Irish Museum of Modern Art denies censorship accusations after removing film with gay kiss

The Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA) has denied claims of censorship after suspending screenings of a film by artist and gay rights activist Derek Jarman over a complaint that the film showed two men kissing.

In a statement posted across their social media on July 18, IMMA said they are "dismayed at the current supposition" that they would censor Jarman or any other LGBTQ+ artist. They claimed that the original reporting of the film's cancellation by The Sunday Times on July 13 was "misconstrued in a rush to judgement."

Jarman's The Angelic Conversation was shown on an outdoor screen as part of the Dublin museum’s Living Canvas exhibition. The 1985 experimental arthouse film follows two gay lovers exploring their desires in a series of slow-moving images as actress Judi Dench reads Shakespeare's sonnets.

In January, a member of the public issued a complaint claiming the film was “harmful to my child’s health.”

"Your outdoor screen is displaying close-up footage of topless adults kissing intimately. My five-year-old daughter walks in this space," the complaint read.

After IMMA head of programming Mary Cremin confirmed that the complaint would be reviewed internally, the parent doubled down and threatened to "escalate the matter" to the Government if the film was not removed.

The Angelic Conversation was eventually removed out of “an abundance of caution," according to an IMMA spokesperson. It was the first instance of a film being removed from IMMA's outdoor schedule, sparking debate on social media over perceived censorship of LGBTQ+ art.

In IMMA's July 18 statement, the museum claimed the decision to suspend screenings was over legal considerations of showing a film outdoors.

"When the complaint was raised, towards the end of the film’s two week run, we made the decision to pause the screening of this work to seek clarification on the implication of showing a PG rated film in a public domain to ensure we were not in conflict with any planning or screening legislation for art in a public space," the statement read.

IMMA said that "clarification has been attained" on the issue and that a second screening of The Angelic Conversation was not out of the question.

"[IMMA] would like to assuage the valid disquiet of all our LGBTQ+ community that we shall continue to proudly programme inclusively across our site," the statement read.

Read the full statement from IMMA below:

 

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