> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.catapult-platform.art/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # The Politics of Showing Art - URL: https://www.catapult-platform.art/the-politics-of-showing-art/ - Published: 2025-10-14T09:28:35.000Z - Updated: 2025-10-28T08:00:09.000Z - Description: Can we separate art from politics? Why showing a Russian artist feels wrong while a Ghanaian feels right, a reflection on bias and art’s true freedom. - Author: Dominique Catherina Foertig - Tags: Catapult - uncensored > “Apparently, art only matters when it’s from the right kind of suffering.” ## The new moral geography We love to believe **art transcends politics**. Until it doesn’t. Until you post a Russian artist and someone sends you a DM that starts with “Are you aware…?” > *Show Ghana and you’re praised. Show Russia and you’re suspect.* Apparently, we can’t be supportive and curious at the same time. You have to choose your side: **victim or villain**. --- ### The good, the bad, the curated Both artists live under regimes that silence, censor, and manipulate. So why is one framed as the oppressed and the other as the oppressor? **Geography. Optics. Hashtags.** [I want the edge](https://www.catapult-platform.art/#/portal) I keep wondering: if an artist can be a narcissist, a liar, a monster, and still make something that moves us, **why can’t an artist simply be an individual?** Being born under a tyrant doesn’t mean loyal to one. --- ### Sorting ethics like hashtags Not every Israeli artist supports their government. Not every Palestinian artist supports Hamas. Not every Swede votes right wing, and not every American artist owns a flag. Yet the art world loves its **moral sorting hat**. Good victim. Bad participant. Approved suffering. Cancelled passport. It’s easier to **perform ethics** than to practice them. --- ### The small ones in the machine And yes, I get it. There are times when you have to draw lines, **when the money behind a show stinks of propaganda**, or when a museum turns a blind eye to war crimes for the sake of diplomacy. > *The smell of turpentine doesn’t change with the flag.* But most of us aren’t curating power. **We’re curating people.** Artists who wake up, try to make rent, paint, code, photograph, write, all while their governments make it harder. --- ### When neutrality becomes a myth We keep pretending **art is neutral**. In truth it’s the **last honest place left**, because artists don’t have PR departments, only nerves. They create under pressure, under fear, under censorship, under hope. Sometimes all at once. --- ### Confession I don’t have an answer. I just know that if I start filtering art by nationality, I’ll become the very system I claim to critique. I’ll stop seeing the person and start seeing the **passport**. And that’s the moment **art dies**. --- ### Let them speak Maybe the revolution isn’t boycotting individuals. Maybe it’s **giving them a platform despite their governments.** > *The moment we stop listening, we’re not fighting tyranny anymore. We’re copying it.* Let the small voices speak, even if they come from the wrong side of the map. --- **I’m trying. We all are.** Dominique’s Lost in Translation. New series every Tuesday. If nothing breaks, burns, or beeps. --- [Stefan Bakmand: Neon Spores, Tender DiagramsStefan Bakmand maps a mycelial cosmology in neon and ink, where spores turn into myths and paper feels alive.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1c/24/1c2478ff-417d-4e88-8226-288af467f6b9/content/images/icon/munchies-art-club-magazine-368.png)Catapult - The New Munchies Art Club | Critical CuratorsDominique Catherina Foertig![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1c/24/1c2478ff-417d-4e88-8226-288af467f6b9/content/images/thumbnail/stefan-bakmand-wolf-myth-register.webp)](https://www.catapult-platform.art/stefan-bakmand-neon-spores-tender-diagrams/) Next Read: Artist - Spotlight - Stefan Bakmand **We write without filters. No PR polish, no safe takes, no art-speak gymnastics. Just what hits us, what hurts, and what won’t let go.** Become a Supporter or Patron This is independent art writing - no paywall, no ads, no bullshit. ****If you value this voice, support it.** [Learn more about Membership ](https://buy.stripe.com/3cI28rgHe8eE5LK6eccAo0h?ref=catapult-platform.art) **Uncensored thoughts from inside the art world. Every Tuesday.** --- [Monday Bitch #1\. The Thank-You That Never CameA short art-world exorcism every Monday. One thought, one scream, one deep breath after.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1c/24/1c2478ff-417d-4e88-8226-288af467f6b9/content/images/icon/munchies-art-club-magazine-367.png)Catapult - The New Munchies Art Club | Critical CuratorsDominique Catherina Foertig![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1c/24/1c2478ff-417d-4e88-8226-288af467f6b9/content/images/thumbnail/image-3.gif)](https://www.catapult-platform.art/monday-bitch-1-the-thank-you-that-never-came/) Monday Bitch #1 [What We’re Checking Out This Weekend: Ibrahim Mahama at Kunsthalle WienWhat we are checking out this weekend: Ibrahim Mahama at Kunsthalle Wien, a train on metal bowls where art remembers what the world forgets.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1c/24/1c2478ff-417d-4e88-8226-288af467f6b9/content/images/icon/munchies-art-club-magazine-380.png)Catapult - The New Munchies Art Club | Critical CuratorsDominique Catherina Foertig![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1c/24/1c2478ff-417d-4e88-8226-288af467f6b9/content/images/thumbnail/kunsthalle-wien-now-2.webp)](https://www.catapult-platform.art/visit-kunsthalle-wien/) Kunsthalle Wien ---