Homoerotic Art in Warsaw

June 05, 2010

Art should entertain, stimulate and, at best, also provoke. But what hardly anyone shocks in Germany, and especially here in Berlin, outrages self-proclaimed upholders of moral standards in other countries, the most recent example being the exhibition "Homo Ars Erotica" at Warsaw's National Museum. Homoerotic works of art from ancient times to today will be shown there from June 11 to September 05, 2010. There had been a fierce argument in the preparation to the exhibition as the majority of people in Catholic Poland considers homosexuality to be immoral and unnatural. Stanislaw Pieta, Member of the nationalist opposition party Law and Justice (PiS), accuses the director of the Warsaw National Museum that he would turn the temple of art to a toilet, and asked why art about necrophilia or pedophilia won't also be shown there. Yes, why not? After all, any infant is glad for sexual affection from adults, and dead bodies want to have fun, too. But no, unfortunately there is a small difference: in contrast to homosexuals and certainly most heterosexuals, children or dead bodies will never give their approval to sexual acts. When will people like Stanislaw Pieta understand that? The director of the museum, Piotr Piotrowski, hopes that the exhibition helps to start a debate about the situation of sexual minorities in post-communist Eastern Europe. He considers the museum not as a "dogmatic temple for religious people", but as an "Agora" where controversial topics can be publicly discussed. But instead of promoting more tolerance and acceptance for the diversity of life and love, some people demand the director to resign. Let us hope that the exhibition will be a success and that Poland will finally arrive in the 21st century!

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