“Je suis Charlie” — if that’s all right with you, of course. Via the Telegraph:
An artwork depicting high-heeled shoes on Islamic prayer mats has been removed from an exhibition after a Muslim group warned of possible violence in the wake of the Paris attacks.
The French-Algerian artist, Zoulikha Bouabdellah, withdrew the work from an exhibition in a northern Paris suburb with a large Muslim population after an Islamic group told local authorities it could provoke “uncontrollable, irresponsible incidents”. . . .
Ms Bouabdellah, 37, said on Wednesday that the “lack of understanding” of her work was probably related to “heightened emotions” after the attacks.
“I’m left wondering at the reasons that push a certain fringe among French Muslims to see this work as blasphemous,” she said. “I’m from a Muslim background and my intention was not to shock or provoke, but to offer a vision as a starting point for a dialogue.”
Here is the offending artwork:
The above was so galling that is has been replaced with “a video installation showing belly-dancing to the French national anthem, with swirling red, white and blue shawls symbolising the national flag.” Edgy.
Before long the only art France will practice is the art of surrender.