Artist's protest feels the noose
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Artist's protest feels the noose
Michael McKenna and Alan Shadrake
November 28, 2005
IT was a rare public display of protest against the death penalty that even Singapore's arts community didn't want the world to see.
Titled "I am going to send you to a better place", the now infamous send-off from veteran hangman Darshan Singh, the disturbing artwork is the only act of open defiance in the city-state during the final days of condemned Australian drug-trafficker Nguyen Tuong Van.
Slovenian art student Matija Milkovic Biloslav had displayed under falling nooses a single standing stool carrying a card with Van's execution number -- C856 -- a very deliberate reference to the Melbourne man, scheduled to be hanged at dawn this Friday.
But after The Australian unexpectantly attended last Friday night's opening of the exhibition at the Lasalle-SIA College of the Arts, the self-consorship that pervades the country of four million took hold.
Over the weekend, The Australian newspaper was threatened with legal action by Lasalle directors if it published a picture of the work and all requests for an interview with the artist were denied.
The card carrying Van's execution number was hastily removed. The college, which receives government funding, said the artwork was about suicide.
The reaction of the art college is typical of the sensitivity in Singapore to the very limited political and social debate allowed by the long-ruling
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http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17383826%255E2702,00.html -
let's just say the college should have just let it go... and suddenly, after a lot of attention, nothing would have happened..
sometimes, i wonder if the idiots on high are being affected by their own altitude (not attitude).. and the oxygen isn't getting to their brains...
i'm not for capital punishment...
but here, it's what everyone faces if they have drugs on them... backing down would be telling the world "i'm letting this guy go because of the pressure of some sanctimonious gabrament"..
still think the best policy around, at anytime, is openness and truth..
and let the artists protest all they want.... -
too much attention might backfire.That's a lesson that they have to learn.It's art.And it's frank.Does it hurt to just let it be?Originally posted by the Bear:let's just say the college should have just let it go... and suddenly, after a lot of attention, nothing would have happened..
sometimes, i wonder if the idiots on high are being affected by their own altitude (not attitude).. and the oxygen isn't getting to their brains...
i'm not for capital punishment...
but here, it's what everyone faces if they have drugs on them... backing down would be telling the world "i'm letting this guy go because of the pressure of some sanctimonious gabrament"..
still think the best policy around, at anytime, is openness and truth..
and let the artists protest all they want....
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strange thing...
i believe there are those who think the execution is the way to go.. heck.. the dude is actually guilty, don't you think?
so, because he's australian, he gets away with what our own guys will face?
if they let it be... who knows? the singapore gabrament may actually have their own supporters telling off the bleeding hearts.. and in no uncertain terms and unprompted, unsolicited...
and it may even open up a frank debate on the whole incident?
as always, i think they just dropped the ball...
reminds me of the bosses at work.. too damned petrified to rock the boat.. but without rocking the boat, how would you know what is not securely bolted down?
stupid stupid stupid
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The debate has been opened up.And the gaffes have been committed, first with PM Lee and PM Howard 's clash over the execution date, then with the hangman's dismissal or not, it seemed.The man's guilty, that's for sure.But we still hold the right to either hang him or commute him etc..Originally posted by the Bear:strange thing...
i believe there are those who think the execution is the way to go.. heck.. the dude is actually guilty, don't you think?
so, because he's australian, he gets away with what our own guys will face?
if they let it be... who knows? the singapore gabrament may actually have their own supporters telling off the bleeding hearts.. and in no uncertain terms and unprompted, unsolicited...
and it may even open up a frank debate on the whole incident?
as always, i think they just dropped the ball...
reminds me of the bosses at work.. too damned petrified to rock the boat.. but without rocking the boat, how would you know what is not securely bolted down?
stupid stupid stupid
What's wrong here is that if the whole process was transparent, and if the Aussies had not jumped up and down and waved a empty beer bottle in our faces, we might actually have commuted the sentence ourselves and yet not be seen to have yielded to pressure.
Some of the politicians there have to go for Cultural Studies, because they gambled too hard that external loudhailer pressure might work on us, when it clearly won't, due to all the "face" that the big honchos always care about.
Anyway, I personally think the mandatory portion is flawed, but if there's one good thing to come out of this huge farce and circus, it's that much more Singaporeans are aware of the issues, pros and cons surrounding the penalty.But it's sad that we had to resort to reading Aussie newspapers to read up on them. -
thing is.. i don't trust newspapers... after what a lot of newspapers and news programs have done, sadly, there's distrust.. a lot of it..
sometimes, it's coz of the hidden agenda of the press.. sometimes, they're just outright hoodwinked by the subject of their coverage...
it's a sad cynical world we live in -
That's so true.Every newspaper has an agenda, and do you remember the days where we used to just read the papers because we had no other outlet of information?Originally posted by the Bear:thing is.. i don't trust newspapers... after what a lot of newspapers and news programs have done, sadly, there's distrust.. a lot of it..
sometimes, it's coz of the hidden agenda of the press.. sometimes, they're just outright hoodwinked by the subject of their coverage...
it's a sad cynical world we live in
Now we have the web, but I don't see that huge leap in credibility either.I think we humans subconsciously want to impose our views on others.
