Arts Desk

Diamanda Galás Responds to the Smithsonian’s Removal of David Wojnarowicz’s Work

Fire in My Belly de David Wojnarowicz, Diamanda Galas

The avant-garde composer and artist Diamanda Galás was an inspiration for David Wojnarowicz's video artwork A Fire in My Belly, and her music was part of a seven-minute edit of the 13-minute work made after Wojnarowicz died in 1992. Galas wrote a statement responding to the Smithsonian's removal this week of a four-minute version of A Fire in My Belly. She had hoped the statement would be read aloud at a protest Thursday night outside the National Portrait Gallery, although it was not read. She permitted Arts Desk to publish it.

I am the composer and librettist for THIS IS THE LAW OF THE PLAGUE, the work from my mass for PWA’s, performed at ST JOHN THE DIVINE’S in 1991 against the wishes of John Cardinal O'Connor, who tried to prevent its performance.

THIS IS THE LAW OF THE PLAGUE was composed in 1986. I will presume this is the music composition upon which David's film FIRE IN THE BELLY was based, or with which he felt a strong affinity,because I have been asked to defend our work, this collaboration. And I shall do so now.

I must begin,however, by making a behavioral and medical diagnosis of the rather shocking reaction of the Catholic League of Washington DC and particular members of the House of Representatives to this work. Their complaint is that the work "offends Christians," or so I hear. I have heard many stories, but working off of this assumption and the Smithsonian's own decision to either independently censor the work or cave in to these organizations, there are possibility three guilty parties here.


They wish to remove the UNSEPARATE CHURCH AND STATE conduct throughout the epidemic, which this film articulately reflects.

FIRE IN THE BELLY is a HOLY film. IT MUST be. And why is this?

The text that I chose in 1986 in London was from LEVITICUS, chapter 15, THE BOOK OF LAWS, from the OLD TESTAMENT – whose treatment of the unclean is proscribed therein by any church that employs this text and by the many legislators who for years have wanted to separate the infected from the uninfected. My liturgical treatment of LEVITICUS is a march of the priests and lawmakers forcing the unclean from the gates of the City into warehouses out of town, and is very gently illustrated by David's depiction of the crucified Christ covered with ants. Ants are only one of the many insects and animals that would cover a man removed from his village and deposited in a leper asylum. There would also be maggots and rats and crows. David was gentle, I must insist.

I remember the doctors who told me they believed this was the way to go, and this was in 1993. There was Plum Island, after all, and other places where the contagious could be housed.
Here, Catholics and HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES is YOUR OWN TEXT written so long ago and practiced in the USA to a brutal degree in this country for thirty years and to a much MORE brutal degree now in the countries of Africa and the Middle East, among others. Do not forget the punishment of Iraqi homosexuals with hum (anal glue), which glues the anus shut, and, in combination with the forced imbibing of laxatives, explodes the colon.

Here Protectors of the Public Good is your text and a Merry Xmas to you!


When any man hath an issue out of his flesh.
Because of that issue he is unclean.

Every bed whereon he lieth is unclean
and everything whereon he sitteth, unclean.

And whosoever toucheth his bed shall be unclean,
And he that sitteth whereon he sat shall be unclean.

And he that toucheth
the flesh of the unclean
Becomes unclean.

And he that be spat on by him unclean
Becomes unclean.

And whosoever toucheth anything under him
shall be unclean.

And he that beareth any of those things
shall be unclean.

And what saddle soever he rideth upon is unclean
And the vessel of earth that he toucheth, unclean.

And if any man's seed of copulation go out from him,
he is unclean.
Every garment, every skin whereon is the seed, unclean.

And the woman with whom this man shall lie
shall be unclean.
And whosoever toucheth her will be unclean.

This is the law of the plague:
to teach when it is clean and when it is unclean.

And the priest shall look upon the plague

And the priest shall shut up he that hath the plague.
He shall carry them forth to a place unclean.

He shall separate them in their uncleanness.

