Tate Modern adds trigger warning to puppet show advising viewers of ‘violence and dead bodies’
The Tate Modern has included a trigger warning on a puppet show, saying viewers may be offended by “violence and dead bodies”.
Cabaret Crusades: The Horror Show Files, is currently on display at the London museum’s artist and society section, and features marionettes acting out historical events.
The film, created in 2010 by Egyptian artist Wael Shawky, reconstructs events that took place between 1095–1099, in the first of the Crusades.
The artist decided to use 200-year-old traditional Italian marionettes, borrowed from the Lupi family collection in Turin, to portray the characters in his retelling of the medieval religious wars.
Despite the absence of any real actors, the Tate is warning visitors who intend to watch the film that they will be shown “acts of violence”, as well as “dead bodies”.
A sign placed outside the darkened room where Shawky’s film is shown on loop in the museum reads: “Content guidance: This film features marionettes acting out historical events.
“It depicts acts of violence and dead bodies.”
The piece has already toured New York’s Museum of Modern Art, where Shawky was pictured with Lady Gaga, who visited the exhibition.
Shawky carefully built the stage sets by hand and they include intricately embroidered costumes and miniature palaces, reflecting the period of the events.
The characters are voiced in classical Arabic, with the film subtitled for viewers.
An explainer on the Tate Modern’s website adds: “Their strings are intentionally visible throughout the video.
“This highlights the marionettes’ skilled manipulation and connects with questions of power and agency in the work.”
According to the gallery’s biography, Shawky “tackles notions of national, religious and artistic identity through film, performance and storytelling”.
Other films in the same section also carry warnings, including the 2019 production Salacia by Tourmaline, which features depictions of 19th century sex worker Mary Jones and warns there are “references to sexual activity and discrimination based on race and gender identity”.
It is not the first time the Tate galleries have added warnings.
In 2019, art lovers going to the William Blake exhibition at Tate Britain were told they may find the exhibition “challenging”.
Before entering they were warned his artwork contains “strong and sometimes challenging imagery” and “depictions of violence and suffering”.
It comes after it emerged this week that James Bond films have been given a blanket trigger warning from the British Film Institute (BFI).
Viewers attending a season of classic films have been warned that Bond’s adventures “will cause offence today”.
The disclaimer further warns that the films featured in the retrospective, You Only Live Twice and Goldfinger, contain examples of language and themes that were “prevalent” in the 1960s.
The warning for a raft of 1960s films also claims that, as well as being offensive now, these productions were offensive then.
The note cautioning would-be visitors to the BFI’s cinema on London’s Southbank states: “Please note that many of these films contain language, images or other content that reflect views prevalent in its time, but will cause offence today (as they did then).
“The titles are included here for historical, cultural or aesthetic reasons and these views are in no way endorsed by the BFI or its partners.”
A spokesperson for Tate Modern said of the latest warnings: “Like other art galleries, performance spaces and cinemas, we offer our visitors content guidance where useful, and we have done so for many years.”
