Michael Dickinson (1950 – 2 July 2020)Foot, Tom
"Tributes to…‘that man who was always walking backwards’"
''

Camden New Journal The ''Camden New Journal'' is a British independent newspaper published in the London Borough of Camden. It was launched by editor Eric Gordon (who died on 5 April 2021, aged 89) in 1982 following a two-year strike at its predecessor, the ''C ...

'', 24 July, 2020. Retrieved 4 August 2020.McLennan, William
"Camden Town’s backwards walking man insists he is not acting and suffers from ‘retropulsion’"
''

'', 25 May, 2017. Retrieved 4 August 2020. was an English artist, writer and playwright, who was best known for his satirical political

collages Collage (, from the french: coller, "to glue" or "to stick together";) is a technique of art creation, primarily used in the visual arts, but in music too, by which art results from an Assemblage (art), assemblage of different forms, thus creat ...

. He was a member of the Stuckist international

art movement An art movement is a tendency or style in art with a specific common philosophy or goal, followed by a group of artists during a specific period of time, (usually a few months, years or decades) or, at least, with the heyday of the movement defi ...

. In 2008, Dickinson was arrested and prosecuted in

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

for a collage featuring the then Turkish prime minister Erdoğan, but was later acquitted.Tait, Robert
"Turkish court acquits British artist over portraying PM as US poodle"
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 26 September 2008. Retrieved 26 September 2008.

Life and work

Michael Dickinson was born in

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...

, England, and spent most of his early years in

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

, where his father was an employee of the Kuwait Oil Company and where he attended the Anglo-American School.Alberge, Dalya and Erdem, Suna (2006)
Satire that could land British artist in a Turkish jail
''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'', 17 June 2006. Retrieved 17 August 2007. He later attended Fyling Hall school in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

. He lived and worked as an English teacher in Istanbul. He was the founder of the Istanbul branch of the Stuckist art movement, and also a writer, playwright and actor.

Collage banned by Tripod

In May 2005, Dickinson's web site, "The Carnival of Chaos", was blanked and he was informed by the host Tripod (a member of the

Lycos Lycos, Inc., is a web search engine and web portal established in 1994, spun out of Carnegie Mellon University. Lycos also encompasses a network of email, web hosting, social networking, and entertainment websites. The company is based in Walth ...

group), "You are no longer an authorized member of Tripod. You have been removed because your web site violated our Terms of Service.""The Carnival of Chaos banned"
stuckism.com. Retrieved 12 June 2006. This occurred after he had posted a collage, ''Tyrant's Pants'', showing President Bush in his underpants with a cruise missile coming out of his rear and a swastika on his right buttock. The collage was a response to a photo which had appeared with the headline "Tyrant's in his pants" on the front page of the British tabloid newspaper '' The Sun'', showing captive

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolutio ...

in underpants.

Turkish court case

In June 2006, the Istanbul police removed one of Dickinson's collages from a show in the city organised by the Global Peace and Justice Coalition. Dickinson stated that he hung his work in the show unknown to the organisers.Birch, Nicholas
"Briton charged over 'insult' to Turkish PM"
''

'', 13 September 2006. Retrieved 2 September 2007. The collage showed the Turkish Prime Minister Erdoğan as a dog being presented with a rosette by President Bush in a pet show. He was informed by Turkish authorities that he would be prosecuted for "insulting the Prime Minister's dignity"; the charge carries a sentence of one to three years."Blair asked to help artist facing jail"
''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, w ...

'', 11 June 2006. Retrieved 12 June 2006. ''

'' said: "The case could greatly embarrass Turkey and Britain, for it raises questions about Turkey’s human rights record as it seeks EU membership, with Tony Blair’s backing."

Charles Thomson Charles Thomson (November 29, 1729 – August 16, 1824) was an Irish-born Patriot leader in Philadelphia during the American Revolution and the secretary of the Continental Congress (1774–1789) throughout its existence. As secretary, Thomson ...

, co-founder of the Stuckist movement, wrote to British Prime Minister

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...

asking for his intervention:"Erdoğan'ı kızdıran kolaj için Blair devreye girdi"
''Vatan'' (in Turkish) online, 12 June 2006. Retrieved 12 June 2006. "It is intolerable that a country applying for EU membership should censor freedom of political comment in this way. I trust you will communicate your strongest condemnation and ask for this case to be abandoned immediately. I ask for your assurance that you will oppose Turkish EU membership in the strongest terms, until Turkey adopts the attitudes of the civilised world towards human rights."
stuckism.com. Retrieved 12 June 2006 Dickinson said: "It’s such an Alice in Wonderland feeling. The law is so absurd ... This law exists in Turkey about insulting 'Turkishness' or the State. You’re not allowed to state your opinion." In September 2006, Dickinson attended the trial of Erkan Kara, organiser of the Global Peace and Justice Coalition show, charged with insulting behaviour for exhibiting Dickinson's work. The prosecutor described Dickinson as "ill-intentioned", but declined to bring a case because of "lack of evidence". Hasan Gungor of the Istanbul-based group, Initiative for Freedom of Speech, attributed this to fear of international news, when the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

has concerns over freedom of speech in Turkey. Members of Global Peace and Justice Coalition remonstrated with Dickinson for distracting attention from their anti-

Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق ( Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict and the War on terror , image ...

cause, and he then held up another collage showing Erdoğan as a dog with a lead of the stars and stripes; he was arrested and charged with insulting the Turkish prime minister's dignity with a trial date scheduled for October 2007. He was then held for ten days, three in prison and seven in the Detention Centre for Foreigners. During his transfer between facilities, he attempted to escape, but was shot at by a policeman, who recaptured him. In July 2007, Dickinson's collages were displayed at the A Gallery, London, in the Stuckist show ''I Won't Have Sex with You as long as We're Married''. On 25 September 2008, he was acquitted of any crime, the judge ruling that although there were "some insulting elements" in his collage, it fell "within the limits of criticism". The case has favourable implications for Turkey's relationship with the

, which had called for an improvement of its human rights record. Dickinson said, "I am lucky to be acquitted. There are still artists in Turkey facing prosecution and being sentenced for their opinions." In June 2009, Dickinson fled Turkey for his native country, Britain, after learning that his acquittal had been overturned. Unable to find work, he returned to Istanbul soon after. In January 2010, a Turkish court convicted Dickinson of mocking the Turkish prime minister and levied a fine. Refusing to pay the fine as a matter of principle, Dickinson faced up to two years in prison. Dickinson's application for a residence permit was refused due to his 2010 conviction, but he remained in the country after the expiry of his tourist visa. He was arrested in October 2013 for shouting

Gezi Park Taksim Gezi Park is an urban park next to Taksim Square, in Istanbul's Beyoğlu district (historically known as Pera.) It is one of the last green spaces in Beyoğlu and one of the smallest parks of Istanbul. In May 2013, plans to replace the ...

-related slogans at police, and detained after his expired visa was discovered. He was deported after some days (and banned from returning for five years), choosing to go to Barcelona rather than his native Britain.

“Retropulsion” and death

Shortly after returning from Turkey, after coming offstage Dickinson started to walk backwards. He identified as a sufferer of “ retropulsion”, a psychological condition that he said caused him to only be able to walk backwards. In 2017, Dickinson said: “I am not acting. If it wasn’t for the retropulsion, I would much prefer to be walking forwards.” On July 2nd 2020, Dickinson died at his Highgate home of peritonitis resulting from a gut obstruction.

References

External links