One of the Riverina's most notorious artists has been served a court attendance notice more than three months after his shop displayed images of politicians and a billionaire in German World War Two uniforms
Local member Michael McCormack has described Agzarian's art as “beyond disgraceful” and reported it to the police.
At that time the authorities decided it had not broken any laws.
It's possible the court notice will draw on the Crimes Amendment (Prohibition on Display of Nazi Symbols) Bill, although the artwork carefully avoids representing a swastika but does include SS insignia.
An important distinction is that the poster isn't glorifying Nazis, in fact it's ridiculing them.
The NSW Crimes legislation does recognise "a reasonable excuse" for "for an academic, artistic or educational purpose," so it might be that someone unhappy with the police's initial assessment may have exerted additional pressure to have the man charged.
It is worth noting the Agzarian had a long career in academia, before the controversies that followed his "treasonous" contributions to an exhibition in Wagga during 2005.
His artist statement from that time gives context based on personal experience.
My own view is that the hounding of Agzarian reflects a kind of "broken windows" policy by conservative politicians, despite further alienating themselves from the arts community and progressive constituents.
In criminology the broken windows theory proposes that visible signs of crime and disorder, if left unaddressed, can create an environment that encourages further crime and disorder, potentially leading to more serious offenses.
While many of McCormack's colleagues have argued for free speech, they fall silent when it comes to supporting their critics.
I would suggest they should read Voltaire, but I've just learned that he didn't explicitly say or write the often-quoted phrase "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."
