Row rages on over explicit statue at Baltic

Sep 3 2008 by Daniel Thomson, The Journal

A ROW over an art gallery’s decision to display an explicit statue of Jesus Christ raged on last night as Christian lawyers insisted their case would go ahead despite a legal hitch.

Baltic, on Gateshead Quays, displayed the 1ft-high statue by Chinese-American artist Terence Koh, as part of its September 2007 exhibition featuring pieces from the collection of Newcastle-born billionaire Anita Zabludowicz.

The piece, entitled Gone, Yet Still, included dozens of plaster figures, such as ET and Mickey Mouse, many in a state of sexual arousal.

Warning signs at the doors to Baltic warned of the exhibition’s explicit contents, but practising Christian Emily Mapfuwa, 40, of Brentwood, Essex, said the statue was offensive to her faith, and instructed lawyers to seek a private prosecution against the gallery for outraging public decency.

She said Baltic would not have dared depict Mohammed in such a way and the statue would cause the public to be “harassed, alarmed and distressed” — despite Northumbria Police’s guidance that there was no case to answer.

At Gateshead Magistrates’ Court today, Stephen Graham, defending, said the case could not proceed because of a legal technicality.

“The summons does not define the defendant,” he said. “It refers to the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art and there is no such legal entity.” He said the summons should have been addressed to the Baltic Flour Mills Visual Arts Trust, which is the company’s correct name.

A Baltic spokeswoman added: “Baltic denies the allegations that have been made by Ms Mapfuwa and will vigorously defend itself in court.

“With legal proceedings continuing, it would be inappropriate to make any further comment at this time.”

But a Christian Legal Centre spokeswoman insisted the case would go ahead and the legal technicality had been resolved. She said: “Baltic indicated a not guilty plea and the case will now go to a committal hearing at the magistrates court on September 23.

“The magistrates will consider whether the case should go before a crown court where it would be tried by a jury. I have spoken to our barrister and the legal issue involving Baltic’s name has been resolved. The case will go ahead.”

She added that while both the CLC and Ms Mapfuwa believed in freedom of expression, they felt the statue “served no other purpose than to offend Christians and to denigrate Christ”.

A spokesman for Anita Zabludowicz, who owns the controversial statue, said: “This is a matter for Baltic, and isn’t something we are able to comment on.”

Mrs Zabludowicz, who was raised in Fenham, Newcastle, and buys art with her Finnish billionaire husband Poju, owns Gallery 176 in London and displayed a number of pieces at Baltic as part of its Collectors Series.

The same controversial exhibition also featured photos by American Nan Goldin , which were owned by Elton John.

The photos were examined by Northumbria Police and the Crown Prosecution Service after suggestions they were pornographic, but it emerged they had already been looked at in 2001 and judged not to be indecent.