PHILIPPINES: A Filipino artist's work mixing images of Jesus Christ with phallic symbols riles up Catholics

Record ID: 582123

  • Title: PHILIPPINES: A Filipino artist's work mixing images of Jesus Christ with phallic symbols riles up Catholics
  • Date: 2nd August 2011
  • Summary: MANILA, PHILIPPINES (JULY 29, 2011) (REUTERS) "POLETEISMO" ART INSTALLATION ARTIST MIDEO CRUZ ADJUSTING INSTALLATION VARIOUS OF WOODEN PHALLUS OVER POSTER OF JESUS CHRIST WOODEN PHALLUS, WITH ELECTION CAMPAIGN BRACELETS, OVER JESUS CHRIST POSTER AND OTHER POST CARDS CONDOM ATTACHED TO CRUCIFIX
  • Embargoed: 17th August 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Philippines, Philippines
  • Country: Philippines
  • Topics: Arts,Religion,Religion
  • Reuters ID: LVA7GKO5IVH4SI0XKE58A8OZ9ZR4
  • Story Text: Filipino artist Mideo Cruz has been branded a "demon," and a "persona non grata" by Catholics angered by his work.
    He meant for his art installation to be a commentary on icon worship, but his juxtaposition of images of Jesus Christ with phallic figures, condoms, and other cultural knicknacks, has instead sparked an uproar among conservative Catholics claiming it is a mockery of their faith.
    The 37-year-old Cruz was bombarded with death threats and hate mail since his work featured in an exhibit at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) in Manila on June 17.
    "May your soul burn to (sic) hell, you Devil pro (sic) artist!" said one of the dozens of Facebook users cursing Cruz's work.
    "I am going to kill you...you deserve to die...Be careful, my friend," warned another message.
    Cruz, a visual and performance artist, who has exhibited in New York, Paris, Tokyo, Zurich, and several other art centres, said he wanted to provoke reaction but did not expect such vitriol.
    "You can't force people. But I just hope that when we look at something, the process doesn't stop at the surface," Cruz said of his critics.
    The online outcry is not one-sided. Guardians of free expression have cropped up in Cruz's defence.
    "Those who are quick to judge are the real idiots," said one message.
    Cruz said "Poleteismo" (Polytheism) is about the worship of relics, and shows how idolatry evolves through history and modern culture. Posters of Jesus and the Virgin Mary, crucifixes and religious curios recall the 300-year Spanish rule that implanted Catholicism in the Philippines; while images of Mickey Mouse, the Statue of Liberty, and Barack Obama point to the lasting influence of American imperialism.
    "This speaks about objects that we worship, how we create these gods and idols, and how we in turn are created by our gods and idols," Cruz said.
    One part of the installation is a giant wooden crucifix, with a bright red penis that can be moved up an down, a symbol of a patriarchal society where men are "worshipped", Cruz explained.
    All over three walls that stretch to 14 x 3 metres are kitschy posters, elections paraphernalia, and souvenirs from the artist's travels.
    Early versions of the work were exhibited as long ago as 2002 in other art galleries, but the current uproar is unprecedented.
    Emmanuel Fernandez, a teacher, is an active member of the staunchly Catholic social group Knights of Columbus. He visited the exhibit in late July, and echoed the criticism.
    "We always consider something sacred, where sex should not be integrated...but to integrate, to mock the image or the picture of Christ, that is something very offending to the Christian world," Fernandez said, adding that he would like to hear the artist's opinions.
    Roman Catholics comprise roughly 80 percent of the Philippine population, and conservatives are vocal in the public arena. Catholic lobbyists have aggressively lobbied against a legislative bill that seeks to raise awareness on artificial contraception and population control methods. Church members have castigated proponents of same-sex marriage and divorce.
    Calls for the exhibit to be be boycotted or shut down have flooded the CCP, and a Catholic university attributed as the participating artists' alma mater, requested for its name to be withdrawn. The request was denied.
    The center's head for visual arts, Karen Ocampo-Flores, said the CCP was only fulfilling its mandate of cultivating artistic expression, and regrets that the installation was being viewed piece by piece and not in its entirety.
    "I would call it moralist hysteria, I would call it religious myopia. It's just that, yes, you can have your faith, but, and that can be respected. But you must also be able to tolerate and understand other people's views," Flores said, adding that Cruz's work is part of a larger exhibit entitled "Kulo" (boiling), commemorating the national hero, Jose Rizal.
    Bishop Deogracias Iniguez, who heads a diocese in the capital, said Catholics must not be quick to judge the artist without sufficient information, but counsels that artists must also consider their audience.
    "There may be some works of arts, which will not actually jive, or it would not be in harmony with the mentality and the culture of a certain group of people, of a certain religion, then I think artists and those who put on such exhibits should be very very sensitive to that," Iniguez said.
    Acknowledging the bubbling controversy, CCP is holding a public forum this August, inviting art experts and members of the Catholic clergy.
    But for viewers who are neither steadfastly Catholic nor connoisseurs of art, the mishmash of elements in Cruz's piece is indecipherable at worst, and thought-provoking at best.
    "We are a little surprised by this art work, it left us very perplexed," said Parisian tourist Francoise Masson.
    Content not to overtalk the issue, Cruz is letting his art speak for itself.
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