"Love is not LGBTI+ propaganda", writes photographer Dorota Holubová on her FB page. (source: FB Dorota Holubová)
A dispute has emerged in Slovakia over the cancellation of an LGBT+ photo exhibition by Slovak photographer Dorota Holubová in the Slovak National Museum.
The photographs, which are part of the artist's series "Neskrývaná Láska" (Unhidden Love), captures LGBT+ couples in serene and familial settings.
The Culture Ministry reportedly cancelled the exhibition at Bratislava Castle last week. Minister Martina Šimkovičová, who continues to appear on pro-Russian TV Slovan, and ultraconservative Deputy Minister Štefan Kuffa have repeatedly made homophobic comments.
"Love is not LGBT+ propaganda," Holubová has recently posted on social media.
Holubová claims that the cancellation of her planned exhibition is the result of a directive against LGBT+ art from Šimkovičová.
"I don't care if anyone believes me, but here is the truth," the photographer said on social media, "The curator told me that the culture minister, in a meeting with the management, drew the line under LGBT+ propaganda, and that all planned LGBT+ exhibitions were cancelled."
The artist published her e-mail communication with the curator on social media. The exhibition had been supposed to take place the following year, the e-mails suggest.
The national museum has denied Holubová's claims. Nevertheless, on social media, the Culture Ministry mocked a news story about the alleged ban on LGBT+ art in the national museum with a rolling on the floor laughing emoji last weekend.
In May - four months before the election - a rainbow flag waved from the national museum's Museum of History building.
While the ministry seems to be not fond of Holubová's works, President Zuzana Čaputová and the Dutch royal couple all saw her photographs in 2020.
