Kill Your Politician Exhibit

Czech art: shoot your lawmaker in the face

"PRAGUE (AFP) – Two artists have offered Czechs angered by politics the chance to take revenge on their lawmakers by shooting them literally in the face, by turning their photos into air gun targets.
Tomas Cap and Michal Kraus have displayed the portraits of 200 lower-house deputies in plastic boxes on the wall of a Prague alternative gallery, in front of an air gun and a boxful of ammunition.
"We have seen lawmakers breach the promises they gave to voters so many times. The visitors of the gallery have a unique opportunity to show these politicians what they think," the artists said in a statement.
Two weeks after opening, the exhibition was a sad sight as most of the faces had been heavily damaged by airgun slugs, with some destroyed beyond recognition.
Opposition chief Jiri Paroubek was the worst hit with most of his face missing in the picture, followed by his ally David Rath and Interior Minister Ivan Langer.
Outgoing Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, whose cabinet was toppled midway through the Czech European Union presidency last month, was also badly damaged, just like his girlfriend, lawmaker Lucie Talmanova.
"It's mostly youths that come, but we have also had managers in suits and pensioners," including an elderly woman on crutches who climbed to the first-floor room to take a shot, Milan Mikulastik, the curator of the display, told AFP.
He added the exhibition designed to "trigger a debate on the functioning of the political system" was a big success, but it had drawn angry reactions from some deputies.
He said he only hoped the crumbling photos would last till the end of the exhibition on Sunday as "the artists want to send them to the lawmakers afterwards."