Venice Furore

Just when you thought it was safe to forget about the 54th Venice Biennale, a furore has broken out. When Azerbaijan president Ilham Aliyev visited the Pavilion of Azerbaijan, he threw a wobbler when he saw two of Aidan Salakhova's sculptures in the entrance hall. On the left is Waiting Bride (2010-2011), which the miffed president is alleged to have covered up personally, and on the right is Black Stone, which depicts the venerated black stone in Mecca within a vaginal marble frame. Apparently he didn't like her drawings of minarets as phallic symbols either, but left those alone. Aidan's sculptures have since been removed. Beral Madra, the Azerbaijan pavilion curator for the Venice Biennale, has issued a statement condemning government censorship of these works (title link).