In the European Parliament there is a return to arguing on gender issues. Last week, the Eurochamber voted to condemn the “worrying antigen rhetoric” of the Italian government, together with the Polish and Hungarian ones. This time, the controversy is more modest and does not even enter the hemicycle. The bone of contention are some shots by Swedish photographer Elisabeth Ohlson, which depict biblical scenes in an LGBTQ+ sauce and will be exhibited at the Eurochamber. “The left brings to the European Parliament an exhibition in which it represents Jesus Christ surrounded by apostles dressed as sadomasochistic slaves”, denounces the MEP of the Lega Maria Veronica Rossi. The Swedish artist’s installation will be visible in some rooms and corridors of the European Parliament from 2 to 5 May. An initiative organized by MP Malin Björk, who sits on the benches of The Left, to celebrate the Swedish presidency of the Council of the European Union.
«Far from cultural study, this appears as a gratuitous provocation: why offend and disrespect?», insists Rossi. According to the Northern League MEP, “it is entirely legitimate to address issues of all kinds in institutional settings, but exploiting a religion is an intolerable lack of respect for millions of faithful throughout Europe”. Ohlson’s artistic career took a turn in 1998, just as she exhibited for the first time Ecce Homo, his Jesus in an Lgbtq+ key, inside a Swedish cathedral. The shots soon went around the world and the former MEP Marianna Eriksson also tried to take them to the corridors of the European Parliament. However, the initiative was stopped by the Eurochamber quaestors, who judged the images too offensive. This time around, the proposal to bring Ohlson’s photos to Brussels seems to have met with less outrage. And, barring twists and turns, the shots could finally land in the corridors of the European Parliament.
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