A provocative poster showing Mickey Mouse's image blended with a nude woman's body and Nazi symbol swastika has sparked a stir in Poland with people levelling it as a form of violence against the sensitivity.
The giant poster, which went up in June in the western city of Poznan just steps from a synagogue, is an Italian artist's take on what he calls the "horrors" of the American lifestyle and is one piece of artwork in a contemporary art exhibition opening in the autumn. But the reactions show that in Poland, where memories of the suffering inflicted during Nazi rule remain strong, there is little appetite for satirical or artistic uses of images linked to Nazi Germany. "This art provocation is a form of violence against the sensitivity of many people," said Norbert Napieraj, a city council member who asked prosecutors to ban the poster. Prosecutors, however, determined that the poster is art and does not violate the country's laws against glorifying Nazism, the Telegraph reported. The poster has been vandalised several times since it first went up. But gallery director Maria Czarnecka said she won't remove it despite the uproar. "Art should be provocative and controversial," she said, insisting that the poster does not seek to propagate Nazism but instead wants to explore "symbols and how they work." "The Mickey Mouse head and swastika are on the same level — they don't mean anything and they are both part of the globalised world," Ms Czarnecka said. Jewish leaders, who have been outraged at the poster, would disagree, saying the swastika still means something very real to many Poles, Jews and non-Jews alike. Nazi Germany invaded Poland in 1939 and built ghettoes and death camps across the country in which millions were murdered. The country was once home to Europe's largest Jewish community, which numbered close to 3.5 million people before it was nearly wiped out in the Holocaust. Have a nice day. Gina Ferns
