Open AccessBehind UCT’s Removed Art: the Writing on the Wall
Author(s) -
Ivor Powell
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of intellectual freedom and privacy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2474-7459
DOI - 10.5860/jifp.v2i3-4.6412
Subject(s) - permission , offensive , visual arts , vulnerability (computing) , politics , art world , art , cultural politics , art history , performance art , media studies , history , law , sociology , political science , engineering , operations research , computer science , computer security
Editor’s note: This commentary was first published in the South African Art Times, and is reproduced here with permission.During the past two years, fine art has been under attack at the University of Cape Town (UCT), with artworks defaced, intentionally destroyed by fire and blacklisted during various student protests. In response, some 74 works of art from the University’s collection—by some of the country’s most acclaimed artists—have been taken down or covered up “on the grounds of their vulnerability to potential damage” or because “some members of the campus community have identified certain works of art as offensive to them—for cultural, religious or political reasons.”