Arts centres to host conference on censored exhibition

Two arts companies whose commission was censored by their council are hosting a public talk on the decision.

Gabriella Hirst's artwork An English Garden was deemed "a left wing attack" by local politicians for its interrogation of Britain's nuclear history. 

Arts company Metal said councillors' "fundamental misreading" threatened to distort the actual meaning of the work and agreed to remove it.

An online conference on October 23 presented by Metal and The Old Waterworks will "continue the discussions that were silenced through the censorship".

A workshop in September taught participants to graft the offending Atom Bomb roses, which are now on display outside Southend's Focal Point Gallery.