Controversial prayer mat artwork re-installed at Ontario art school

The piece, a green Islamic prayer mat with a female nude in black outlined over it, was put back after its creator wrote an ‘artist’s statement’ about it

An art piece that sparked controversy and debate at the Ontario College of Art and Design University in Toronto and was taken down Monday night amid the brouhaha has been re-installed.

The piece is a green Islamic prayer mat with a female nude in black outlined over it and was in an annual juried student show called Festival of the Body.

The school’s Muslim Student Association had complained about the piece, but it went back up Thursday.

“While the piece may be offensive to some, the curators and jury of the exhibition support artistic freedom...,” a notice from OCADU vice-provost Deanne Fisher and Vlad Spicanovic, the faculty of art dean, said.

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