Polixeni Papapetrou, photographs
Date: 2007
Region: Australia
Subject: Nudity Political/Economic/Social Opinion
Medium: Photography
Artist: Polixeni Papapetrou
Confronting Bodies: Gosford City Council; Gosford Regional Art Gallery
Dates of Action: January 2007
Location: Sydney, Australia
Description of Artwork: The photos were taken by artist Polixeni Papapetrou of her seven-year-old daughter in suggestive poses, wearing just her grandmother's jewelry. They were part of a traveling exhibition rejected by the Newcastle Regional Art Gallery.
The Incident: Adult nudity was one thing, but child nudity was "a more sensitive issue", said the gallery's assistant director, Rodney Cones-Browne. Police visited Gosford Regional Art Gallery after complaints about three of the 58 photographs in the Australian Centre for Photography exhibition, "Changeling: Childhood and the Uncanny".
Results of Incident: Gosford City Council will close the controversial art exhibition a week early after police called photographs of a naked seven-year-old girl disturbing and complainants said the images were "child abuse and not art".
Source: The Sydney Morning Herald: http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/off-limits-storm-over-artists-images-of-
