A controversial statue called “McJesus”, made by Finnish artist Jani Leinonen, has caused uproar and violent demostrations in Haifa, Israel. The statue has been part of “Sacred Goods”, an exhibition about consumerism. Bizarrely, the statue was not supposed to be part of the exhibition, in the first place. Leinonen had asked the museum to remove his sculpture in September, because he had joined the BDS movement. (1, 2) Leinonen told to The Jerusalem Post:
“I joined the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, that upholds the simple principle that Palestinians are entitled to the same rights as the rest of humanity. Israel overtly uses culture as a form of propaganda to whitewash or justify its regime of occupation, settler-colonialism and apartheid over the Palestinian people. Therefore I do not wish to be part of this exhibition and I asked the museum to take my artwork off the exhibition.” (1)
In spite of Leinonen’s request, the statue remained as part of the exhibition. When Leinonen learned about the demonstrations on Saturday, he sent another message to the curator of the exhibition and demanded that his statue should be removed instantly. However, the spokeswoman of the museum said that the sculpture has been on loan from a Finnish gallery since August 2018 and “the museum has never received a request from the gallery to remove the sculpture.” The spokeswoman was unsure whether the curator of the museum had received the request from the artist. She said:
“The frequency of such events connected with BDS activists that seek to prevent art exhibitions in Israel has arisen often over the past few years and the museum has to handle many cases of this kind. The Haifa Museum of Art works with dedication against attempts such as these so that Israelis who appreciate art will will continue to have access to it.” (1)
Following the protests, Director-General of the museum, Nissim Tal, agreed to post a warning at the entrance about the possibly offensive content. (1) However, the proposed solution did not satisfy Christian leaders who asked Haifa district court to order the museum and municipality to remove “McJesus” and “Ken Jesus Christ” from the public display. Also Israel’s culture minister Miri Regev has sent a letter to the director of the museum protesting the exhibition after she received complaints from many members of the Christian community. (2)
References:
1)”BDS threatens to take down Haifa’s Big Mac sculpture” The Jerusalem Post 13.1.2019
https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/BDS-threatens-to-take-down-Haifas-Big-Mac-sculpture-577248
2) “Finnish artist joins calls for Haifa museum to remove his ‘McJesus’ statue” i24news 14.1.2019
IDIS Observer 