This is the 'controversial’ art piece by Melbourne Resistance member Azlan McLennan that was confiscated by Footscray police from a billboard belonging to the Trocadero Art Space gallery in January in a blatant act of political censorship. The burnt Australian flag was snatched in a surprise police raid despite the fact that “defacing” the flag is not a federal offence. Melbourne Resistance organiser Brianna Pike said: “It is important that artists like McLennan refuse to be intimidated and silenced in this current climate of fear, where freedom of expression is becoming a casualty of the 'war on terror’ and artists are being censored by police.” Azlan told the Sydney Morning Herald that the seizure proves the point of his artwork: “It’s a sign of the further decay of our so-called democracy.”

From Green Left Weekly, February 8, 2006.
Visit the Green Left Weekly home page.

Tools

• Bookmark This Page
• Print This Page