Post by Taxigirl on Oct 6, 2004 10:06:20 GMT
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/3716200.stm
Portraits of former US president Richard Nixon have been removed from Norwegian parliament walls after MPs complained that they were "shocking".
Three portraits were hung in the foreign affairs committee meeting room in the Oslo parliament building.
But the pictures of Nixon, who in 1974 became the first US president to resign from office, were removed days later.
They were felt to deliver "a political message that is not the most appropriate" Norway's parliament said.
'Unfitting' work
A number of MPs complained about the series of portraits, which showed Nixon holding a cup of coffee.
"Following an evaluation, it was determined that the piece was unfitting and potentially shocking," said Norway's secretary general Hans Brattestaa.
The portraits will now be displayed in "a more insignificant place", he said.
Republican Nixon resigned while faced with almost certain impeachment for his role in the Watergate scandal.
It had been revealed that burglars connected to his administration tried to plant listening devices in the Democratic National Committee offices in Washington's Watergate building in 1972.
The Republican Party, the FBI, the CIA, the Justice Department, the Attorney General, the White House and eventually President Nixon became embroiled in the ensuing scandal.
"I can accept total artistic freedom," said former Norwegian prime minister Thorbjoern Jagland, who now heads its foreign affairs committee.
"But I don't think that the meeting room of the foreign affairs committee is the most appropriate place to exhibit this kind of expression in respect to the former head of state and politician."
Portraits of former US president Richard Nixon have been removed from Norwegian parliament walls after MPs complained that they were "shocking".
Three portraits were hung in the foreign affairs committee meeting room in the Oslo parliament building.
But the pictures of Nixon, who in 1974 became the first US president to resign from office, were removed days later.
They were felt to deliver "a political message that is not the most appropriate" Norway's parliament said.
'Unfitting' work
A number of MPs complained about the series of portraits, which showed Nixon holding a cup of coffee.
"Following an evaluation, it was determined that the piece was unfitting and potentially shocking," said Norway's secretary general Hans Brattestaa.
The portraits will now be displayed in "a more insignificant place", he said.
Republican Nixon resigned while faced with almost certain impeachment for his role in the Watergate scandal.
It had been revealed that burglars connected to his administration tried to plant listening devices in the Democratic National Committee offices in Washington's Watergate building in 1972.
The Republican Party, the FBI, the CIA, the Justice Department, the Attorney General, the White House and eventually President Nixon became embroiled in the ensuing scandal.
"I can accept total artistic freedom," said former Norwegian prime minister Thorbjoern Jagland, who now heads its foreign affairs committee.
"But I don't think that the meeting room of the foreign affairs committee is the most appropriate place to exhibit this kind of expression in respect to the former head of state and politician."