Manifeste des Pr?sum?s coupables

Auteur

responsables d'institutions, curateurs, ?diteurs, critiques

Destinataire

Heads of art institutions, curators, publishers, artists, critics

Description

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MANIFESTE DES PRESUMES COUPABLES

Nous sommes profond?ment surpris et choqu?s par l?annonce du renvoi devant le Tribunal correctionnel de Bordeaux de Marie-Laure Bernadac, Henry-Claude Cousseau et St?phanie Moisdon, poursuivis depuis 2000 dans le cadre de l?exposition Pr?sum?s Innocents (au CAPC Mus?e d?art contemporain de Bordeaux) alors que le Procureur de la R?publique a requis un non-lieu en mars 2008 .
Au vu de la liste des pi?ces incrimin?es ( Elke Krystufek, Gary Gross, Ines van Lamsweerde, Cindy Sherman, Nan Goldin, Ugo Rondinone, Marl?ne Dumas, Paul McCarthy , Carsten H?ller, Robert Mapplethorpe, Eric Fischl ,Mike Kelley, Matt Collishaw, Christian Boltanski ,Cameron Jamie, Joseph Bourban, Wolfgang Tillmans), il s?av?re que nous avons maintes fois montr? ou reproduit ces m?mes ?uvres ou des productions identiques, et que dans le cadre de notre profession nous entendons l?gitimement pouvoir continuer de le faire.
Ces poursuites sont fond?es sur une seule hypoth?se : ces ?uvres auraient pu, comme le souligne le r?quisitoire, ?tre vues par des mineurs, ceci malgr? tous les dispositifs d?avertissement soigneusement mis en place.
Faudra-t-il donc d?sormais priver notre jeunesse d?un acc?s ? la culture contemporaine, alors m?me que la pr?sence d?un mineur dans une exposition est g?n?ralement encadr?e par ses parents ou des professionnels de l?enseignement ? Qui d?cidera alors de ces mesures de contr?le et de la limite du montrable ?
Faut-il consid?rer que les images de l?art sont dangereuses ou plus dangereuses que celles qui circulent librement dans la presse et les m?dias ?
Ce proc?s, unique en France, est une atteinte ? la cr?ation contemporaine. Il touche plus fondamentalement nos fonctions, nos responsabilit?s, nos droits et nos libert?s. La disproportion et le co?t de l?appareil judiciaire en regard de l?absence de d?lit, ainsi que l?instrumentalisation de l?enfance op?r?e par une association suppos?e la prot?ger, sont autant de signes d?une d?rive qui nous inqui?te, que nous estimons indigne de la France et de sa politique culturelle.

Nous, responsables d'institutions de l'art et de structures d?expositions, diffuseurs, ?diteurs, artistes, intellectuels sommes solidaires de nos coll?gues mis en examen, et demandons en cons?quence ? ?tre pareillement jug?s.



MANIFESTO OF THOSE PRESUMED GUILTY

We are deeply surprised and shocked by the announcement that Henry-Claude Cousseau, Marie-Laure Bernadac and St?phanie Moisdon are to re-appear before the magistrate?s court of Bordeaux. They have been prosecuted since 2000 in connection with the exhibition Pr?sum?s Innocents (at the CAPC Mus?e d?art contemporain de Bordeaux), even if the Public Prosecutor requested a non-lieu in March 2008.
In view of the list of works incriminated (by Elke Krystufek, Gary Gross, Ines van Lamsweerde, Cindy Sherman, Nan Goldin, Ugo Rondinone, Marl?ne Dumas, Paul McCarthy, Carsten H?ller, Robert Mapplethorpe, Eric Fischl, Mike Kelley, Matt Collishaw, Christian Boltanski, Cameron Jamie, Joseph Bourban, and Wolfgang Tillmans), the fact is that we have on many occasions shown and reproduced these same works or identical pieces, and that in the context of our profession we have every intention of continuing to do so in all legality.
This legal action is based on a single hypothesis: that these works might, as emphasized by the indictment, have been seen by minors, and this in spite of all the warning arrangements carefully displayed.
So will it henceforth be necessary to deprive our young people of access to contemporary culture, even when young people visiting exhibitions are usually supervised by their parents or teachers? Who will duly take decisions involving these measures controlling and limiting what can and cannot be shown?
Are art images to be regarded as dangerous, or more dangerous than those freely circulating in the press and media?
This trial, unique in France, is an attack on contemporary creative work. In a more fundamental way, it affects our functions, our responsibilities, our rights and our freedoms. The disproportion and the cost of the legal machinery in the absence of any offence, as well as the exploitation of childhood resorted to by an association supposed to protect young persons, are signs that things are headed in a direction which worries us, and which we regard as unworthy of France and its cultural policy.

As heads of art institutions and exhibition venues, distributors, publishers, artists and intellectuals, we are solidly behind our colleagues now on trial, and we ask to be similarly tried as a result.

La pétition, est clôturée.