13 February 2006

BERLIN - A sculpture depicting a mosque with missiles as minarets was pulled from a German art show Monday after threats were made, the director of Duesseldorf's art academy confirmed.

Titled "Aggression", the work by a Swiss art student was removed from the show at the request of the artist, said academy director Peter Lynen.

Lynen said there had been no pressure from the academy itself to pull the work and that every artist had to be given the freedom to address what he termed "contemporary themes".

The design of the mosque with rockets as its minarets was very "low-key", said Lynen.

He did not say what kinds of threats had led to removal of the sculpture.

About 30,000 people visited the exhibit over the past four days with the missile-minaret mosque.

Lynen said there had been no incidents related to the sculpture while it was shown but complained of a "lurid" media report having led to the threats.

DPA

Subject: German news