The leaders of Culture in Vitoria-Gasteiz begin to organize their solidarity with the Cosmic Tentacles study
- The Department of Citizen Security of the City of Vitoria-Gasteiz has denounced a poster produced by the Cosmic Tentacles study and Mikel González, the author of the study. In the face of harassment, different cultural agents in Vitoria-Gasteiz have begun to organize a "self-incrimination" campaign to demand the acquittal of González and to respond jointly to the attack on freedom of expression.
In response to the complaint presented by the design study Cosmic Tentacles and the artist Mikel González Cthulhu, several associations from the cultural area of the capital of Alavesa have appeared on Thursday. At a press conference next to the hostel of the bookstore Zuloa Figure, they showed their solidarity with González, their support for aggression, their freedom of expression and their campaign of support.
As you have indicated, in this case, in addition to legal defence, other avenues will be adopted, such as the judicial one. In the words of the affected Mikel González: "We have been fighting for too long, justifying what we do not have to explain and embarking on judicial proceedings," he added. Thus, they have anticipated that on March 9 the “self-accusation campaign” #DenokGargamel will be launched to demand the acquittal of González. They have raised the struggle they have just launched “in terms of solidarity, mobilization and creativity”, taking humor and creativity as its axis, thinking that this causes fear for many.
As part of the campaign, it is intended to set up a working group bringing together the cultural agents of the city to organize a joint response to the attack.
“All Smurfs Are Bastards”
On February 26, the Department of Citizen Security of the City of Vitoria-Gasteiz denounced to the Public Prosecutor a poster produced by the Cosmic Tentacles study and its author, Mikel González. In particular, the complaint was lodged by the PSE councillor and head of the Security Department, Marian Gutierrez, who described the text published together with the poster as "insulting".
The poster was published on 14 February following the intervention of the Local Police of Vitoria-Gasteiz in the bar Iguana, in which two people were arrested:
The designers of Cosmic Tentacles Studio wanted to denounce the police wretchedness during a raid from which graphic testimonies circulated. pic.twitter.com/VMnXXLDBvT
— Jonathan Martinez (@jonathanmartinz) February 26, 2021
The poster of the events shows a municipal police officer, with the phrase “All Smurfs Are Bastards” (“All Cops are Pottokas”), adaptation of the anti-police motto All Cops Are Bastards – All Cops Are Bastards –. They published the poster with the following message, which in Gutiérrez's view was offensive to them: "Municipal Police, with the illusion of demonstrating that this kind of village idiot with plaque and pistol, in a state of hyperactivity, can be as brutal and unwise as his older brother, the Zipai of old weights."
The cartel, considered to be an alleged offence of insults to the authority, is being prosecuted against the author.
The affected party has stated that they have no intention of “lowering the tone” or “reviewing the terms they express in their works, for not causing harm to some institutions”. "The private art of freedom always finds ways to express itself, but a society that wants to be free cannot persecute, silence or imprison its artists," stressed González, who considered that it is not free.
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