It is heartwarming or enchanting, though it’s
difficult to describe, that a child plays on a fallen Buddha statue in Munich,
Germany. Reading this article, I have
found that gejutsu (art) will become
such powerful tools that make it possible to dismiss a legitimate protest from
Thai people.
I hope that statues such as Shiva or
Vishnu, Jesus or Maria and above all, Muhammad, who is regarded as sacred in
Islam, should be treated as geijutsu in
the same way as this statue.
And I want the German authorities to insist
on art without succumbing to protests.
Since I don’t think any religion is sacred,
this photo makes me simply laugh. Equally,
since I don’t think geijutsu and its
expression is sacred either, the protester is right.
In a word, something that is sacred and
inviolable to a person is an object of religion for some people or freedom of
expression for others.
I think what matters most is Earth and
nature. This makes me detach myself from
such a useless conflict. I don’t think
something made by humans is so important, whatever it may be, religion or geijutsu.
Masatoshi
Takeshita
July
5, 2013
English translation of an excerpt from a
Japanese article: newsclip – July 3, 2013 –
Thais
Protest against Outdoor Display of Fallen Buddhist Statue for the Reason of “Insult
to Buddhism”
[Thailand]
It has been revealed that an overturned Buddha statue is displayed
outdoor in Munich, Germany. On 2nd
tens of Thai Buddhist group members got together in front of the German embassy
in Bangkok, Thailand to submit a written protest to remove the art
installation.
The Buddha statue in question is
approximately 3-meter ocher statue in sitting position. It is displayed at an open-air market with
the statue overturned. Some people take
a memorable photograph with sitting on the statue. The statue is scheduled to be displayed from
June to September. Although Thais living in Munich protested
the German authorities to remove it, citing “The exhibition disrespects
Buddhism,” the German authorities refused to do it for the reason that it was
an “art piece.”
According to the Buddhist group, “We
requested the Thai Ministry of Culture and Ministry of Foreign Affairs to take
appropriate steps but they did not respond to our request. So we have decided to organize a protest.”
Outdoor display of an overturned Buddha
statue in Germany — Thais protest, citing it is “insult to Buddhism”
Photograph:
Dr. Pornchai Pingapong
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