Slovaks banned from exhibiting in Brussels

Two Slovak artists were banned from exhibiting their paintings in the building of Berlaymont in the centre of Brussels. According to Euro clerks, the pictures by Marek Ormandik and Erik Binder reflect fear, religious motives and negative thinking and are currently politically incorrect. "Although we appreciated the expressiveness and strength of these works, we consider them too heavy for a working environment", states the official wording published on the facebook page of artist Marek Ormandik. The ban comes due to the "very diverse range of cultures, religions and sensitivities" of staff members and external visitors to the Berlaymont. The Brussels officials want to avoid any risk of showing images "which may create controversy or hurt people's sensitivity (more specifically, violence -blood-, or nudity)." The collection of almost 300 artworks will soon start being installed in Brussels, of course excluding the Marek Ormandik's Trest or Punishment and Erik Binder's Ako by nas jedna mater mala or As if we had one mother. According to the curator Eva Trojanová, this is an absurd intervention into a creative activity. In the year 2009, a part of the Entropa artwork by Czech artist David Černý was covered due to alleged political incorrectness directly in the hall of the very same building of the EU Council.