INTERNATIONAL
Art director defends
Mapplethorpe photos
CINCINNATI (AP) - An
art gallery director on trial
for displaying Robert
Mapplethorpe’s work says
graphic photographs at the
center of the obscenity case
are “tough, brutal, some
times disgusting" — but
worthwhile art.
The nation's first obsceni
ty trial of an art gallery and
its director was expected to
go to the jury late today or
early Friday after rebuttal
testimony from the prosecu
tion and closing arguments.
Dennis Barrie, director of
the Contemporary Arts Cen
ter. scoffed Wednesday at a
prosecutor's suggestion that
he and the gallery showed
an exhibit of Mapplethorpe's
photographs as a publicity
stunt.
"This has been a strain on
all of us. a strain on me per
sonally and a strain on my
family,” Barrie testified.
"But we were very commit
ted to the principle at stake
here."
Barrie and the gallery
were charged April 7 with
pandering obscenity and us
ing children in nudity-relat
ed material, both misde
meanors. The trial is focused
on seven of 175 photos in
the exhibit. "Robert
Mapplethorpe: The Perfect
Moment."
Barrie said some of the
questionable acts depicted
in the show were part of the
photographic challenge
Mapplethorpe accepted in
trying to create a work of art.
"As difficult as the subject
matter may be, you see the
ability of the man working
through He was brilliant
with a camera," Barrie said.
Mapplethorpe, who was
known for pursuing gay
themes, died of AIDS in
March 1989 at age 42.
The exhibit set an atten
dance record — 81,000
for an art exhibit in Cincin
nati during its seven-week
run at the gallery ending in
May. The show closes this
week in Boston, where
103,000 tickets have been
sold.
In fanuary 1989. the Con
temporary Art Center's
board endorsed Barrie's pro
posal to schedule an exhibit
of Mapplethorpe photos.
In |une 1989, three
months after Mapplethorpe
died. Sen. |esse Helms, K
N.C., disputed use of Na
tional Endowment of the
Arts funding for work that
might lie considered ob
scene.
Barrie said the board
talked about the controversy
and decided to go ahead
with (he exhibit.
If convicted of both
charges, Barrie could la; sen
tenced to one year in jail and
fined $2,000. The gallery
could be fined $10.000 for
conviction on both counts.
Man convicted for selling album
FORT LAUDERDALE. Fla.
(AH) — An all-white jury
Wednesday convicted a record
store owner of obscenity for
stdling a sexually explicit al
bum by the black rap group 2
Live Crew that had been
balined by a federal judge.
The panel of five women and
one man took only 2 and one
half hours to return the verdict
against Charles Freeman. 31.
The misdemeanor conviction
carries a possible one-year jail
sentence and $1,000 fine.
Broward County Judge Paul
Backman set sentencing for
Nov. 2.
“I'm absolutely stunned by
the verdict." defense attorney
Bruce Rogow said.
Freeman denounced the ju
rors as unfair and ignorant of
the black community. The de
parting jurors had no comment.
"I felt that the jury paid very
close attention to the evi
dence." said prosecutor Leslie
Kobson. "They came back with
a verdict that spoke the truth."
The Miami-based rap group
and its album "As Nasty as
They Wanna Be” have been at
the center of a First Amend
ment dispute since |une 6,
when a Fort I^uderdale federal
judge ruled their lyrics ob
scene. The lyrics have been
criticized as promoting vio
lence against women.
The federal judge's ruling
banned the sale of the album in
three south Florida counties,
but opened a flood of legal
cases against the album around
the country.
Continued from Page 7
not meant to govern the state. It was meant as a safeguard, a
check."
Both Paulus and House Speaker Vera Katz. D-Portland. think
that the legislature is better equipped than voters to deal with the
more complex issues Dan Field, the executive assistant to the
speaker )katz), said he is concerned that people will get bored with
tedious issues, not do enough research and ultimately will not
have the crucial information needed to make an informed decision
Field said he trusts voters' competence "if they have the suffi
cient information Hut I would encourage people to do their home
work before they go vote."
Initiative sponsors, however, are more optimistic about citi
zen-initiated measures.
Peter Drake, a former petitioner for the Oregon Recycling Act.
said he believes it is essential for citizens to use the initiative pro
cess. "We should be fighting as hard as possible to keep the bare
vestiges of democracy that we have." he said.
