Sastamala library removed fetish artist Peter Juhan’s photos from the exhibition of queer artists at the beginning of November.

Artist Peter Juhanin ie Petteri Koskinen erotic photos were removed as inappropriate from an exhibition of queer artists in Sastamala.

An art exhibition organized by Sastamala Pride is still on display in Sastamala’s main library until Thursday, where the association wanted to bring out queer artists and promote the visibility of rainbow themes.

However, Koskinen’s sadomasochistic photographs oozing homoeroticism were too much for the library, which removed the images as soon as the exhibition opened.

Be the first to report on the censorship of works Tyrvää Sanomat.

“They were the kind of adult imagery that doesn’t fit in such a public space, which couldn’t be limited in any way so that the images wouldn’t have been visible to everyone”, Sastamala’s library service manager Liisa Oravasaari tells.

According to Oravasaari, the library ended up removing all twelve photographs from the exhibition.

“We had discussed with the organizer of the exhibition in advance that the pictures must be suitable for the general space, but apparently our view on that was different.”

I will the works were removed on the first day of the exhibition, November 3.

According to Oravasaari, the organizer started building the exhibition on the last Friday of October. On Saturday, due to All Saints’ Day, the library was exceptionally only open for private use, so the staff was not present at the library until Monday and saw the works of the exhibition for the first time then.

The brutality of the photos was a surprise. According to Oravasaari, the pictures had an oppressive and threatening atmosphere.

“The library must be a safe space for everyone.”

Sastamala’s main library has exhibitions all the time, every month. According to Oravasaari, this was the first time that views differed with the organizers of the exhibition on what kind of content is appropriate. For the first time, it was decided to remove the material from the exhibition.

“The situation was new and surprising for the library and we will learn from it. However, everything has gone by mutual understanding.”

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“The library must be a safe space for everyone.”

Peter Koskinen (b. 1991) is a fetish artist who, in his black and white pictures, deals directly with men’s sexuality, sex, kinky lifestyles and minority subcultures. He says he considers the library a suitable platform for his art.

“I know that I have a certain image on the internet, and there have also been three exhibitions in Helsinki. There you can see a lot of hard penises and men’s rears photographed up close. Very violent, but of course I won’t take them to a library environment,” says Koskinen.

He still admits that he is so “punk and radical” that he could have done that if he wanted to, but this time he wanted to carefully select the pictures that ended up in the library.

“I enjoy the fact that people get a little angry at my photos, I get a certain kind of pleasure from it. However, I wanted to be friendly and show myself there in the easiest way – especially when my photos were invited to Vammala for the first time,” says Koskinen, who is originally from Vammala.

“All my models were wearing pants in the pictures, they pose with their muscular upper body exposed. Men latex leather hood [huppu] wearing and topless people, i.e. the kind you can see even in the summer in the city.”

I will according to the hoods are not erotic imagery, but rather a style of clothing represented by the fetish genre.

“We wear a certain uniform and live life through it. We are of course sexual, but the mask itself or the pictures are in no way bad for a child’s eyes, for example. Adults see things so differently than children,” says Koskinen.

“The reason behind the library’s decision was probably that they wanted to protect children’s eyes, that those images are too radical.”

Koskinen says that he heard about the removal of his works about a week ago.

“Of course I know that in a small town things are seen a bit more sharply. In a way, I understand that the decision is made without asking me, but it was a bit silly.”

Oravasaaren according to that, a single picture could have been left in the exhibition. However, the situation came up suddenly, and leaving the individual images would not have necessarily served the whole thought of the artist.

Oravasaari says that it was suggested to the organizer of the exhibition that the pictures could be presented at the main library in a separate lecture hall on November 27 in connection with an event.

Along with Koskinen, also other artists in the exhibition Pink Malvikki, Heikki Äijälä and Rita Nygård are either from Sastamala or from the locality. Their works have been on display all month.

I will according to him, the most important meaning and goal of his art is to show the richness, sexuality and diversity of humanity.

“We can all be beautiful and colorful just as we want without hurting others. In my opinion, understanding only happens by meeting strange things eye to eye, so I feel that my exhibition did its job exactly as it was supposed to. Both positive and negative reactions are important.”

Koskinen says that he is currently working on his first art book. He will launch a book containing erotic images of men in Berlin in connection with his exhibition in the spring.

“It will perhaps become even more radical.”

Below you can view some of the removed photos from the exhibition and vote for what you think about them yourself.