A man sharpens a razor blade and gazes at the moon, which is about to be bisected by a cloud. A young woman stares straight ahead as he approaches her with the razor. The cloud passes in front of the moon. Next: a close-up of the razor blade cutting the eye.
Everyone knows the opening scene of Luis Buñuel’s 1929 silent film The Andalusian Dog, considered a masterpiece of both Surrealism and avant-garde cinema. A hundred years later, the iconic scene has not lost its shock value. Now, Buñuel’s film is being shown in a mutilated state in The Subterranean Sky, a survey exhibition of Surrealism at Moderna Museet in Stockholm. Just as the razor is about to cut through the eyeball, a black frame appears.
Lena Essling, curator of moving image and performance at Moderna Museet and responsible for The Subterranean Sky, explains that The Andalusian Dog is included in an hour-long program with ten other films.
“When we were planning the programme, I chose the two opening scenes of the film, but when it was installed on site – as a large projection in a dark room, which the audience cannot easily opt out of, perhaps as a family with children or a school class – the trick sequence with the razor blade cutting through the animal eye felt very intense,” Essling told Kunstkritikk.
“Therefore we decided to add a black frame at that exact moment, and highlight in the text next to the film that the powerful scene has been slightly abridged.”
At a time when museums are under political pressure, many would argue that an institution like Moderna Museet has a strong responsibility to protect artistic expression, and, of course, avoid all forms of censorship.
“I completely agree – that’s why we also wanted to be transparent about this decision, as it regards to accessibility. We don’t feel that the museum is under external pressure in a way that affects our content,” she emphasised.
Essling said it is unusual for Moderna Museet to censor the works in its exhibitions, and that the decision was made after careful consideration.
“I gathered different perspectives from staff groups at the museum, and we discussed the alternatives. Now that the issue has been raised again, we have had reason to deliberate and look at this again and will probably reconsider it in the next few days,” Essling concluded.
