The artist-run, Syracuse-based organization Light Work has joined the nationwide protest against a gallery’s censorship of the video ‘A Fire in My Belly,’ which explores art history from a homosexual perspective.

The short silent film was originally part of the exhibition ‘Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture’ at the National Portrait Gallery, part of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

The gallery removed the video on Dec. 1 after pressure from the Catholic League and conservative members of Congress, who claimed the video was offensive and perpetuated anti-Christian sentiment. They took particular offense to an 11-second segment that depicts ants crawling over crucifixes.

‘Most of the people protesting the video didn’t actually see the exhibition,’ said Jeffrey Hoone, executive director of the Museum and Arts Center, which runs Light Work. ‘I think it was quite an overreaction. Most people just heard it criticized Catholicism and felt that was enough to censor the work.’

In an article published by The Washington Post on Jan. 19, Smithsonian secretary G. Wayne Clough said he stood by the decision to pull the video but admitted the decision might have been made a little too quickly.

‘We had to act rather quickly because of the world we live in of quick news cycles,’ Clough said in the article. ‘But looking back, sure, I wish I had taken more time. We have a lot of friends who felt left out. We needed to spend more time letting our friends know where this was going. I regret that.’

Clough said in the article that he never felt the Smithsonian was under siege or that the criticism carried over to the entire institution.

The late artist David Wojnarowicz crafted the film to symbolically depict the plight of people living with AIDS after the AIDS-related death of his close friend, photographer Peter Hujar.

Light Work, located in Watson Hall’s Robert B. Menschel Media Center, began screening the roughly 13-minute-long video on Dec. 10 and will continue to show it until Feb. 13, the date it was scheduled to run until at the National Portrait Gallery. 

‘Shortly after the video was removed from the exhibition, organizations around the country decided to protest and advocate for free speech,’ Hoone said. He said advocating free speech was why Light Work got involved with the protest.’

‘We’re an organization that supports artists and their freedom, and we wanted to show some solidarity with the protesters,’ he said.

Because the screening began just days before Winter Break, most students have not seen the film at Light Work, but plans are in the works to have a public discussion on campus, Hoone said. He said Light Work representatives have been talking with Tiffany Steinwert, dean of Hendricks Chapel, to coordinate a forum on the film.

Light Work teamed up for a special showing with local ArtRage Gallery to show the film on Dec. 14, a separate screening outside of the Light Work location, where it is currently being shown. Hoone said it was the snowiest night of the year, but about 25 people still showed up.

‘This is a serious issue of censorship and freedom of speech,’ Hoone said. ‘It’s an important issue, and we’d love to give students and the community a chance to talk about it.’

Other organizations that are screening the video include The New Museum in Manhattan, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, among others. 

‘We cannot afford to take hard-won civil liberties for granted and need to remain vigilant and protect artistic freedom,’ said Lisa Phillips, director of The New Museum, in an e-mail. She called the film ‘a poetic meditation on man, life, death, faith and suffering.’

ertocci@syr.edu

Published on January 18, 2011 at 12:00 pm