(Picture: Getty Images)
Scotland’s cultural funding body has withdrawn support from an art installation involving real sex acts.
Creative Scotland awarded the Rein project £84,555 earlier this year. It later emerged the installation planned to pay performers £270 per day to participate in sex acts.
A recruitment advert targeted at people with sex work experience stated that actors must be over the age of 18 to participate, specifying that some of the roles would involve ‘hardcore’ acts.
Writing on her website, Glasgow-based Project director Leonie Rae Gasson describes herself as someone who ‘approaches her work from a queer and neurodivergent perspective’.
The project website also said it would take audiences on a ‘magical, erotic journey through a distinctly Scottish landscape’ and described it as ending with a secret cave sex party.
(Picture: Mail Online)
The news attracted criticism from public figures and feminist groups, including For Women Scotland, who said the project dehumanised women while promoting ‘unhealthy and dangerous’ relationships.
Scotland’s culture secretary Angus Robertson said there was ‘no way’ that the project should receive public money.
Creative Scotland said changes to the project had been made without consultation, and that organisers had breached the conditions of her award by proposing to film ‘real’ sex scenes. As a result, the body has withdrawn the funding, while attempting to get back the money already given to the project so far.
A statement from Creative Scotland reads: ‘Following a review of the application, assessment, and contractual agreement regarding the project Rein, Creative Scotland has made the decision to withdraw support for this project and will be seeking recovery of funding paid in respect of this award to date.
‘What has emerged in the latest phase of the project represents a breach of the conditions of funding award, as the nature of the project has changed.
‘The central role that ‘non-simulated’ sex acts now play in the project marks a significant change to the nature of the work presented in the original application which was assessed for funding,’ it added.
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