Silencing the voices of reason, a social, political and archaeological study, examining art censorship
In their intention to engineer a way to censor the Wanjina Watchers in the Whispering Stone sculpture by Benedikt Osváth, the Blue Mountains City Council joined forces with the Arts Law Centre of Australia and successfully manipulated planning laws, using the heritage listing of the ModroGorje house as an excuse.
The conduct of the council staff (Brian Crane, Rodney Bles, Brad Moore, Kylie Fomiatti, and councillors Terri Hamilton, Mark Greenhill, Janet Mays and Daniel Myles), the council documents (obtained under the Freedom of Information Act), showing their corrupt behaviour, the analysis of the councillors’ inflammatory, violence-inciting “debate”, and the submissions with the objectors’ irrational claims, are all detailed in Part 2 of the Among the Hostiles – Meet the Locals document and are not duplicated here.
This document contains some of the expert reports, letters and submissions that were ignored by the Blue Mountains City Council and the Arts Law Centre. Some documents, such as the ModroGorje petition and Wanjina Watchers feedback book, are left out for now, to protect the local supporters.
The most tragic thing in the Wanjina Watchers drama was the stubborn refusal of the objectors and the accusers to consider the core of this matter – the source and the intention driving the ModroGorje project. Karen Abidi, a Melbourne lawyer, outlined the core of the matter in her article in The Fortnightly Review of IP & Media Law, of July 2010…