In an order issued on Friday, the interim judge of the Council of State considers that the work of Miriam Cahn “does not seriously and unlawfully harm the best interests of the child or the dignity of the person”.
Miriam Cahn’s painting can remain within the walls of the Palais de Tokyo. Referred to by several children’s rights associations, the judge in chambers of the Council of State considers, in an order issued this Friday, that the table Fuck abstraction ! by Miriam Cahn, at the Palais de Tokyo, a place dedicated to contemporary creation, “does not seriously and unlawfully harm the best interests of the child or the dignity of the person”.
A decision which confirms that taken by the judge in chambers of the administrative court of Paris, on March 28. Rejected, the associations asking for the stall of the work of the Swiss artist considering it as child pornography, had appealed the sentence. For the associations Jurists for Childhood, Pornostop, Innocence in danger and Faced with incest, the controversial painting depicts the rape of a child by an adult and could be seen by minors.
“It follows from the statement that the array Fuck abstraction! represents the silhouette of a man with a very powerful body, naked, without a face, who imposes fellatio on a thin and very small victim, naked, on his knees and with his hands tied behind his back. The petitioners see the victim as a child, the defendant as an adult, whose size is only a metaphor for the oppression and the crime of which she is a victim.states the order.
«It appears from the proceedings at the hearing and from the documents in the investigation that the artist’s only intention is to denounce a crime. The judge in chambers notes that informative labels have been positioned all along the way leading to the work”, ruled justice.
Instrumentalization
The Council of State also emphasizes that the Palais de Tokyo has done everything possible to avoid offending the sensibilities of the youngest: “The judge in chambers of the Council of State observes first of all that the company Palais de Tokyo has surrounded access to the painting Fuck abstraction ! precautions aimed at excluding unaccompanied minors and deterring adults accompanied by minors. Two surveillance agents are positioned at the entrance and in the middle of the room and a mediator is present continuously at the level of the table., can we read on the website of the Council of State. While specifying “that no minor visiting the exhibition alone has been reported and that no incident arising from the presence of a minor in front of the painting in question has been recorded.”
In a press release published on social networks, the Palais de Tokyo welcomed this decision, deploring however, “that this case has given rise to an instrumentalization of this work of art as well as the attempt to deny the fundamental role that museums all over the world play in defending freedoms while respecting human rights.”
Since February 17, the exhibition Miriam Cahn, My Serial Thought attracted nearly 70,000 visitors. It is presented until May 14.