Art exhibit confiscated by Homeland Security

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http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/02/16/fake.pass...s.ap/index.html

Artist's 'fantasy passports' confiscated at airport

Wednesday, February 16, 2005 Posted: 11:54 PM EST (0454 GMT)

 

Matt Distel, associate curator of the Contemporary Arts Center, sits in the "State of Sabotage" exhibit.

 

CINCINNATI, Ohio (AP) -- Fake passports created by an Austrian artist for a contemporary museum exhibit were confiscated at an airport after a customs agent thought they might be harmful if imported, government and museum officials said Tuesday.

 

"I think it says a lot about the condition of our world today, that everyone is understandably on the alert," said director Linda Shearer.

 

The items were supposed to be included in the museum's exhibit titled "State of Sabotage," which focuses on government or corporate power over the individual, Shearer said.

 

The items belonged to an art group headed by Vienna artist Robert Jelinek, and included what the government described as "fantasy passports," along with ink pads, rubber stamps and ink. They were taken from Jelinek's luggage February 9 in Detroit as he headed for Cincinnati.

 

Cherise Miles, a spokeswoman with U.S. Customs and Border Protection Bureau, said a customs agent at Detroit Metropolitan Airport believed the items could "in some way be harmful if imported into the U.S."

 

Jelinek said he didn't realize anything was taken until February 10, when he found a Department of Homeland Security receipt in his luggage -- the only notification he's received.

 

"Who would think that the U.S. government has a pronounced interest in contemporary fine art these days?" Jelinek said in a statement posted at the exhibit. "The homeland art obsession goes so far that our luggage and personal items were almost all damaged and all artistic materials were confiscated."

 

The exhibit opened as scheduled last weekend. Starting Wednesday, the museum intends to include the Homeland Security receipt as part of the show, which runs through May 8.

 

Miles said the government is reviewing the case to decide whether to return the items.

 

Jelinek returned to Austria on Sunday, and has asked Austrian consular officials for help in getting the items back, Shearer said.

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[Guest Vitamin X]

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