Sunday 5 October 2008

Exploiting Children for Art - Part 2

Earlier I posted a blog about furore caused in Australia over an artist who publicly displayed naked pictures of a 12 year old.  The furore erupted when the police closed his exhibition and considered laying charges.  Many prominent figures in the art and entertainment communities were horrified that he wasn't being extended "artistic licence".  Well, it turns out that the artist in question actually visited a primary school, with the permission of the school's Head, in search of models for his art.  It was bad enough when I thought that the artist must have known his young model and had the consent of the child and her parents.  Instead it seems that he found his model when visiting a primary school.  Who knows whether her parents were aware and gave their consent?  One can only hope so but once again I have to say that I can't see any justification whatsoever for the artist's actions.  The Head Teacher protested that he wasn't fully aware of the purpose of the artist's visit so perhaps he can be excused but on the other hand it is a good example of how careful everyone entrusted with children need to be to ensure that they don't expose them to exploitative adults.

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