Earth Protect Blog

A censorship row has erupted after a painting depicting the slaughter of dolphins at Taiji in Japan was excluded from the Shinju Matsuri festival art awards over fears it would offend Broome's Japanese sister town and local Japanese community.

Adrian Dwyer, who won the Broome festival's $7000 art prize in 2004, said he was told on the day of the awards that his painting would be withdrawn because Broome wanted to mend its sister city relationship which was fractured in 2009 after an outcry over Taiji's annual dolphin slaughter.

He said the move was "upsetting and offensive".

The Shire of Broome bowed to international and local pressure to suspend its sister association with Taiji until it stopped killing dolphins. Two months later, a backlash from the local Japanese community in Broome prompted the council to reverse its decision and apologise to Taiji.

The traditional dolphin cull was the subject of last year's Oscar winning documentary The Cove.

The issue remains divisive, with the shire forced to improve security at the historic Japanese cemetery last year after repeated attacks on gravestones and posting of anti-Japanese slogans. Shinju Matsuri president Jillian Philp, who made the decision to withdraw Dwyer's painting, said the artwork was "insulting to local families" and was removed "out of respect for the festival".

"It took a lot for me to withdraw the painting; I am an artist myself but I am responsible for the festival community," she said.

"It was a difficult decision that was not made lightly. The painting was unnecessary, violent and inappropriate.

"Taiji is our sister city; we have done a lot of work repairing the damage and we have only just got the door open. To have that painting would have been completely inappropriate."

The award rules state an entry must be "suitable for display".

Last week, local artists received an email assuring them there would be "no outside influence" on judging the awards after rumours that artworks on the James Price Point gas hub protests would be unfairly disadvantaged.

Dwyer said he was "pretty devastated" his painting was the only piece withdrawn, saying it "went against the grain of what art is all about". "Art is supposed to raise questions," he said.