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  • 2018-09-25 (xsd:date)
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  • Does This Photograph Show a Nude Man Walking the Runway with a Group of Young Girls? (en)
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  • On 21 September 2018, Joshua Feuerstein, an American evangelical internet personality who is perhaps best known for stirring up controversy over Starbucks Christmas cups, shared a photograph to his Facebook page purportedly showing a nude model walking the runway with four young girls and claimed that the image documented the liberal left attempting to normalize pedophilia: This photograph is genuine in the sense that it truly captures a nude man in the presence of four young girls, but Feurenstein's post did not properly provide the context in which it was taken. To begin with, this picture was taken in Brazil and not the United States, so it therefore has little to do with how the liberal left in America is supposedly attempting to normalize pedophilia. This image also doesn't show a nude man walking the runway (presumably at some form of fashion show). This photograph was taken at the conclusion of a performance of La Bête by choreographer Wagner Schwartz, held at the Goethe-Institute in Salvador, Brazil, in 2017. La Bête is an interactive performance in which audience members can take the stage and move Schwartz's nude body in any position they choose. According to the The Centre National De la Danse, this piece was inspired by Bicho, an adjustable metal sculpture created by Brazilian artist Lygia Clark in the 1960s: Although Feuerstein presented this image as if it depicted some sort of modeling event featuring male nude models and children, La Bête was not specifically geared toward minors. Most of the images and videos we've found of this performance feature adults interacting with Wagner's body. Here's a video of one such performance. [NSFW: The following footage contains nudity]: However, children were indeed present at some of these performances. The viral photograph included in Feurenstein's post was taken at the Goethe Institute in 2017, while a video taken from a separate performance (which can be viewed here) and showing a young child and her mother interacting with Schwartz' body was taken at the Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo. These pieces of media were widely circulated in September 2017 along with accusations that Schwartz was a pedophile, and a criminal investigation was opened to determine if Schwartz or the museums had committed a crime (they did not) during this performance. The Spanish-language El País newspaper provided some context to this controversy in a February 2018 article (translated via Google): The Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo and the Goethe-Institut both published statements on Facebook asserting that this performance was not erotic or pornographic, nor was it associated with pedophilia. Both museums also noted that visitors were informed beforehand that the performances would involve nudity: Schwartz talked about the controversy in an interview with El País: (en)
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