Spain may have wanted to enhance its image by offering the fresco to the UN but the move has all the makings of a catastrophe. Spain is one of those rare European countries, that is not taking part in the debates related to the universal periodic review process, whereby countries review each others human rights record. The third session is currently taking place in the Palais in a room close to that where the cupola is crumbling. Spanish diplomats have not asked any questions nor made any recommendations concerning the 32 countries who have already been through the periodic review process in the past two sessions. Asked about the collapsing dome, Elena Ponomareva, in charge of information at the UN denied there had been any « incident » but says that « some work is being carried out in room 20 ». In fact, the Palais des Nations in Geneva seems to be in a race against the clock to repair the damage, as on the 12 December there will be a second official inauguration related to the 60th anniversary of the universal declaration of human rights. The UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon will be present. Let’s hope that the fresco does not fall on his head!

Spain sponsors lavish ceiling at UN European headquarters in Geneva
Brussels Journal, Dec 5, 2008
Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero has just unveiled Spain’s latest contribution to fostering global peace and security. No, his government will not be sending more troops to help rebuild Afghanistan. And no, Spain will not be providing more vaccines to help needy children in Africa. Instead, the Zapatero government is the proud sponsor of a lavish decorative ceiling at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva. Miquel Barceló, one of the world’s most highly paid abstract artists, was commissioned by Spain to redecorate “Room XX”and its ellipsoidal dome at the Palais des Nations. He used more than 100 tons of paint to turn the negotiating room into a cave dripping with thousands of 50-kilo multicolored artificial stalactites.

"The cave is a metaphor for the Agora, the first meeting place of humans, the big African tree under which to sit to talk, and the only possible future: dialogue, human rights,” says Barceló. Using postmodern rhetoric which closely mimics that employed by Zapatero, Barceló describes his new work as “reaching towards the infinite, bringing a multiplicity of points of view.”

The 1.500m2 (15.000ft2) ceiling, which was co-unveiled on November 18 by King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia of Spain in the presence of UN Secretary General Ki-moon, is being hailed by the Spanish government as one of the UN’s most important works of art. Some are even comparing Barceló’s new “symbol of multilateralism” with Michelangelo’s work at the Sistine Chapel.

As Spaniards debate the artistic value of Barceló’s ceiling, however, excitement has turned into anger as Spanish taxpayers learn that they will be the ones footing the bill. The 13-month redecoration project has cost more than 20 million euros, all of which is being paid for by Spain. Some 60 percent of the money is coming from a group of Spanish companies that presumably have been pressured into joining a special NGO set up by the Spanish foreign ministry to “promote dialogue through the use of Spanish art.” The remaining 40 percent is being paid for by the Spanish government, including 500,000 euros that were taken from Spain’s overseas development aid fund. Barceló, who insists that the money was not “stolen from the poor,” will walk away with 6 million euros for his “long, hard, fun and ultimately orgiastic” efforts.

Zapatero, who does not like the concepts of transparency and accountability (unless, of course, they are applied to US President George W Bush), had tried to keep the cost of the controversial project secret. But he was forced to come clean after Spanish newspapers published exclusive photos of the final product just a week before it was to be unveiled. In a quintessentially Socialist way of doing damage control, Spain’s foreign-minister-cum-art-critic Miguel Ángel Moratinos refused to debate the cost because “art has no price.” He said: “Only fools confuse value and price. This project is a new way of doing diplomacy and foreign policy.” And indeed it is. Welcome, once again, to the Zapaterian world of postmodern politics, where image is king and substance is, well, un pequeño detalle (a small detail).

Zapatero initially foreshadowed his passion for art during his first speech [pdf] to the United Nations General Assembly in September 2004, when he declared that “culture is always peace.” Since then, the Spanish prime minister has made it his solemn duty whenever and wherever possible to pontificate about human rights. Thus it comes as no surprise that Zapatero has now managed to unify these two obsessions into the Opus magnum of his political career: Barceló’s new “planet-cave” will henceforth be called the “Chamber for Human Rights and the Alliance of Civilizations.” What’s more, it will also be the permanent home of the United Nations Human Rights Council....

Never mind the pequeño detalle that money was lifted from the foreign aid budget to pay for his grandiose monument to globalism. According to the Spanish government, “everything that is related to human rights is development aid, and in that sense, what is being done in Geneva in the framework of the UN is the best example of that effective multilateralism.” As far as the misappropriation of funds are concerned, the proletarians who fail to see the value in such Socialist largesse are “fools” who are not sufficiently sophisticated to understand the value of art. Meanwhile, the thinking goes, if Spain’s example of “art as effective multilateralism” through the UN Human Rights Council and the Alliance of Civilizations can contribute in some way to the demise of Israel and the West, well then Zapatero can also take credit for bringing peace to the Middle East and even to the whole world. Then the possibilities for building his Socialist utopia will be endless!

UN failed in $1.2-bn Congo peacekeeping role (betrayed pledge to combat Rwandan Hutus; unwilling to prevent civilians being killed). Uganda New Vision, Dec 1, 2008

Taxpayers see red over UN Sistine Chapel (Spain paid for UN ceiling in Switzerland). Irish Times, Dec 1, 2008

Foreign Aid Money Spent on $23 Million Art Ceiling at U.N. Human Rights Council
Fox News, Nov 18, 2008
The U.N. Human Rights Council, frequently accused of coddling some of the world's most repressive governments, threw itself a party in Geneva Tuesday that featured the unveiling of a $23 million mural paid for in part with foreign aid funds. In a ceremony attended by U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Spanish artist Miquel Barcelo told the press that his 16,000-square-foot ceiling artwork reminded him of "an image of the world dripping toward the sky" — but it reminded critics of money slipping out of relief coffers. "In Spain there's a controversy because they took money out of the foreign aid budget — took money from starving children in Africa — and spent it on colorful stalactites," said Hillel Neuer, executive director of U.N. Watch. Spanish taxpayers paid for most of the sprawling sculpture, which has been compared to the Sistine Chapel, but around $633,000 came from Spain's budget for overseas development aid. Spain's conservative opposition party blasted the government for diverting money from projects to alleviate poverty in poorer countries, though the government insisted the funding for Barcelo's work was kept separate.