View source for Mike Blasenstein and Michael Dax Iacovone: Museum of Censored Art, January 11, 2011

PRESS ADVISORY
                                  
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 11, 2011                                                                       


CONTACT: Mike Blasenstein

mblasenstein@gmail.com

(202) 372-5967
 

'ANT CRUCIFIX' VIDEO TO BEGIN SCREENING IN 'MUSEUM OF CENSORED ART' ON SMITHSONIAN’S DOORSTEP 

Temporary 'Museum' in Washington, D.C. Will Keep Banned Art Available to Public as Smithsonian Censorship Controversy Grows


WASHINGTON, D.C., January 11, 2011 -- The Museum of Censored Art will open to the public on Thursday, January 13, 2011, on the Smithsonian's doorstep, announced art and free speech activists Mike Blasenstein and Michael Dax Iacovone today. The free speech advocates will open the Museum of Censored Art in a mobile office trailer outside the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery, where they will screen the film censored by the Smithsonian, "A Fire In My Belly" by the late gay artist David Wojnarowicz. 


The work was part of the larger "Hide/Seek" exhibit of gay and lesbian portraiture currently at the National Portrait Gallery. However, the piece was removed Nov. 30 by Smithsonian Secretary G. Wayne Clough after anti-gay groups labeled it "anti-Christian." The same groups that succeeded in having the Wojnarowicz film censored originally wanted the entire "Hide/Seek" exhibit removed from the Gallery.


WHAT: The Museum of Censored Art. "Showing the art the Smithsonian won't." A mobile office trailer converted into a temporary gallery exhibiting the censored film as well as educational materials about the controversy. URL: http://dontcensor.us


WHEN: January 13, 2011, 11:30 AM (press availability at 10:30 AM). Normal operating hours will mirror National Portrait Gallery hours: 11:30 AM - 7:00 PM every day through February 13, 2011.


WHERE: 7th & F Streets NW, Washington, DC, in the curb lane on F Street outside the entrance to the National Portrait Gallery.


WHO: DC-based activists Mike Blasenstein and Michael Dax Iacovone -- the "iPad protesters" who were banned from Smithsonian property after playing the film inside the museum on an iPad. Protest video: http://bit.ly/NPG_Protest


"We are displaying this art on the doorstep of the National Portrait Gallery to restore the censored art to the Smithsonian, keep the censored art visible and accessible to the public, and hold the Smithsonian accountable for its actions," Blasenstein said.