SAN ANTONIO -- Curators of a new landmark art exhibit accused City of San Antonio officials of censorship.
- City officials described video as "obscene"
- Curators claim censorship is discriminatory against LGBTQIA
One day before the opening reception of XicanX: New Visions on February 13, city staffers counseled by city attorneys, told co-curators Suzy Gonzalez and Michael Menchanca one of their selected videos for the national exhibit was too much for public consumption.
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At the most recent Centro de Artes Committee meeting February 19, Gonzalez and Menchaca made a formal protest against San Antonio city officials. The committee is an arm of the San Antonio Arts Commission.
Together, the pair read their complaint aloud to the committee.
“The City of San Antonio’s censorship violates civil rights, freedom of speech and expression as granted by the U.S. Constitution,” read Gonzalez.
Gonzalez and Menchaca are partner-artists, known as Dos Metizx. The creative team invited more than 30 artists from all over the U.S. and other countries to contribute their contemporary works for the four-and-a-half month-long exhibit.
The allegation made by Dos Metizx claims the city’s decision to pull the video in question is discriminatory against the LGBTQIA community. The video’s creator, Xandra Ibarra, is a feminist activist artist who delves into thought-provoking issues on immigration, race, gender, sex and people within the queer community.
The Oakland, California artist is acclaimed nationally, internationally, and is recognized in various academic journals.
The first two minutes of the Ibarra video named “Spictacle II La Tortillera” shows the artist dancing, dressed in a Mexican flag-colored outfit that looks similar to a waitress or housewife in a past generation might wear. Moments into the four-minute clip, frustration is evident on the actor’s face. The artist then pulls out a corn tortilla from her dress. She conveys greater frustration through facial expression and body language, in what could be perceived as the drudge of being a housewife or female restaurant worker to a domineering male partner or husband. An overly-deliberate sexual dance follows, leading into a strip tease.
The next scene depicts simulated male masturbation.
While city officials refuse to say exactly why the video was pulled, the simulated masturbation could be the only section of the video that might disturb certain audiences.
Centro de Artes gallery is taxpayer funded public venue.
“I spoke with the curators and said ‘this is not appropriate and we’re going to have to take it out,’” said San Antonio Cultural Arts Director, Debbie Racca-Sittre.
In a sit-down interview city official Racca-Sittre was asked the following question:
“What was your take on the video?”
Racca-Sittre responded: “You know, I’m not really gonna comment about the video. It had some components of it that we wanted to make sure that the community was something that needed to be included.”
Curators argue the city’s decision is subjective.
“There’s some art work that I like, some the I don’t like. That goes for everyone,” said Gonzalez, “There’s some things that might offend me personally. But I’m not going to say this needs to be erased from art history.
First amendment protections are broad, yet not boundless. Obscenity is not protected by the First Amendment. Curators claim the city told them the video was considered “obscene.”
Menchaca added that city officials did not set ground rules on what could be shown at the gallery.
“No. Not at all,” he said.
City officials said they plan to review their own decision.
Representative for the Arts Commission will meet in an emergency meeting to discuss this issue at an emergency meeting next Tuesday.
The National Coalition Against Censorship joined the Dos Metizx/Xandra Ibarra protest against San Antonio city officials. The group sent a letter to Mayor Ron Nirenberg and the City of San Antonio.
Dos Metizx opened an online petition.