Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2000 19:22:09 -0600 (CST)
Subject: Winnipeg Arts Magazine Newletter


(Yeah, I know, this happened last September, but I'm a busy man....   ;->  )

from
http://www.infoculture.cbc.ca/archives/visart/visart_09161999_bunnyvandalism.htm
l

Dead bunny show is vandalized and decried as blasphemy, but artist says
show will go on

CBC RADIO NEWS

"It was heart-wrenching, taking these little waterlogged carcasses out [of
the river] and just layingthem down."

--artist Diana Thorneycroft


WINNIPEG - Winnipeg artist Diana Thorneycroft says her controversial
exhibition called Monstrance will go ahead today, despite the efforts of a
vandal to destroy it.


An unknown vandal snuck into the St.  Norbert woods near Winnipeg Thursday
and tried to destroy a part of the exhibit that consists of decomposing
rabbit carcasses hanging from trees.

"I sort of expected [the vandalism]," says Thorneycroft, " but when it
actually happened I couldn't believe it because when people actually come
down to see the work the response is 'what's the big fuss?'"

Thorneycroft's exhibit aims to explore issues surrounding death and
putrefaction of physical bodies.
The exhibit also has an indoor component involving 23 toy bunnies whose fur
has been shaved off.



Advance publicity for the exhibition has caused quite a stir in Winnipeg.
Health inspectors were called in.  They gave the show a conditional
go-ahead earlier in the week.

All 12 rabbit carcasses were cut down, several were mutilated and most were
thrown into the La Salle River, where they were found floating near the St.
Norbert Arts and Cultural Centre.

Thorneycroft herself waded chest deep into the river and was able to
salvage all but one of the elaborately decorated rabbit carcasses.

"I had to wander in several locations," she says, "just taking them out one
by one.  It was heart-wrenching, taking these little waterlogged carcasses
out and just laying them down."

Thorneycroft has re-installed the rabbits and a 24-hour security has been
set up to make sure there are no further attempts at sabotage.

Meanwhile, Thorneycroft's exhibition is being labelled blasphemous by the
Roman Catholic community in Winnipeg.

Rosemary Kennedy, a Roman Catholic, says she's upset that Thorneycroft is
using the word "Monstrance" for her exhibit.

Thorneycroft says it's her way of honouring the idea of a monstrance.  But
Kennedy doesn't see it that way.  She says in the Roman Catholic Church, a
monstrance is a holy vessel in which the sacred host is exposed for
adoration.

Kennedy says the use of this term in Thorneycroft's exhibit is an insult to
the Roman Catholic Church.
She's complained to both the St.  Norbert Arts and Cultural Centre and the
Canada Council.

Thorneycroft received a $15,000 dollar grant from the Canada Council for
the exhibit.




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