A major figure in contemporary art, both visual artist and choreographer, Jan Fabre was overtaken by the MeToo wave and sentenced on April 29 by the Antwerp Criminal Court to an 18-month suspended prison sentence, in particular for a kiss with the language not consented to a former dancer of his troupe. The gesture was described as“molestation”.
The charges of six of the twelve alleged victims were dismissed by the court. But the artist, who refuted the complaints en bloc, was also found guilty of violence or humiliation against five dancers. He has not yet announced whether he will appeal or not.
In Namur, the municipality, which welcomes since 2015 on the heights of its citadel the giant tortoise of Jan Fabre Searching for Utopiaannounced on May 3 of the “additional measures“on the work to take into account this condemnation
“The maintenance of the work has been confirmed but will be accompanied by several accompanying measures intended to illustrate the City’s disapproval of Mr. Fabre and the serious acts he committed and for which he was condemned by Justice“, she explained in a press release.
Next to this six-ton turtle in bronze, ridden by a figure representing the artist himself, “an informative panel (…) recalling his conviction and his reasons” will be installed soon. But the most remarkable measure, implemented on Thursday, six days after the conviction, consisted in covering the eyes of the character with a black blindfold.
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The piece of fabric will stay in place on this miniature Jan Fabre “for 18 months, the length of his suspended sentence”, the city said. In addition, the sculpture’s night lighting is suspended so that it “is no longer highlighted at night for 18 months as well”.
The Walloon city said it was inspired by a similar initiative by the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium in Brussels, where a set of five monumental panels by Jan Fabre (a ballpoint pen work on the theme of the gaze) is now deprived of spotlights.
“Withdrawing the work would have meant withdrawing the debate that accompanies it, leaving it is participating in the debate“, told AFP Michel Draguet, director of the institution. He pointed out that a panel of “contextualization” had also been installed to explain this absence of light due to the condemnation of the artist.