Rolf Harris painting removed from SUHQ
A painting by artist Rolf Harris has been removed from the Students’ Union Headquarters (SUHQ).
The 83 year old artist and entertainer was charged on Thursday 29 August with nine counts of indecent assault against two girls in the 1980s and four counts of making indecent images of children in 2012.
Six of the charges of indecent assault relate to a girl aged 15-16 between 1980 and 1981, and three relate to a girl aged 14 in 1986.
President of Warwick SU, Ben Sundell, said of the decision: “Given that there has now been a formal charge, we felt in the interests of sensitivity that it was appropriate to take down the painting.”
The large painting was located on floor two of SUHQ outside the Resources Room. It depicted an Australian landscape with a self-portrait of the artist, portrayed as part human, part kangaroo.
The painting is currently in storage, and there are no immediate plans to replace it.
Hanane Yahiaoui, a third-year law student, had mixed feelings about the decision: “The BBC and other media are distancing themselves from him, so I can understand the SU’s desire to follow this trend.
“However, I am unaware of a compelling reason on the SU’s part to deviate from the UK’s ‘innocent until proven guilty’ standard of proof. I would be interested to hear its justification.”
Alex Dinsdale, a second-year History student, thinks that the art should be judged on its worth: “The art is there because its deemed to be a valuable work. Unless the art was only put there because Rolf Harris did it, it shouldn’t be taken away and should stand on merit.”
Mr Harris was arrested as part of Operation Yewtree, which was set up following in the wake of allegations of sexual assault and rape against Jimmy Savile. The police have said that the charges facing Harris are not linked to Savile.
Comments (1)
Completely agree with Hanane about ‘innocent until proven guilty’. However, the reality of it is, if we had left the painting up, this article would read “SU has painting of celebrity accused of sexual abuse”, and quotes/thoughts would have been collected from students who were offended by this. Which is exactly why we have removed it in the interest of ‘sensitivity’, this is a sensitive issue and we have acted accordingly.
From a very pragmatic approach, the well-being of our students is literally the SU’s number one priority. In this instance, the benefits of the painting do not outweigh the possibility of offending students. Simple as.