Grupo de Gago Banner
- Artist/Author/Producer: Grupo de Gago
- Confronting Bodies: L.A. city officials and employees
- Dates of action: 1993
- Location: Los Angeles, California
- Description of the Art Work
- Five Filipino artist, who call themselves Grupo de Gago, created a
twelve-foot banner to announce the annual Festival of Philippine Arts &
Culture, entitled "Ugat Pilipino: Filipino Roots." The work, which
includes a dog roasting on a spit labeled "This is America" with a
swastika for a handle, a monkey, a rosary, a Star of David, and the
festival sponsors' names, was hung in the Los Angeles City Hall rotunda
near several other paintings and sculptures, some of which depict images
of female genitalia.
- Description of incident
- Three days following the opening of the exhibit, city cultural affairs
head Adolfo Nodal began receiving complaints from building employees
claiming the banner was racist, promoted stereotypes of Filipinos as
dog-eaters and monkeys, and displayed unnecessary cruelty to animals.
Nodal had the banner removed, claiming it was not artwork but rather an
informational sign promoting an event.
- Results of incident
- In an statement the artists claimed the banner was political expression,
and as a result, Nodal agreed to reinstall the banner, organized a public
forum to discuss the controversy, and requested that the festival
committee be present at the exhibit at all times to "insure informed
dialogue between artist, the committee and the public." The reinstalled
banner was modified by the artists during the controversy, and the
roasting dog was replaced with a smiling dog leaping into a swimming
pool, as a man in the background barbecues on a grill. Three works in
the exhibit with female genitalia were replaced with cartoon characters.
Source: Artistic Freedom Under Attack 1994
