EUX.TV managed to exclusively film the taking-down of the controversial Entropa artwork in the atrium of the European Council before security guards ask our reporter to stop filming.

Less than one week after a new Czech Prime Minister took office and with nearly two months to go in the Czech presidency, the controversial “Entropa” art work by Czech artist David Czerny has been removed from the walls of the giant atrium at the European Union’s Council building in Brussels.

A statement from the Czech EU Presidency said the removal is “the outcome of the agreement between… Czerny and the government of the Czech Republic.”

According to the Czech engineers taking down Entropa, it will be moved to the Dox museum in Prague.

“Europe lacks critical reflection on controversial topics,” Indeks 73 writes in an open letter to the Bulgarian authorities that insisted on having their ‘Turkish toilet’ in Entropa covered up by a black cloth. “The real debate respecting opposing voices from different cultures, mentalities and ambitions has disappeared from political agendas.”

The group describes itself as an “informal collective of art activists, journalists and theoriticians” who aim to protect freedom of expression that’s guaranteed under the Polish constitution.

Its open letter carries the signatures of Izabela Kowalczyk PhD (art critic and theoretician, WSHiD Poznan), Agnieszka Kaim (social activist, Kultura Miejska Gdansk), Lidia Makowska (art and social activist, Kultura Miejska Gdansk), Ewa Majewska, PhD. (philosopher, Gender Studies Uniwersytet Warszawski), Daniel Muzyczuk (art historian, curator, Contemporary Art Centre Torun), Jacek Niegoda (artist), Roman Pawłowski (journalist, theatre critic, Gazeta Wyborcza Warszaw

“We are appealing to You to remove the black fabric from the “Entropa” and join the broad debate about real European problems,” they write. “David Černý’s self-irony and the famous Czech sense of humour might be of great help. As he has proved with “Entropa”, art has the power to provoke serious discussion and reactions, which reveal a lot of hidden mechanisms in contemporary art practice, media and power strategy.”

For the full Entropa brochure (no longer available on the Czech government’s website, but it’s here on EUX.TV):

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The Czech Presidency of the European Union said on Thursday it did not remove its brochure of the controversial Entropa art exhibit from its website.

In a comment posted on the EUX.TV website, a representative of the Czech government in Brussels said the brochure had only been “moved a little bit”.

He said the brochure had not been removed and can be found here..

Czech Deputy Foreign Minister for European Affairs on Thursday opened the exhibit. Here is what he said.

Meanwhile, Portuguese artist Beatrice Cunha, credited with the creation of the Portuguese element in Entropa, said in a comment on the EUX.TV website that she had not given any permission to use here CV for the Entropa exhibit.

Czech Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs Alexander Vondra on Thursday said the Czech presidency of the European Union is ready to have removed a controversial element of the Entropa art exhibition that has sparked a diplomatic row between Bulgaria and the Czech Republic.

Speaking at the opening of the exhibit in the atrium of the Justus Lipsius building in Brussels, Vondra said the artwork will stay up until the ” end of June”, when the Czech presidency ends, but the Bulgarian element would be removed if the Bulgarian government insists.

Bulgaria has been portrayed through a combination of a Turkish toilet and pipes. The country’s government earlier this week summoned the Czech ambassador in Sofia for an explanation.

Vondra said there are still “open issues” in the talks with Bulgaria. At the presentation, he also apologized to Bulgaria.

“We consider Entropa as a piece of art. Nothing more. Nothing less,” he said.

Czech artist David Cerny, who coordinated the Entropa exhibit, also apologized to Bulgaria and said he would not object to the Bulgarian toilets being removed.

“If we are asked to, we will do so,” he said at the presentation of Entropa

Entropa: Denmark, with Mohammed cartoon in lego

The Czech presidency of the European Union on Wednesday removed from its website a brochure with a detailed description of its controversial art exhibit, Entropa, in Brussels after the artist who coordinated its said he duped the Czech government. The art exhibit is due to be opened officially on Thursday.

The brochure was still available on the site on Tuesday, when EUX.TV downloaded it. Find the original here.

David Cerny told Czech media he made up the names of the artists who made individual national pieces of the artwork, and said he made the entire piece together with two friends.

So names like Roger Geboers (Belgium), Elena Jelebova (Bulgaria), Lars Kristjansen (Denmark) and Helmut Bauer (Germany) prove fictional, according to news reports. But a quick search on the web shows doubts remain on some of the names. Germany does have an artist called Helmut Bauer. But no one in Bulgaria has ever heard of Elena Jelebova…

The 8-ton art exhibit was posted into the atrium of the European Council’s Justus Lipsius building on Monday and already has triggered a major wave of controversy. Bulgaria has been portrayed as a Turkish toilet, causing the Bulgarian government to summon the Czech ambassador. The German highways are shaped almost as a swastika, while the lego motive used to depict Denmark clearly shows the controversial cartoon of Mohammed made by Kurt Westergaard.