Cate defends nude photos of teenage girls

SYDNEY: Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s cosy affair with the nation’s arts community, in particular Hollywood actress Cate Blanchett, has hit a rocky patch over an exhibition of naked photographs of young girls.

Blanchett and 42 other leading arts figures have signed an open letter critical of Rudd for describing artist Bill Henson’s photographs of naked 12 and 13-year-old children as “revolting”. Police shut down Henson’s exhibition at a Sydney art gallery last week and confiscated 20 of his photographs as part of an investigating into whether charges should be laid.

The police raid sparked a heated debate in Australia over what is art and what is pornography and has seen the arts community, which publicly backed Rudd’s Labour party ahead of its November election victory, turn on the prime minister for supporting censorship in the arts. “The potential prosecution of one of our most respected artists is no way to build a Creative Australia and does untold damage to our cultural reputation,” said the letter.

The letter is signed by Blanchett. Other signatories include Nobel winning writer John Coetzee. “We wish to make absolutely clear that none of us endorses, in any way, the abuse of children,” they said. The arts community called on Rudd to rethink his comments about Henson’s work, but Rudd stood by his criticism.