Newspaper reports on my presence at the "innovative women" art exhibition have been mischievous, deliberately misleading and avoiding the facts.
In August last year, I was invited to speak at the "Innovative Women" Art Exhibition at Constitution Hill. Upon arrival at the Exhibition, I immediately saw images which I deemed offensive. The images in large frames were of naked bodies presumably involved in sexual acts. I was particularly revolted by an image called "Self-rape", depicting a sexual act with a nature scene as the backdrop. The notion of self-rape trivialises the scourge of rape in this country.
Contrary to media reports, I was not even aware as to whether the 'bodies' in the images were of men or women or both for that matter. My reaction was guided by the view that these 'artworks' were not suitable for a family audience. I noticed that there were children as young as three years old in the room.
I was not aware of the sexual orientation of the pictures or the artists and my reaction was not based on anti-gay sentiments as implied in some media reports on the matter.
To my mind, these were not works of arts but crude misrepresentations of women (both black and white) masquerading as artworks rather than engaged in questioning or interrogating, which I believe is what art is about. Those particular works of art stereotyped black women.
Further, as a public representative and as a South African, I uphold the laws of our country and the constitution. I have fought for liberation and women's rights for the most part of my life. However, I believe the rights that have been entrenched in our constitution include the rights of children. This is why we have laws in this country that protect children against exposure to pornographic material.
I therefore would not, for any reason, be part of any tendencies that undermine the rights of people. I accept and respect the rights of people of different sexual orientation. The claims that I am homophobic are baseless and insulting to me.
I have not imposed censorship on any artists and the funding polices of my Ministry and Department are very clear. We support the arts in this country in general since we embrace and promote the policy of Arts for All and the opening of opportunities for all our artists, especially women and youth and those who have been disadvantaged in the past.
What I think is necessary in our country today is a long overdue debate on what is art and where do we draw the line between art and pornography. What do we wish to encourage as a community concerned about the imaginative possibilities of art to shape our nation and our future. South Africans last engaged in such a debate before the democratic era. It is time that we open this discussion in the context of moral regeneration, social cohesion and nation building.
Enquiries:
Sipiwo Matshoba
Cell: 082 939 3798
Lisa Combrinck
Cell: 082 821 4886
Issued by: Department of Arts and Culture
4 March 2010
