Fundación Jumex cancels Hermann Nitsch exhibition following animal rights petition

Fundación Jumex has cancelled an exhibition of Austrian artist Hermann Nitsch and Vienna Actionism, originally scheduled to open 26 February 2015. The decision followed a petition with over 5,000 signatures protesting Nitsch's practice, which critics allege involves animal mutilation and slaughter. Protesters used social media hashtags like #PintaConTuPropiaSangre ('paint with your own blood') to express discontent. Nitsch defended himself in a statement published on artnet, denying accusations of animal slaughter and stating he uses carcasses from butchers for performances. He emphasized his last animal slaughter in his theater occurred in 1998, performed by a professional butcher under veterinary supervision with government authorization. Nitsch described himself as an animal protector and criticized factory farming as society's biggest crime. The exhibition would have been his first in Mexico. As a replacement, Fundación Jumex will present Colección Abierta 02, a group show featuring works from its collection by artists including Wilfredo Prieto, Dieter Roth, Hans-Peter Feldmann, and Andreas Slominski. The foundation did not specify reasons for cancellation, but the petition appears to have influenced the decision. The news was reported by El Universal (Mexico) on 2 February 2015.