Disciplinary Action and Freedom of Artistic Expression
- Achilles Emilianides
- Jun 22, 2021
- 13 min read
Updated: Mar 29
I. The case of George Gavriel
A recent incident in Cyprus re-ignited the debate about the limits of artistic freedom. George Gavriel, a director and teacher of art of a secondary education public school, who is also an artist in his leisure time, posted on social media in September 2020 pictures of some of his latest paintings.[1] Some of them have a clear anti-Church theme, with one picture in particular showing a naked Jesus riding a motorcycle and wearing a scarf with the symbols of a well-known Cypriot soccer team, and yet another picturing a dog urinating on the current Archbishop of the Orthodox Church of Cyprus. Another picture takes a political stance, with yet another dog defecating on a statue of former General Georgios Grivas, who was the military leader of guerilla organisation EOKA during Cyprus’s liberation struggle against the British during 1955-59,[2] but who later became a controversial figure when leading a paramilitary organisation, ironically named EOKA II, in the years prior to the military coup against former President of the Republic of Cyprus, Archbishop Makarios, and the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974.[3] Some of the paintings have also been described as sexist and misogynist due to the manner in which the female body was depicted.[4]
The artist defended his work, which he described as ‘anti-systemic art’, an expression reflecting his artistic creativity.[5] However, following a public uproar, and complaints by organized groups, who called for Gavriel’s dismissal, including a letter by the Archbishop himself to the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports and Youth, effectively asking for Gavriel’s dismissal,[6] the Ministry (ie Gavriel’s employer) launched a probe to examine whether the teacher-artist was liable for disciplinary offences. The Ministry noted that the freedom of artistic creation could not justify the insult of public feeling and the messages of the paintings that cultivate a sense of contempt or possibly a climate of intolerance within the student community, when such expression derives from an official in the field of public education.[7]
Many defended Gavriel’s art, or at least his right to be provocative, and accused the Ministry of arbitrarily violating freedom of artistic expression. The debate included announcements by political parties and statements by individual politicians, as well as heated discussion and passionate statements by organized groups or the public at large, either supporting or criticizing the disciplinary action against Gavriel.[8] Many accusers of Gavriel demanded his immediate dismissal or even imprisonment, with some even calling him an antichrist or a left-wing conspirator; on the other hand, many of Gavriel’s defenders labeled anyone who disagreed with Gavriel’s work as racist or fascist.[9] Even the Senate of the leading public university in Cyprus, in a rare public announcement requesting the termination of the disciplinary action against Gavriel, could not avoid the extreme comparison between the case of Gavriel and the cases of Salman Rushdie and Charlie Hebdo.[10] Such comparisons, however, are entirely disproportionate.[11] A fatwa was issued against Salman Rushdie and the publishers of the book, convicting them to death under Islamic law. Calling on all zealous Muslims to execute the death sentence, it forced Rushdie to live in hiding and led to the murder of the Japanese translator of Rushdie’s novel The Satanic Verses, to the wound of the Norwegian publisher of the books, and to 22 deaths in violent protests in India, Pakistan, and Egypt.[12] The violent shooting by two French Muslim brothers in the offices of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo resulted in 12 murders and 11 injured persons.[13] So far there has only been a probe for potential disciplinary offences against Gavriel, with the artist freely holding successful unrestricted exhibitions of his paintings, and appearing in all mainstream media discussing his work.[14]