Makes you wonder why are we so different from the rest of the living species on Earth..we're kind of very alien from them.
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saw the documentary about how the press is manipulated?
especially by the Palestinians?
the whole thing is downloadable..
even reputable news stations like API and Reuters get tricked.. -
Media disinformation..Originally posted by the Bear:saw the documentary about how the press is manipulated?
especially by the Palestinians?
the whole thing is downloadable..
even reputable news stations like API and Reuters get tricked..
dunno why but I sometimes think the New World Order is very much alive... -
oh.. but it is...
not to the extent of the conspiracy theorists, but it's there...
just like Iraq was invaded for Big Oil and Haliburton..Originally posted by LazerLordz:Media disinformation..
dunno why but I sometimes think the New World Order is very much alive... -
and KBR.Originally posted by the Bear:oh.. but it is...
not to the extent of the conspiracy theorists, but it's there...
just like Iraq was invaded for Big Oil and Haliburton..
The Bush Cabinet are members of the Project for a New American Century.
And Bush Sr, member of the Carlye Group.Financed initially by the Bin Ladin family. -
oh.. check this out.. click here => Pallywood
download and watch.. then tell people about it...
don't believe every sight bite you see in the news.. -
Originally posted by the Bear:oh.. check this out.. click here => Pallywood
download and watch.. then tell people about it...
don't believe every sight bite you see in the news..
gracias. -
Never.Originally posted by the Bear:don't believe every sight bite you see in the news.. -
It's a pity Lasalle relies almost exclusively on the govt for funding.
I think the protest was pretty decent, no standing in front of CPF building holding placards, some innovative expression of feelings and from a reputable school with bright talents.
Entrepreneurship anyone? -
Try telling a Slovak that he cannot say what he feels and he will chuckle.That is a nation who has thrown off Soviet rule.Originally posted by BillyBong:It's a pity Lasalle relies almost exclusively on the govt for funding.
I think the protest was pretty decent, no standing in front of CPF building holding placards, some innovative expression of feelings and from a reputable school with bright talents.
Entrepreneurship anyone? -
It is also a country that collaborated with the Nazis during the war. Is that what you find so admirable?
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You mean a country that was conquered by the Nazis during the war....Originally posted by Typhoon:It is also a country that collaborated with the Nazis during the war. Is that what you find so admirable?
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Certain people had worked as translators for the Japanese army during the war.Originally posted by Typhoon:It is also a country that collaborated with the Nazis during the war. Is that what you find so admirable? -
hate to see Art being bashed like that
it's no wonder how ppl always say......Art in singapore.......jiak bey ba, yao bey si.............. -
Originally posted by FireIce:hate to see Art being bashed like that
it's no wonder how ppl always say......Art in singapore.......jiak bey ba, yao bey si..............
Haiii -
Originally posted by LazerLordz:
Slovenian Matija Milkovic Biloslav engaged in more than just art in Sg.
Artist's protest feels the noose
IT was a rare public display of protest against the death penalty that even Singapore's arts community didn't want the world to see.
Slovenian art student Matija Milkovic Biloslav had displayed under falling nooses a single standing stool carrying a card with Van's execution number -- C856 -- a very deliberate reference to the Melbourne man, scheduled to be hanged at dawn this Friday.
But after The Australian unexpectantly attended last Friday night's opening of the exhibition at the Lasalle-SIA College of the Arts, the self-consorship that pervades the country of four million took hold.
Foreigners who don't like our law should leave our country. Sg's politic and law, no matter how oppressive, are for Singaporean to settle. It is not for them to talk down to us on how to run our country, esp doing it so within our country. -
I believe in art for art's sake. However, one man's art is another man's politics.Originally posted by pat33:Slovenian Matija Milkovic Biloslav engaged in more than just art in Sg.
Foreigners who don't like our law should leave our country. Sg's politic and law, no matter how oppressive, are for Singaporean to settle. It is not for them to talk down to us on how to run our country, esp doing it so within our country.
We should bear in mind that Stalin killed many artists for daring to express their creativity. -
Sure or not? The picture looks like it is protesting, not that I say.Originally posted by LazerLordz:The card carrying Van's execution number was hastily removed. The college, which receives government funding, said the artwork was about suicide. -
Art has political messages, at times. More powerful then words.Originally posted by ndmmxiaomayi:Sure or not? The picture looks like it is protesting, not that I say.