This is the law of the plague:
To teach when it is clean and when it is unclean.

I performed Plague Mass in Italy in 1989 at Pogio a Caiano and was called a heretic by the CHRISTIAN DEMOCRAT PARTY, led by Rinaldo Innaco. I was not allowed to perform in the country for many years. I was shocked and very offended. As a Greek, Italy is the country that had always most welcomed me and our cultures are very close. I was surprised at the massive amount of publicity, which questioned me as an enemy of Christ.



The word ‘sanctuary’ is based upon the Greek expression ithiateron thomation, which means ‘safe harbor, private room, a space of one's own.’ It also is based upon the Greek expression ieros assilon, which means ‘holy asylum,’ an asylum from predators.

To call the name of the exhibition Hide/See: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture and remove this work from it because it is too unpleasant strikes me as truly shocking. Is this film an insult to the spirit of Twinkletoes' whitebread Christmas, to his Christmas tree and its friendly beacons of light which whisper "Good cheer, One and All!"?

The video was removed. The cross is a symbol of the CRUCIFIXION, among the cruelest tortures in the world. This is the sentence of slow and horrific death in which the spinal column breaks and the organs rupture. This is the torture for the worst of outlaws – the man who protested that the sick and the poor were not allowed into the church for the crime of being perceived as UNCLEAN, rather than "pristine," and moneyed for his advocacy that the church BE a sanctuary to the sick, rather than a citadel for the rich family man, who comes to exchange invitations for tea and other such serious matters with OTHER rich family men.

David Wojnarowicz was a great artist who died a terrible death in 1992. It was one of the worst times in this country for people with AIDS. My brother, Philip-Dimitri Galas, died six years before him in 1986 of the same disease in San Diego. THERE WAS NO HOPE WHATSEOVER THEN FOR THIS DISEASE.

So what is so shocking about the truth now in 2010? Does it remind the clergy and the lawmakers of what the cross stands for: PUNISHMENT AND SAVAGE CRUELTY, and make ugly with the NICE and FRIENDLY WARM xmas spirit?

WHO in countries other than our own are dying horrific death of AIDS this Christmas? Christmas comes but once a year.

AND YOUR LIFE? It comes to you but once.

Diamanda Galás
NYC, Dec 2 2010

Blog Widget by LinkWithin
  • Garth

    @Elizabeth Still waiting for those screen captures.

  • Sebastien

    These screen caps DO NOT exist, Garth. She said she has them of me making death threats to lesbians. THESE ARE THE ONES I DEMAND TO SEE! Yeah, that's REALLY something I would do. Good God in Heaven. Michelle Walsh, Elizabeth Antunes, Poisoned Punch, Wakil Sidiq, Mohammad Abdul-Hussein Al-Addin, Viva la Tuna, Eating Popcorn, there are literally DOZENS more. Are ALL the same person. I really get a kick out of all these "copyright" infringements she files complaints on. Do you know how to "copyright" images? And I NEVER said "we are geniuses". Or the comment about "the names, the woman with many names is gonna get me" or whatever, or the dog comment i would own what i said in a HEARTBEAT. That's just stupid and immature. I'm damn sure not afraid of this crazy bitch-cunt from Hell. "Mercy of the Law". Yeah, you are, BITCH! Seabastien

  • Garth

    @Elizabeth Still waiting for those screen captures. Am I to assume you are a fraud?

  • Who knew her?

    Gibberish. Does anyone here on this post really KNOW Diamanda Galas? (wow, using all CAPS feels really good.) Really, can anyone of you who seem to know her look back into the past 10 to 30 years of her life and really say that you knew who this woman was? If you spent any substantial intimate time with her you should remember a woman who hates everyone and everything at the same time. Except herself. It's nothing personal, really, its just a condition. A brilliant musician maybe, but a crazy through and through. There is no logic to her hate, it is a spontaneous impulse, a result of a tortured youth,a genius mind, and psychosis. Sometimes it just stacks up like that. It's sad how the sick mind can be brought down so easily by some hack doctors who claim to treat the insane and a bunch of people who claim to be friends. Life is SO crazy. Garth?, Sebastien?, Yakin?, Carin?, Elizabeth?, Malakask? even Kaleidoscope? (or what ever your name is.) The list above of admirers and worshipers goes on and on, as does list of those who hate and despise her; often depending on how, when or for how long they knew her. If you did know her for thirty years or some fleeting moment, maybe a flash in HER pan, then you knew nothing of her. Sad really, she WAS such fun at a party and a real decent person for the most part, someone you might call a friend. She will be missed my some and unfortunately completely forgotten my many more.

