A photograph of a nude six-year-old girl on the front cover of an Australian art magazine has re-ignited a row over the depiction of children.
A child pictured naked on the cover of an Australian arts magazine has said she is "offended" by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's criticism of the photo.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said children could not choose for themselves if they wanted to be portrayed naked, adding: "I can't stand this stuff."
Mr Rudd re-ignited a row over children in art when he criticised the July cover of Art Monthly Australia.
The photo is on the cover of the July issue of Art Monthly Australia.
The girl, Olympia Nelson, 11, has said she is proud of the image taken by her mother, a photographer, in 2003.
Its editor said the cover was to protest against the closing of a recent photo exhibition of naked children.
The magazine's editor said the cover was in protest at the closing of a photo exhibition of naked children.
Mr Rudd said: "A little child cannot answer for themselves about whether they wish to be depicted in this way."
Childhood innocence
Government officials have said they will review the magazine's public funding.
Mr Rudd had reacted strongly to the front cover image, saying: "Frankly, I can't stand this stuff."
Censorship debate
He added: "We're talking about the innocence of little children here. A little child cannot answer for themselves about whether they wish to be depicted in this way."
He was supported by opposition Liberal Party leader Brendan Nelson, who described the image as a "two-fingered salute to the rest of society".
I think that the picture my mum took of me had nothing to do with being abused and I think nudity can be a part of art. Olympia Nelson, 11
Officials have said they will review the magazine's public funding.
Editor Maurice O'Riordan wrote in the magazine that he knew the photograph would be controversial, but that he hoped to "restore some dignity to the debate... and validate nudity and childhood as subjects for art".
Editor Maurice O'Riordan wrote in the magazine that he knew the photograph would be controversial, but that he hoped to "restore some dignity to the debate... and validate nudity and childhood as subjects for art".
An exhibition of pictures of naked children by photographer Bill Henson was closed in May before it opened.
In May, an exhibition of pictures of naked children by photographer Bill Henson was closed before it opened, in a case that provoked a nationwide debate over censorship.
Police seized the photographs and launched an obscenity investigation which was later dropped.
'Part of art'
The case provoked a nationwide debate over censorship.
However, Olympia Nelson appeared at a press conference with her father, the art critic Robert Nelson, and said the picture was her favourite image.
Mr Rudd had condemned the exhibit as "revolting".
It shows her sitting naked in front of a painted landscape. The photograph was taken by her mother, Melbourne photographer Polixeni Papapetrou, when she was six years old.
The subject of the Art Monthly Australia cover said the picture is her favourite image.
"I'm really, really offended by what Kevin Rudd had to say about this picture," she told reporters.
The cover shows her sitting naked in front of a painted landscape. The photograph was taken in 2003 when she was six years old.
Mr Rudd said he could not stand the picture of the naked girl
"I love the photo so much," she aded. "I think that the picture my mum took of me had nothing to do with being abused and I think nudity can be a part of art."
The Australian Childhood Foundation said that parents had no ethical right to consent to nude photographs being taken of their children, as it could have psychological effects in later years.
Child protection activist Hetty Johnston told told Nine Network Television that the photographs amounted to the "sexual exploitation of children" and called for new laws against the use of photographs of naked children for exhibition, sale or publication.
"We need to put a line in the sand - because clearly some of those in the arts world can't do that - and say this is where you don't go, this is a no-go zone," she said.
The debate has provoked a strong debate in the Australian media. In an editorial entitled "Art stunt betrays our children", the Australian daily newspaper The Daily Telegraph said it saw the need to protect artistic expression but said some of the images of children published in Art Monthly Australia were "highly sexualised".
Was Kevin Rudd right to step in on this issue? Are nudity and childhood valid subjects for art? Should such images be censored? Send your reaction using the form below:
Was Kevin Rudd right to step in on this issue? Are nudity and childhood valid subjects for art? Should such images be censored? Send your reaction using the form below:
