http://au.news.yahoo.com/040206/21/nlk7.html
Friday February 6, 03:05 PM
Choir accuses Govt of censorship
A women's choir says the Federal Government has censored its performance at
Parliament House in Canberra.
The choir says they will now be forced to hum some of the song lyrics.
The singers performed in the foyer of the Parliament this afternoon as part
of the National Multicultural Festival.
But parliamentary officials banned the group from performing two songs about
the Iraq war and any other songs about "personal and political freedoms".
One of the women, Glenda Cloughley, says the group respects the dignity of
the Parliament and decided to hum the "banned" lyrics.
"We are absolutely in favour of democracy, it is always a noble and fragile
thing and artists are often the people whose voices are first suppressed
when there is political repression about," she said.
Gallery stoush
Meanwhile, the National Gallery of Victoria has defended its right to hang a
political painting in the Ian Potter Gallery.
The work makes fun of Prime Minister John Howard and Australia's
relationship with the United States.
The Victorian Opposition is calling for the piece to be removed, claiming
the painting is a crude political statement.
Gallery director Gerard Vaughan says the painting is not going anywhere.
"The National Gallery is a publicly funded organisation and we are not
political, but we do defend our right to display work which expresses the
personal political views of contemporary artists," he said.
"In other words we're presenting the artist's views on current political and
social issues, but not our views."
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