  • Garth

    @Who knew her - I may be getting paranoid but your writing style is oddly familiar. Do try to change it up with your next pseudonym. I do find it strange that you call her a genius musician and in the same breath, or run-on sentence, mock her mental state.

    Irregardless, I will say three things. Firstly, I have known Diamanda for 15 years. Secondly, she is assuredly not insane. Thirdly, I have never known her to be fun at parties, with one exception which involved her chasing after a terrified Nina Hagan.

  • Garth

    @Elizabeth, I still haven't received those screen captures, you fraud.

  • Sebastien

    Oh Kuntiope, get over it! Move on. Stop writing all this crap under 20 different names. And you accuse Ms Galás of being crazy????? YOU, MY DEAR, TAKE THE CAKE!!!!! The really nutty one. So, go sell some cunt juice on eBay. OH!!! That's right!!! You are permanently banned from eBay, correct???? Toodles, psycho-stalker from Hell. Seb

  • Happy Endings

    In the face of hostility, say Let's go fishing next summer.(And in your mind, just for pretend, do an imitation of the backwoods Godfather: "Two went out and only one returned." Make sure you laugh at your own wry foolishness in trying to cope)

    Do not say, Sorry. Do not say, You are mean. Do not say anything that begins with the word Why? Do not say the word 'always.' Do not say the word 'never.'

    Do not instantly or slowly devolve into a whiney two year old. Remain grown up. No matter how old you are, act as though you are at leat 70 years old. This seriously helps. Trust me on this. The older I get, the older I act. I think in the face of harrassment, I now act like a solid 90 year old with a squinty eye and a cane as a potential weapon.

    If someone wants to bicker, reply 'I always admired Winston' (and say to yourself silently... not Churchill, but rather in the novel 1984 about Big Brother). Or, say, I hear the Circus is coming to town and we ought get tickets...(and to yourself identify said offender as whichever part of circus you imagine them to be already hired on).

    You also are expecting an important call and need to go outside RIGHT NOW to be 'in range' for your cell phone. You also have a twb, a teeny weenie bladder that means you have to go RIGHT NOW. You may also feel nauseated and have to lie down for a while away from others as this new and expensive medicine youre taking makes you dizzy and forgetful, and hopefully that one side effect of lunging with incisors gnashing at any sound over a whisper wont happen to you. But that the doctor said to be highly alert for this.

    If all else fails, stay short, love long, but from a distance. If the situation is dangerous, go not at all, and still bless down hard on anyone and everything you can, and then go be with humanlings who are decent and kind. There have been times in my life when strangers took me in who were far kinder than anyone I knew at that moment. This is, I think, because angels are near us always.

  • intervention

    "Happy Endings" AKA Miss Galas Seems like you smoking the same crack pipe that Sebastien and Garth and Tara are guys are so schizoid and stupid you fight amongst your own personalities, it's nice to know she has at least 3 fans on this planet

  • intervention


  • Garth

    @intervention that "philosophy" of meeting aggression with peace is not diamanda. she is more of a "fight fire with fire" type of person. i would think it obvious given the nature of her works but perhaps you are not familiar with them.

  • Who knew her?

