Monday 18 September 2006

UK Artist Faces Jail

Michael Dickinson - Best in Show (2006)Here's a story I picked up at Art News Blog. It has a slight touch of art (not a lot) and all sorts of political overtones. Michael Dickinson, founder of the Istanbul Stuckists, was collared by the Turkish fuzz for displaying the above collage in Istanbul. It shows the Turkish Prime Minister as a dog being awarded a rosette by President Bush. Lousy art, but fair comment, you might think. Not in Turkey; it's against the law to lampoon the PM. Michael faces anything up to three years in a Turkish prison if found guilty. All this is hugely embarrassing for twerps like Tony Blair who want to bring this Islamic state into the Euro Community. The Stuckists have written to Tony, asking him to intervene on Michael's behalf (title link). What is even worse than Michael's arrest on this dictatorial charge is that BBC News appears to be withholding the story from us. I've searched the BBC website with its own pathetic search engine, and I've also used Google. The only mention of this story I can find on BBC worldwide is on BBCTurkish.com! Censorship, Aunty?

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