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Status: Closed — this petition is no longer accepting signatures.

Don\'t censor or prosecute Starling Vendetta!!

Don\'t censor or prosecute Starling Vendetta!!

Closed — 1,010 supporters Verified

Final supporters

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+1,000 more
Started by Anonymous 18 years, 9 months ago
We the undersigned are against the threat to prosecute Starling Vendetta Boutique for their window installation by artist Kate Montgomery. The story so far...... Police have threatened a Newport fashion boutique with prosecution for showing this in their window: Ridiculous, we think you\'ll agree. The clued-up police cited a \"section 4, or is it section 5\" offence to get the vintage handmade fashion store to censor the sinful work - by putting a fig leaf across the big man\'s bits! The council haven\'t helped by insisting that Starling Vendetta, owned and run by locals Flick Sawkins and Angela Harker, toe the police line and disfigure the bold work by Kate Montgomery. We think that a fun installation by a local talent is the least of Newport\'s worries. The censorship of it, though, may well be a worry for all of us..... Do we want local entrepeneurs, eager to show their run-down City in a confident and colourful light, threatened with the heavy hand of the law for daring to be different Do we want this to set a precedent for the rest of the UK Do we want a return to a Mary Whitehouse World, fearful of anything that may upset the \'Moral Minority\' Or do we want our city centres to be places that art can thrive, that ideas can abound, that playful needn\'t mean pornographic Do we want some semblance of civil liberty saved in a country that seems to want rid of them --- SIGN THIS PETITION to show support for Starling Vendetta as they face possible court action for bringing a little culture to an anonymous cityscape. SIGN THIS PETITION to show the police, our councils, that you are against the defamation of an artists work by the threat of prosecution. SIGN THIS PETITION to show Newport Council that censoring lifelike work, while Liverpool becomes European Capital of Culture 2008 with Anthony Gormley\'s far more explicit \"Another Place\" on public display as it\'s centrepiece, is just plain ignorance!

Updates

Reached 1,000 supporters

November 17, 2011

November 16, 2007

One hundred people have now joined this effort to protect the display at our boutique. Seeing this level of engagement reminds me that our community genuinely values the freedom of local artists to express themselves without fear of heavy-handed intervention.

Reached 100 supporters

November 14, 2007

6 Comments

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Chloe Medina
18 years ago Featured

So sick of people getting offended by everything these days. Let the ladies run their business.

D
Dave Schwartz
18 years ago Featured

Absolute madness. Since when is window art a crime? Newport has bigger problems than a shop window display.

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Jason Tate
18 years ago Featured

THEY SHOULD BE ENCOURAGING LOCAL TALENT NOT THREATENING PEOPLE. ABSOLUTE JOKE.

M
Mark Richards
18 years ago Featured

Get a grip. It is just art. Leave them alone.

F
Fiona Das
18 years ago Featured

Ridiculous waste of police time. Keep the high street interesting instead of boring and grey.

S
Sarah Lambert
18 years ago Featured

total nonsense. let the shop keep the art up. censorship of local artists is pathetic.

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