October 11, 2004

The Power of Art

picassoguernica.jpg

Picasso's Guernica still retains its power to offend and shock. According to Gijs van Hensbergen's new book Guernica: The Biography of a Twentieth-Century Icon, the United Nations in New York has a copy of it in tapestry. It hangs in a corridor outside the Security Council's meeting room, where it acts as a visible reminder of cruelty of war. Last year, however when Colin Powell attempted to persuade the UN into legitimising the war in Iraq the tapestry was suddenly covered!

This censorship recognises the great power of Art. ?What the picture showed up,? says Van Hensbergen, ?was the embarrassing contradiction of presuming to take the moral high ground while simultaneously campaigning for war?.


Bookmark and Share
Posted by mehrdad at October 11, 2004 11:47 PM | Art |