A banned Cradle Of Filth t-shirt is causing a media storm after it was included in a museum exhibition.
The notorious t-shirt features an image of a nun masturbating on the front, with the words ‘Jesus is a cunt’ emblazoned on the back.
It was banned by New Zealand’s chief censor in 2008, but is now appearing as part of an exhibition called T-shirts Unfolding at Canterbury Museum in Christchurch. It is being displayed in an area of the gallery marked for over 18s only.
However, according to The New Zealand Herald, a lobby group Family First called the exhibit “horrific” and “offensive” and is appealing to authorities to take action.
The group say: “We don’t think it’s art. We don’t think any group should be subjected to this level of vile hate language.”
Canterbury Museum director Anthony Wright has defended the decision to include the garment, saying the exhibition’s purpose was to tell the story of t-shirts within street art culture.
He adds: “We’ve got to balance that up against anyone that might be offended, and we’ve bent over backwards to make sure that anyone who might be offended won’t come into contact with anything offensive. It’s a tiny part of the overall exhibition.”
Cradle Of Filth fans in Australia and in the UK have previously been charged with various offences for wearing the t-shirt in public.
