Focus on God is Great (no. 2) and explore the Tate Britain debate.
The Tate Britain gallery in London held a retrospective of the artist's work, John Latham in Focus, between September 2005 and February 2006. In the wake of the 7 July 2005 bombings on the London transport system, carried out by Islamic militants, Tate Britain made the decision not to include God is Great (no. 2) in the exhibition, as they had originally planned. The gallery were aware that the act of cutting the sacred texts in two might cause offense to some members of these religious groups, although the gallery's director, Stephen Deuchar, stated that the decision was made not out of fear of offending anyone, but out of fear that someone who had been offended might respond violently. Following on from the June bombings, gallery staff had expressed concern that they might be attacked because of the artwork.Deuchar added that it was "a very difficult decision, but we made it due to the exceptional circumstances of this summer and in the light of opinions that we value regarding religious sensitivities." The Tate had contacted Islamic scholars who had stated that the work could be seen as an abuse of the Quran, although the gallery had not consulted either the Metropolitan Police or the Muslim Council of Britain before making their decision. A notice was placed in the exhibit explaining that God is Great (no. 2) had been omitted.The incident followed on from several religious controversies that took place in Britain during the preceding year, including Christian demonstrations against Jerry Springer: The Opera and Sikh demonstrations against the play Behzti, which eventually resulted in the latter's cancellation by the Birmingham Repertory Theatre.
Quran Metropolitan Police Behzti Jerry Springer: The Opera Islam Tate Britain Birmingham Repertory Theatre Muslim Council of Britain 7 July 2005 bombings John Latham Stephen Deuchar