An image of a partly dressed young girl by internationally renowned Czech photographer Jan Saudek has been withdrawn from an exhibition of his images at the 2011 Ballarat International Foto Biennale. The image was withdrawn from Saudek’s exhibition Dolce Vita following a complaint made to the Office of the Child Safety Commissioner in Victoria by a woman who saw it in an advertisement for the festival which had appeared in Art Almanac magazine.
Saudek is one of the key exhibitors in the core program for the festival. His photograph Black Sheep & White Crow, which featured a woman sitting next to a partly clad young girl, was showing as part of a series from the well-known Czech photographer presenting various dreamscapes, with nude or semi-nude figures, and investigating erotic themes. Saudek is considered one of the top photographers from Czechoslovakia and is well known internationally for his work. As a Jew his family was persecuted by the Germans during World War II.
He and his brother Karel were held in a children’s concentration camp near the Polish-Czech border, and family members died during the conflict. He pursued his interest in photography and printing after the war. His images are said to explore freedom of expression as well as the evolution from childhood to adulthood, and his images have been the subject of attempts at censorship on previous occasions.
Festival organiser Jeff Moorfoot said, “The complaint required me to respond in such a way as to consider the BIFB community as a whole and I made the decision not to include the image before the exhibition was hung.” Moorfoot said, “The exhibition is in no way reduced with the particular piece not included, and we invite all those interested in the photographic art form to view the show and come to their own conclusions about Saudek’s work.”
The Ballarat International Foto Biennale, the fourth event over the last eight years, has almost 200 photographers displaying their work in 73 venues, with 150 exhibitions ranging in scope from documentary work to fine art. The festival runs until September 18.
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