The Office of the Ombudsman has cleared artist Mideo Cruz and 10 officials of the Cultural Center of the Philippines of administrative and criminal complaints over a controversial exhibit in 2011.
The exhibit, which was even the subject of a Senate hearing, was criticized for including Cruz’s “Politeismo”, a wall collage which “juxtaposed religious images with clowns, Mickey Mouse ears, and a bright red penis.“
According to a press statement from the Office of the Ombudsman, administrative complaints against CCP Board of Trustees Emily Abrera, Raul Sunico, Florangel Rosario-Braid, Jaime Laya, Isabel Caro Wilson, Zenaida Tantoco, Maria Cristina Turalba, Antonio Yap, Carolyn Espiritu, and CCP Visual Arts and Museum Division Head Karen Ocampo Flores have been dismissed.
The Ombudsman said the CCP officials had not been legally required to prevent supposedly “obscene” art like Cruz’s from being exhibited, which was not obscene anyway.
It said Cruz’s work was “intended primarily for people interested in the art, and it was placed at the far end of the gallery with an exhibit advisory that some artworks may not be fit for viewing by minors.”
The Ombudsman said “that otherwise censoring offensive artworks is a form of prior restraint generally prohibited by the Constitution.”
