LATEST: Australian police have dropped an obscenity investigation into a controversial photography exhibition after actress CATE BLANCHETT urged Australian Prime Minister KEVIN RUDD not to censor the show.
Police in Sydney, Australia, shut down an exhibition of photographs by respected artist Bill Henson last month (22May08) because the pictures showed images of naked children.
The move sparked a heated debate in the country over the line between art and pornography.
Now, police have dropped the investigation after being advised there would be no reasonable prospect of convicting Henson.
Law enforcement officials were also pressured by native Australian Blanchett and other leading art figures who said an investigation would damage the country's cultural reputation.
In an open letter sent days after the exhibition was closed, Blanchett insisted Rudd should not block Henson's work.
She wrote, "We wish to make absolutely clear that none of us endorses, in any way, the abuse of children. Henson's work has nothing to do with child pornography and, according to the judgment of some of the most respected curators and critics in the world, it is certainly art."
However, Rudd insists he stills stands against the exhibition, condemning it as "revolting".
See Also
