Shocking, simply shocking. I did not expect this from the RoP: Gallery attacked over ‘insulting’ artworks
A gallery showing inflammatory images of veiled Muslims, including a bare-breasted woman partially clad in a burqa, is under police surveillance after being attacked earlier this week.
Windows and doors at the SaLon Gallery in west London were smashed after a series of abusive, anonymous phone calls and angry protests about the images from Muslims. The gallery has complained to police.
The solo exhibition of paintings by Sarah Maple includes a veiled woman holding a pig, which is interpreted as a flagrant disregard of the Islamic ban on eating pork. The show – entitled “This Artist Blows” – also includes two self-portraits: one of Maple wearing a headscarf has an image of Kate Moss’s naked breast attached to it; another shows Maple in a T-shirt bearing the slogan “I love jihad”. In another, a veiled Muslim woman wears a badge that says “I love orgasms”.
I mentioned the artwork back on October 11th, writing “But the typical Muslim way of protesting has a way of turning ugly” in response to this
Already, Mokhtar Badri, the vice-president of the Muslim Association of Britain, tells Mandrake that his organisation plans to visit the SaLon Gallery, in Notting Hill, west London, to demand that it remove Maple’s painting when it exhibits it next week.
“Although we condemn violence, Muslims have a right to express their disgust at this work,†he tells me. “An artist has the right to free speech and to express him or herself, but people also have the right to protest. She clearly wants to provoke a strong reaction from Muslims and that is what she will get.â€
I guess his organisation made their presense known. And I hope Sarah Maple is really considering hiring a bodyguard, lest she become one more victim of the Religion of Peace.
