‘ “Art Does Not Equal Terrorism” goes beyond the sound bites to find out what happened when an Iraqi artist came to Troy, NY only to be censored–not once, but twice.
First, Wafaa Bilal was chased off campus after his artwork was mis-characterized as terrorist propaganda by undergraduate bloggers.
When the exhibition was given refuge by The Sanctuary for Independent Media, the city government responded by shutting down the space.’
[From: The Sanctuary for Independent Media.]
[See: here for a contemporary Australian censorship example.]
October 6th, 2008 at 9:05 am
the levels of shame and pride that i feel watching this video are acknowledgment of fears of how close we are to fascism in the US. i cannot fathom how any one can say “…Freedom of Speech can only go so far…” and still identify as a patriot. i also fear that the downturn in the economy will fuel this type of desperate fundamentalism.
does anyone else see the semblance of Archie Bunker in the way Mr. Mirch carries himself?
October 7th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
Hi KidN,
Agreed regarding the USA fascism taint + also re: the hairy corresponding global [socio]economic slide[s]. Watch Augmentology for a future entry that touches on these issues. Have you tried a Superstruct [http://www.superstructgame.org/] play with such variables?
-Mez
October 20th, 2008 at 6:10 pm
Freedom of speech is always a double-edged sword. I don’t believe freedom can or should be unlimited.