An art installation has been forcibly removed from a park in Essex after a group of Conservative councillors threatened to censor the piece.
Art charity the Old Waterworks said it was shocked, dismayed and disappointed when artist Gabriella Hirsts An English Garden had to be taken down from Gunners Park in Shoeburyness at the end of June, despite the piece meditating on the UKs colonial and nuclear history scheduled to be in situ until 31 August.
According to statements they released on Instagram earlier this week,Ms Hirst and the art commissioners were issued a 48-hour ultimatum to remove the work before the council would intervene to censor one of the plaques discussing the harm of the nuclear experiments on Australias indigenous community.
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A letter sent by Conservative councillor James Moyies on behalf of Southends Conservative group of councillors, called the work a direct far left wing attack on our History, our People and our Democratically Elected Government.
The artwork was comprised of flowerbeds planted with the Atom Bomb rose variety and Cliffs of Dover irises and accompanied by three benches, with one describing the development of the UKs first atomic bomb in the early 1950s, which was subsequently tested off the northwest coast of Australia.
Arts organisation Metal said: Our decision was taken after being subjected to intense pressure over the previous 48 hours from the local ward Councillors who issued us with a demand to remove the work.
The group added the demand would alter the text contained in the plaque under supervision [] shifting the works intentions and putting words into the artists mouth.
The councillors took issue with a plaque included in the work, which critically reflected upon Britains nuclear history and colonial legacy, Ms Hirst wrote.
In a post expressing her disappointment, Ms Hirst added: What remains of An English Garden is a series of empty garden beds.
Ceri McDade, the Chair of BNTVA, The Charity for Nuclear Veterans supporting victims of nuclear development and warfare, told i the removal ofAn English Garden is an insult to our British nuclear test veterans.
She said: These people, including indigenous peoples who have suffered horrendous health effects and been displaced from their lands due to this testing, have been misunderstood for decades regarding the generational impact of these radioactive bombsand radiation experimentation on British personnelduringthe 1950s and 1960s.
I fail to see how MrMoyiescould choose todissect every line of the plaquewith its historical factsof early British nuclear testingand effectivelyairbrush the unfortunatebackground to Britains nuclear deterrent.
Mr Moyies told The Art Newspaperthat the plaque on the bench was offensive and inappropriate in a council-owned site, adding that the situation was amicably resolved.
Cllr Carole Mulroney, Liberal Democrat Group Leader & Councillor for Leigh WardSouthend-on-Sea Borough Council disputed the councillors claims, telling i the installation was on privately leased land.
Ms Mulroney said: I understand the rationale for the decision taken by Metal they should not have been placed in that position in the first place.
The Councils Joint Administration, of which I am part, does not in any way condone censorship or support the approach taken by the ward councillors concerned regarding the artwork, which was on privately leased land.
I have offered to meet the organisation to discuss the matter further.
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