Friday, 16 January 2009

Vaclav Klaus, the new EU President...

...and noted global warming sceptic is putting his stamp on his presidency via the provocative and appropriately named sculpture "Entropa".
Bulgaria is depicted as one giant toilet, Denmark by Lego cubes evoking the Mohammed caricatures that outraged some in the Muslim world, France is permanently on strike and Spain's construction industry has concreted the entire country. Britain has disappeared from the European community altogether.
When they arrive at work, diplomats will be exposed to a satirical portrayal of Poland's Roman Catholic Church and an image of the Netherlands, submerged in seawater, with just minarets still visible. Italy is represented by a display illustrating its "autoerotic" obsession with soccer.
While the EU officials fume, the installation has met with widespread approval.
The work was commissioned by the Czech Republic to mark the start of its EU presidency, and it took three trucks to transport it from Prague to the Justus Lipsius building in Brussels, where the EU's governments meet.
Mounting some form of display is customary when taking on the rotating EU presidency, but normally they are uncontroversial "He is OUR president," said sculptor Cerny "we elected him, so let's show him off to the world with joy in our hearts...he's a great guy!"
Although worried that they might have gone too far for some tastes, the Czechs defend their exhibit, perhaps aware that censoring it would provoke more criticism than anything in it...more here...

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