Office Classifies Keith Haring Artworks

The Office of Film and Literature Classification has classified 18 works by the late American Artist Keith Haring, recently exhibited at the City Art Gallery, Wellington.

The artworks were submitted to the Office by the Christian Heritage Party in May of this year.

Of the 18 works submitted, nine were classified as Unrestricted, four as Unrestricted: Parental Guidance Recommended for Younger Viewers, and five as Objectionable except if the availability of the publications is restricted to persons who have attained the age of 13 years or who are accompanied by a parent or guardian.

As part of the classification process the Office received and considered written submissions on the artworks from the Christian Heritage Party, The Society for the Promotion of Community Standards, the Whitney Museum of American Art New York City and the City Gallery, Wellington.

The Office considered submissions that the works had artistic merit and that they were capable of multiple interpretations. In the classification decisions, the Office emphasised parental guidance for those works of a stronger nature.

"These decisions will provide useful guidance for anyone planning exhibitions of a similar nature in the future" said Hastings.

ENDS

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