Another case of self-censorship:

A new case of self-censorship, this time in London, draws a sharp reaction from Le Monde. The Art World is not taking these acts lightly anymore, and we are happy to translate this article which shows that some journalist have recovered some backbone.
Artistic self-censorship made a new victim. The Whitechapel Art Gallery, one of the main centres for the art in London, removed a dozen drawings from a Hans Bellmer (1902-1975) exhibit. The gallery’s director took this decision because she thought that some of the painter’s erotic works (he was major figure of the Surrealism Movement) could offend the Muslim population of this working class neighborhood. Shortly after the cancellation of Mozart’s Idomeneo in Berlin, this illustrates the growing fears of program planners. Fearing possible reactions, they do not hesitate to anticipate the interventions of religious representatives. In London, this decision was as sudden as it was unexpected. The exhibition, put together by the Centre Pompidou, had been introduced in Paris in the Spring, then in Munich. After its arrival in London, the exhibit curator, Agnès de la Beaumelle, noted that the wall space for hanging the art was insufficient. She therefore undertook a first sorting. ” This happens with traveling exhibits “, she explains.
But on September 19th, on the eve of the private opening, the head of the establishment, Iwona Blazwick, took a measure, ” really serious ” this time, said Mrs de la Beaumelle. ” On her own authority and in spite of my protests, she took down a dozen of the paintings. She thought they were “sulphurous ” and clearly mentionned, besides antipedophilia leagues, the fact that it would have been dangerous to display them in Whitechapel, given that the neighborhood is home to many Muslims. ” However the pictures were clearly featured in the exhibit’s catalogue. Therefore the director could not have been surprised. Nobody had given her the slightest warning, no threat had been uttered. The curator feels that it was “just a case of self-censorship.”