‘ARTISTS’ AND ‘TOLERANCE’ IN CONTEMPORARY EUROPE

WOJCIECH KĘDER

The idea, based on Christian values and which was aimed at uniting the European continent whose founders fathers after the Second World War were prominent European Christian Democrats: Alcide de Gasperi, Jean Monnet, Robert Schuman and Konrad Adenauer, was to win the crisis oppressing the continent at that time – the crisis which in XX century caused two world wars with their unimaginable consequences and cruelties. New united Europe also intended to create space for every human individual, in which being free and safe – the man could freely realize his aspirations for his sake and the society whose member he was. Over the years, when the creators of United Europe passed away and when their tasks were taken over by other generations of politicians, however political phraseology did not succumb to any change, then ideas went into non-existence which had accompanied the four fathers of united Europe.

‘Tolerant Europe’

Mechanisms functioning in the European Union are – gently speaking – far from democratic ideal, not mentioning the way of election of European Commission members. Similarly – more and more brutally imposed worldview by the world of politics and media, despite of promoted slogans about tolerance. Because the current political elites in Europe are far from the level represented by great Christian Democrats in every aspect, the ‘Lisbon strategy’, which was to guarantee chasing away the USA (as it often happens Polish politicians) resulted in something opposite, and European leaders who are trying to take over leadership, tripped over small Greece. Surely, within compensation, a fight about noble ideas of democracy and tolerance understood in a specific way was popularized whose example was nomination of the commissioner of the European Commission Rocco Buttiglione, rejected by the leftist party ‘fond of’ democracy and tolerance only because Buttilgione is Catholic.

Extermination of the Catholics in the European structures by those who are fighting for ‘tolerance and democracy’ of ‘ the progressives’ is not limited only to nominations in European institutions, but this ‘right’ fight is being conducted on various frontiers. One of its signs is the widely understood culture and here it is easy to notice the incredible activity of fans of the ‘progress’ – activity surely not accidental.

In order to restrict to a few representative examples, let’s recall that from August to the end of this September in the Austrian Wiener Neustadt (Museum of S. Peter am der Sperr), ‘art works’ of Deborah Sengl coming from Vienna were presented, from the series ‘Via Dolorosa’, where the main motif of the ‘Road of Cross’ were hens nailed to the cross at whose top there was a board with the inscription ‘KFC’. On the poster advertising the exhibition there the hen nailed to the cross, in a crown of thorns and a lap band, referring to crucified Christ in an obvious and blasphemous way. Another completely curiosical example of the last days is an exhibition founded for us from 7 September, in the Warsaw Centre of the Modern Art, entitled ‘British British Polish Polish: Art of the borders of Europe, long 90s and today’. At this exhibition a film of a man named Jacek Markiewicz is presented, entitled ‘Adoration of Christ’ of 1993. As it was informed on Internet: ‘In the film naked Markiewicz is lying next to the figure of naked Christ on the cross. He is cuddling him and is touching him with his genitalia and is caressing him’. The above statement is so essential that when I am writing this text, on 6 November evening, the ‘genitalia’ evaporated somewhere from the TVN television news about this ‘exhibition’, and only ‘cuddling’ (well, we saw how the rewarded ‘journalistic workshop’ functions).

This kind of eruption of ‘creative expressiveness’ is not only a specialty of Europe because it came to our country from the USA long time ago, where, as Waldemar Łysiak informed about it in media years ago, in 1999 the director of Brooklyn Museum Arnold L. Lehman organized an exhibition entitled ‘Sensation’, at which a few anti-Catholic works from a collection of another Jewish man, a British man Charles Saatchi were presented (the most famous exhibit was the work of Chris Ofili: ‘Our Lady’ (decorated with dung). This ‘connoisseur of art’, as a director of Baltimore Museum of Art presented a film entitled: ‘An angel of hell’ which showed Mother Theresa as a religious extremist, a macabre and wicked person. One can multiply hundreds such examples and one can only mention the famous ‘Christ’ of Andres Serrano. However, if we – looking at this ‘artistic creativity’ – had any doubts with whom we would be dealing, the ‘artists’ disperse them, who interpret their works. Sengl, interpreting his ‘works’, as it was noted in Internet, emphasizes that ‘in this case the cross does not refer to Christ, but presents a hen as a martyr (…). So, what seems to be blasphemous at the first sight, in fact concerns the problems of food production in our times!’ Another artist ‘of genitalia’ explains that his motivation for realizing this work was his desire to insult what is not God. In his opinion people pray in churches to sculptured alleged gods. Whereas he, through controversial movements visible in the film, adores ‘Real God’!

Protectors and patrons

How gastronomic and theological deepness it is, isn’t it? And how subtle reflections of the artistic and moral nature connected with ‘the adoration of Real God’! When the man becomes this kind of ‘artistic production’, being outraged by its exceptionally aggressively primitive message, then after reading ‘intellectual reflections’ of the coryphées of art he sees who he is dealing with. But if we are watching this miserable spectacle taking place in our eyes, we should remember that these ‘brilliant artists – intellectuals’ would not do anything themselves, and they would never dare to do anything like that, as well as they would not dare to use other religious symbols if they did not have their patrons or protectors.

These were them who allow them into the salons of art, organize exhibitions, provide publicity and benefits connected with it. It is the director of the Warsaw Centre of the Modern Art and organizers of the exhibition who were impressed by the deepness of reflections of this specialist for ‘touching with his genitalia’, that they invited him to present his ‘brilliant theological reflections’, certainly in the name of freedom of art. It would be good if they were not anonymous and we got to know them, also those who also nominated them for these posts, as there will be lots to see! This hen in the thorny crown or the naked theologian-philosopher are the proverbial piece of cake – ‘A piece of cake’ -as the advertisement says. Especially that those protectors of the ‘artists’ hidden in the shadow, enjoy expose themselves or even force their way to cameras in the shine of the sun – soon during the canonization of pope John Paul II, the author of a beautiful and deeply thought ‘Letter to artists’, would be willing to sit in the first rows – and it would be all, as in order to understand the papal message, like the one referring to artists, (too high threshold), not mentioning theology, which is impossible to expect from them.

(AA)

"Niedziela" 46/2013

Editor: Tygodnik Katolicki "Niedziela", ul. 3 Maja 12, 42-200 Czestochowa, Polska
Editor-in-chief: Fr Jaroslaw Grabowski • E-mail: redakcja@niedziela.pl