One of Mimsy's removed artworks. More examples here.

London police block anti-ISIS artworks

Demand for £36,000 to protect 'free speech' exhibition

"Passion for Freedom" is an annual exhibition and arts festival in London which, in the words of its organisers, sets out to ask "three pivotal questions": 

• What is freedom? 

• How easy is it to lose? 

• How hard is it to get back?

The question "How easy is it to lose?" was answered in surreal fashion last week when satirical artworks depicting ISIS-type fighters were removed under pressure from the police.

The artworks show cuddly toy figures from the Sylvanian Families children's collection picnicking, relaxing on a beach and studying in school while other toy figures, dressed in black, brandishing guns and waving an ISIS-style flag lurk in the background. 

A note in the exhibition catalogue, printed before their removal, says:

"Far away, in the land of Sylvania, rabbits, foxes, hedgehogs, mice and all woodland animals have overcome their differences to live in harmonious peace and tranquility. Until now. 

"MICE-IS, a fundamentalist Islamic terror group, are threatening to dominate Sylvania, and annihilate every species that does not submit to their hardline version of sharia law."

The works, by an artist with Syrian and Jewish connections who uses the pseudonym Mimsy, were previously shown at another exhibition in London last May.

The "Passion for Freedom" exhibition, which ended on Saturday, was held at the Mall Galleries in the boulevard leading to Buckingham Palace. 

According to the Telegraph, organisers were contacted by Westminster Police and told that inclusion of Mimsy's work "would lead to extra policing costs which would be passed on to the artist or gallery. Having been presented with a figure of some £36,000 for security, the gallery's board met and decided to remove the work from the exhibition."

According to the Guardian, police are also alleged to have suggested during the discussions that Mimsy's work "isn't real art" – which may go some way to towards explaining their attitude to protecting it.

News of the "Passion for Freedom" affair broke as another controversy was raging over the decision by Warwick University's student union to ban a talk by Maryam Namazie, an ex-Muslim activist (which I discussed in a blog post yesterday). In Namazie's case the union seems to have been fearful that she would offend Muslims and decided to err on the side of caution without giving much thought to the principle at stake.

However, the banning of Mimsy's work by the police (which is what it amounts to) is even more extraordinary, since the pictures attack ISIS, not Islam in general, and protecting freedom of expression is part of the police's job. This is something the state should provide without people being asked to fork out huge sums of money from their own pockets for the privilege.

At a time when the British government is supposedly battling against the spread of ISIS-type ideology it's extraordinary that an artist working towards the same goal has been penalised in this way.

One factor in the background is that government spending cuts are making the police much more cost-conscious. Football clubs have long been expected to pay for policing at matches but more recently the police and local councils have begun extending this to other types of event, including those involving freedom of expression.

In Salford, for example, organisers of a demonstration against the closure of a school were asked to pay £2,500 for "traffic management" during their protest. Similar situations have arisen with a march in London by the Campaign Against Climate Change, the Wrap Up Trident campaign and Million Women Rise.

The latter group, which campaigns about violence against women, was told to hire "certified stewards" from private companies at a cost of £120 a day each, with one steward for every 20 people taking part.

These developments are discussed further on the Network for Police Monitoring website which raises questions about the legality of what is happening.