Drake said Paulus and Katz are not giving voters enough cred
it. "They're basically saying citizens are too stupid to vote things
into law,” he said.
World leaders seek peace in gulf
(AP) — Saddam Hussein on
Wednesday made his first
known visit to Kuwait since
Iraq captured its oil-rich neigh
bor Aug. 2 Another neighbor.
Iran, said it would keep out of
any military confrontation be
tween Iraq and U.S.-led multi
national forces in the region,
Elsewhere in the Middle
East, visiting French President
Francois Mitterrand. Japanese
Prime Minister Toshiku Kaifu
and Soviet envoy Yevgeny
Primakov all sought a peaceful
solution to the Persian Gulf cri
sis.
But new terror threats
emerged. Palestinian guerrilla
leader Abu I Abbas warned he
would attack U S aircraft if Ira
qi planes were hit with weap
ons as part of the U N air em
bargo against Iraq.
In Washington. Bush admin
istration officials told Congress
Iraq is likely to remain a long
term threat, and sales of bil
lions of dollars in U.S. weapon
ry to Saudi Arabia are crucial to
a new regional coalition to bal
ance that menace.
Iraq, facing an international
force on its border with Saudi
Arabia after invading Kuwait,
suddenly made peace with Iran
last month after eight years of
war and two years of dead
locked peace talks
Saddam wooed Iran to side
with him. Tehran joined world
demands that Iraq withdraw
from Kuwait, but also urged the
expulsion of foreign forces
from the region.
On Wednesday,.Foreign Min
ister Ali Akbar Velayati said on
Tehran TV that Iran wants a
peaceful settlement and "force
should be the Inst possible re
sort for solving this crisis, but
Iran will not participate in this
in any way "
His remarks, monitored in
Cyprus, indicated Iran was dis
tancing itself from Iraq, follow
ing suggestions it could cir
cumvent a U.S.-led embargo
and send Iraq fond and medi
cine. Reports from Washington
said Iraq also asked Tehran to
help export its embargoed oil.
Meanwhile. the London
based Amnesty International is
sued a report saying Iraqi occu
pation troops tortured and exe
cuted scores of people in Ku
wait. some for refusing to dis
play pictures of Saddam.
Refugees have said stores and
shops were pillaged, and that
Iraq was out to dismantle Ku
waiti institutions They report
ed summary executions of re
sistance fighters
The Iraqi News Agency gave
a different portrait It said Sad
dam toured the streets of Ku
wait, which "appeared flour
ishing after its return to the
mother homeland
The news agency said Sad
dam met with Iraqi troops and
presided over two meetings of
military commanders. Iraq has
annexed the emirate, declaring
it Bahdad's 19th province
Kuwait city "glittered with
pride" at Saddam's visit, said
the agency, monitored in Cy
prus.
Mitterrand flew to the Per
sian C.ulf for a two-day visit
during which he planned to
meet regional leaders and in
spect French troops
After he left Paris, the Do
fense Ministry announced
France was sending eight Mi
rage Ft fighter plunes to Qatar
to protect that small country
and the United Aral) Emirates,
its neighbor.
Ilis first stop was the Emir
ates' capital of Abu Dhabi.
He reached them hours after
nine French nationals held hos
tage by lra<| flew out of Bagh
dad on an Iruqi plane and ar
rived in Amman. Iordan,
ImuhhI for Paris
They were accompanied by
the chairman of the private
French group that arranged
their release. Ira<| is believed to
still hold about :i(H) other
French nationals hostage, as
well as thousands of other
Westerners
France now has 13.0(H) men
plus a dozen warships in the
gtdf region, the largest overseas
deployment of French tmops
since the Algerian war
Primakov, a Mideast expert
and close adviser to Soviet
President Mikhail S Gorba
chev, met king Hussein and
other senior Iordanian officials
on Wednesday in Amman, lie
said he brought a letter for Hus
soin that concerns "efforts to
find a settlement for the gulf
i rises and other Mideasl prob
lems.”
The monarch has tried to
play the role of mediator in the
gulf crisis.
The Soviet delegation was
due to fly to Baghdad Thursday
for talks with Iraqi officials,
(.ate Wednesday, however. Ira
qi Deputy Premier Tabu Yassin
Ramadan arrived in Amman It
was not known if this wotdd
change Primakov's plans.
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