Jimmy Carr may destroy art by Hitler and Rolf Harris in new programme
Jimmy Carr may destroy a painting by Adolf Hitler on a TV show.
Channel 4 has apparently bought artwork by "problematic" figures such as the dictator and disgraced entertainer Rolf Harris.
A studio audience on the show Art Trouble will then get to decide whether they should be destroyed by 8 Out Of 10 Cats host Carr, after debating whether art can be separated from the person who created it.
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If the audience elects to destroy the pieces, they will be shredded.
The Guardian quoted Ian Katz, Channel 4’s director of programming, as saying: "There are advocates for each piece of art.
"So you’ve got an advocate for Hitler.
"There’ll be someone arguing not for Hitler, but for the fact that his moral character should not decide whether or not a piece of art exists or not."
Art Trouble was announced earlier this year, with Channel 4 saying it would be "an arts event like no other".
"A profoundly provocative exploration of the limits of free expression in art, and whether we can separate the moral calibre of the artist from the value of their work," they said.
"Combining stunts, surprises and special guests with a public experiment conducted by well-known artists across Britain, Art Trouble celebrates C4’s disruptive roots by exploring the boundary between controversial art and freedom of expression."
The channel said the programme would look at what we should do with historic art we find "offensive" or that was by an artist who has since been "cancelled".
Read more: Carr's genocide joke is 'deeply disturbing' and 'unacceptable'
Carr, 50, came under fire this year after making a controversial joke about the Holocaust.
In his Netflix special - His Dark Material - the comedian joked that people "never mention the thousands of Gypsies killed by the Nazis" because "no one wants to talk about the positives".
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