out of ignorance, hatred and fear.
Meanwhile, quoting a statement from Smithsonian spokesperson Linda St. Thomas, the Washington City Paper reports that the museum will be standing by their "difficult decision" to remove the video despite the fact that the Warhol Foundation gave $100,000 to the Hide/Seek exhibit alone.
Within the Smithsonian, at least one member of the Museum's advisory panel has resigned in protest. In an email posted on the Washington Post, comissioner James T. Bartlett wrote: "I believe it is a fundamental right of museums and their curatorial staffs to make such decisions [about exhibition content], even if some art is deemed objectionable by external critics. I choose firmly and resolutely not to be part of an institution that is and can be put ad infinitum in this position." Well put, Mr. Bartlett.
As we mentioned last week, slew of protest screenings of Wojnarowicz's film have popped up, with one private gallery in DC staging protest marches and showing a 4-minute clip (similar to what was removed from the Smithsonian) in a nearby shop window.
[Warhol Foundation.org]
[Washington City Paper]
[Washington Post]
