Complaints to the Garda about an exhibition running as part of the Kilkenny Arts Festival led to a gallery in the city being closed for a number of hours yesterday, writes Eithne Donnellan
The exhibition at the Butler Gallery was temporarily shut down after it emerged that the gallery had not received a certificate from the film censor's office. On show were a number of disturbing videos which are the work of California-based artist Paul McCarthy.
The videos, which run to three hours, feature McCarthy smearing his body in mayonnaise and ketchup. Some scenes show him urinating and masturbating.
The director of the gallery, Ms Nathalie Weadick, said visitors were advised that the exhibition was unsuitable for persons under 18 years and might even disturb those over 18.
She said that gardaí, acting on complaints, notified her on Tuesday afternoon that the gallery was in breach of the 1923 Censorship of Film Act because it did not have a certificate from the film censor to permit the exhibition.
"Under the law, in order to display cinematographic-type exhibitions, the content of same has to be certified by the official censor prior to the opening of such an exhibition to the public," she said.
Ms Weadick said that, following the receipt of this information from the Garda, she contacted the censor's office and was given the go-ahead to continue with the exhibition on condition that it was shown in a private club. This would be done by visitors signing on at the door, in the same way as they would at the Irish Film Centre in Dublin.
She added that the gallery reopened yesterday at 3 p.m.
Ms Weadick said she expected a strong reaction to the free show, but it was the gallery's policy to exhibit works which were "challenging and thought-provoking".
However, she was was shocked and upset to find that the gallery might have broken the law.
She also expressed concern at the implications the 1923 Act had for exhibiting art in the medium of film and video. "I find it unbelievably crazy that one must have a certificate for all forms of video art before it can be shown in public."
The director of the Kilkenny Arts Festival, Ms Maureen Kennelly, said that the exhibition had attracted a lot of debate and she would have been disappointed to see it closed.
The festival also attracted controversy last year when a row erupted over plans by an Austrian artist to put large-scale works with Nazi images on display.