Michael Dickinson
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- For the horse race trainer, see Michael W. Dickinson
| Michael Dickinson | |
 Michael Dickinson |
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| Born | 1950 Durham, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Field | Collage |
| Movement | Stuckism |
| Works | Tyrant's Pants, Best in Show, Good Boy |
Michael Dickinson (born 1950) is an English artist living in Turkey, who works with political and satirical collages. He faces prosecution in Turkey for the display of his work. He is a member of the Stuckist movement.
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[edit] Life and work
Michael Dickinson was born in Durham, England, and spend most of his early years in Kuwait, where his father was an employee of the Kuwait Oil Company and where he attended the Anglo-American School.[1] He later attended Fyling Hall school in Yorkshire. He lives and works as an English teacher in Istanbul. He is the founder of the Istanbul branch of the Stuckist art movement,[2] and also a writer, playwright and actor.
[edit] Collage banned by Tripod
In May 2005, Dickinson's web site, "The Carnival of Chaos", was blanked and he was informed by the host Tripod (a member of the Lycos group), "You are no longer an authorized member of Tripod. You have been removed because your web site violated our Terms of Service." This occurred after he had posted a collage, Tyrant's Pants, showing President Bush in his underpants with a cruise missile coming out of his rear and a swastika on his right buttock.
The collage was a response to a photo which had appeared with the headline "Tyrant's in his pants" on the front page of the British tabloid newspaper The Sun, showing captive Saddam Hussein in underpants.[3]
[edit] Turkish court case
In June 2006, Istanbul police removed one of his collages from a show in the city organised by the Global Peace and Justice Coalition.[1] Dickinson states that he hung his work in the show unknown to the organisers.[4] The collage showed the Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan as a dog being presented with a rosette by President Bush in a pet show.[1] He was informed by Turkish authorities that he would be prosecuted for "insulting the Prime Minister's dignity"; the charge carries a sentence of one to three years.[5]
The Times said: "The case could greatly embarrass Turkey and Britain, for it raises questions about Turkey’s human rights record as it seeks EU membership, with Tony Blair’s backing."[1] Charles Thomson, co-founder of the Stuckist movement, wrote to British Prime Minister Tony Blair asking for his intervention:[6] "It is intolerable that a country applying for EU membership should censor freedom of political comment in this way. I trust you will communicate your strongest condemnation and ask for this case to be abandoned immediately. I ask for your assurance that you will oppose Turkish EU membership in the strongest terms, until Turkey adopts the attitudes of the civilised world towards human rights."[7] Dickinson said: "It’s such an Alice in Wonderland feeling. The law is so absurd ... This law exists in Turkey about insulting 'Turkishness' or the State. You’re not allowed to state your opinion."[1]
In September 2006, Dickinson attended the trial of Erkan Kara, organiser of the Global Peace and Justice Coalition show, charged with insulting behaviour for exhibiting Dickinson's work. The prosecutor described Dickinson as "ill-intentioned", but declined to bring a case because of "lack of evidence".[4] Hasan Gungor of the Istanbul-based group, Initiative for Freedom of Speech, attributed this to fear of international news, when the European Union has concerns over freedom of speech in Turkey.[4]
Members of Global Peace and Justic coalition remonstrated with Dickinson for distracting attention from their anti-Iraq War cause, and he then held up another collage showing Erdogan as a dog with a lead of the stars and stripes; he was arrested and charged with insulting the Turkish prime minister's dignity[4] with a trial date in October 2007.[8] He was then held for ten days, three in prison and seven in the Detention Centre for Foreigners.[9] During his transfer between facilities, he attempted to escape, but was shot at by a policeman, who recaptured him.[10]
In July 2007, Dickinson's collages were displayed at the A Gallery, London, in the Stuckist show I Won't Have Sex with You as long as We're Married.[11]
[edit] See also
- Article 301 (Turkish penal code)
- Censorship in Turkey
- Human rights in Turkey
- Human rights in Europe
- International Freedom of Expression Exchange
- List of prosecuted Turkish writers
- Orhan Pamuk
- Culture of Turkey
- Stuckism
- Stuckist demonstrations
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ a b c d e Alberge, Dalya and Erdem, Suna (2006). Satire that could land British artist in a Turkish jail, The Times, 17 June 2006. Retrieved 17 August 2007.
- ^ "Stuckist groups", stuckism.com. Retrieved 4 April 2008.
- ^ "The Carnival of Chaos banned", stuckism.com. Retrieved 12 June 2006.
- ^ a b c d Birch, Nicholas. "Briton charged over 'insult' to Turkish PM", The Guardian, 13 September 2006. Retrieved 2 September 2007.
- ^ "Blair asked to help artist facing jail" The Sunday Times, 11 June 2006. Retrieved 12 June 2006.
- ^ "Erdoğan'ı kızdıran kolaj için Blair devreye girdi" Vatan (in Turkish) online, 12 June 2006. Retrieved 12 June 2006.
- ^ "Blair asked to intervene as Stuckist artist faces 3 years jail in Turkey for this collage" stuckism.com. Retrieved 12 June 2006
- ^ Duff, Oliver. "Stuck in legal limbo", The Independent, 15 May 2007. Retrieved 2 September 2007.
- ^ Dickinson, Michael. "A prison diary: Watching the guards", counterpunch.org, 4 November 2006. Retrieved 2 September 2007.
- ^ Dickinson, Michael. "Extract from a diary in Turkish police custody: My escape attempt in prison transfer", counterpunch.org, 15 September 2006. Retrieved 2 September 2007.
- ^ "I won't have sex with you as long as we're married", stuckism.com. Retrieved 2 September 2007. Photos of the collages in the A Gallery show.
[edit] External links
- Michael Dickinson official web site
- Michael Dickinson on Stuckism web site
- interview with Michael Dickinson in MungBeing Magazine
- Michael Dickinson writes on Turkey "dog case"
- Video interview with Dickinson ("Keeping Turkey out of the EU")
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