Posters against racism and European politics could not be censored

Posters designed by artists Martin Krenn & Oliver Ressler for Aarhus on the topic of racism are finally installed in 90 light boxes throughout downtown Aarhus. The posters will stay up until October 24, 2004. This was possible, though the billboard company AFA JCDecaux rejected to
present the billboards to the public until Friday, October 15. They claimed that it is not possible to present a work which uses the logo with the 12 stars of the European Union. It was obvious that the company and Aarhus Municipality did not want to present the billboards in their city light boxes because of its political content. After pressure by media like TV Danmark, radio stations, and newspapers and an intervention by Martin Krenn & Oliver Ressler to destroy three stars of the EU logo on the poster, Aarhus Municipality had to give in. The very weak excuse to censor the work because of a “copy right violation” was undermined by the intervention from the artists.

Martin Krenn & Oliver Ressler
October 19, 2004