Not naughty at all!

To the surprise of nobody in the Australian art world, Bill Henson’s work was all returned to the gallery and no charges were laid. See The Art Life, ”Henson case Collapses.” Well, I say not a surprise, but we’ve become used to draconian reactions from the former government.  Our new Prime Minister got off to a great start, but I must say I do find him on the prissy side. This was confirmed by his reaction of ‘revolting’ about Bill Henson’s work (sight unseen, one assumes.) And the Minister for the Arts (a former rock legend) didn’t do much to support the arts.

NAVA  (National Association of Visual Artists), an organisation of which I am a member, as usual is supporting it’s members very well. They got together some very eminent Australians for a public forum with “Watch on Censorship,” to discuss the issues raised by the Henson case, as they correctly believe that artists should not become complacent.

I must say that I’m glad its over. I hope it won’t happen again. It’s too much like burning books. But that still doesn’t mean I’ll go to Henson’s shows.