In late 1976, the Institute of Contemporary Art or ICA gallery in London unveiled its recent exhibition ‘Prostitution’, a retrospective group show by established art collective COUM-Transmissions. The collective, no stranger to confrontation, couldn’t have predicted the reaction their work would receive, but upon opening, the show was was immediately met with vitriolic reviews in the press, mentioned in the Houses of Parliament and censorship restrictions were placed on some of the pornographic images. The Conservative MP Nicholas Fairbairn famously said “These people are the wreckers of civilisation" and rows ensued about public funding for the arts. The fallout was hard.
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