    @ Garth… I can confirm that you are getting paranoid since you have never seen anything I have ever written or know who I am. You might want to lay off that weed for a few days it always works for me. I know it must come as strange to you but being insane does not preclude your from being a genius. Both can exist in the same person. Usually the insanity rules, and it’s just a gibbering mess on a street corner. But nowadays, in the twentyish century, if you know the right doctor, insanity can be tamed and focused. I might suggest you read some of the latest journal research in psycho pharmacology. A quick flip through the most recent DSM will convince you that the insane mind can be made relatively normal with the right chemical mix, I can vouch for that.

    What you fail to understand is that when Diamanda is finished with you, you are relegated to the trash bin regardless. If you are a fat pot-smoking Canadian hippy, she hates you. If you are a skinny sexy slitty pop star she hates you. If you don't agree with her she hates you. If you suck up just right to her tit she may admire you if her meds are all right and on board.

    I will say three last things. Firstly, I have known Diamanda for far more than 20 years, secondly she is indeed quite insane, you just do not know her. Thirdly, my comment about Diamanda being fun at a party was a joke as you aptly surmised. She is a nightmare at a party. She actually likes Nina Hagan regardless of what you may have been led to believe, she just hates parties. Relax, chill and take another hit off that bong…..see your really not that paranoid, just a bit ignorant. Just watch your back with Diamanda she may have already stabbed you and you don’t even know it.

  • Laetitia Maladrian

    I believe this explains Ms Amorphous' obsession with Diamanda Galas.
    She has literaly created twenty poems 120 photos and many collages
    of her and now that she is no longer creating she is destroying. This is what
    stalkers do. It is very sad. Her life must be HELL. To destroy what you want
    is the the most painful state for stalkers. And it does not end when they have killed
    the object of their obsession.

  • Laetitia Maladrian
  • Mamba

    Kalliope Amorphous is not a stalker and her life is not "hell" the last thing she wants is to have any contact with Ms Galas. I am her best friend of over ten years, for those that will think this is Kalliope feel free to go to my website and email me personally. My direct site address is

    Diamanda you know me as "Mamba" which is how I addressed myself on this post, as you have often said hello to me or asked Kalliope to say hello and even wanted to have a conversation with me, I still have an email from you on my facebook account that I will gladly reproduce to jog your memory.

    I work as a spiritual care assistant with people who are dying of AIDS or have terminal illnesses even though I am a Universal Spiritualist I care deeply about people and all these posts just made me physically ill.

    I was privy to what was going on between Ms Galas and Kalliope I was her confidant and have personally read over 200 emails that Ms Galas had written to Kalliope in just within 6 months, I also have listened to voicemails that were fairly questionable in a context of a heterosexual relationship.

    Let me put it this way as a heterosexual woman myself, I would not have had the type of intimacy with another woman that I have witnessed between Ms Galas and Kalliope Amorphous.

    Of course sometimes chemistry and things go wrong and or one party changes their mind, that is within the rights of the individuals involved. Give them their dignity and quit being insulting and obsessing about it saying things like "she don't eat tuna" that is just disgusting and not necessary...the lady "doth protest too much" and just creates more problems and drama. Enough are STRAIGHT Diamanda - WE BELIEVE YOU. Leave it at the curb. All I know is everything I have seen or read sure contradicts that, but then again, really this is not the issue and is not my point.

    However this is not what I am concerned about, in fact the fall out was amicable in the beginning and Kalliope did not want any problems. The breakdown came when Kalliope did not want Ms Galas to use the art photographs in any way, shape or form. This was the core of the hostility, mud slinging, and the assault of Kalliope's as a person. You dare not say "no" to Diamamda.

    Kalliope enforced her copyrights and Ms Gala's webs site was shut down for like only two hours, this enraged Ms Galas and afterwards a huge torrent of insults, threats, and a smear campaign came against Kalliope Amorphous.

    As for those that think she is making up alias here is my reply - PROVE IT- you have no proof and therefore no case, just more lies and smears as far as I know you could be doing all this yourselves.

    One of the last emails that Ms Galas wrote to Kalliope is that she will "ruin and destroy her" and in the context of these posts this is what has been going on.

    Why if you have a "stalker" would you antagonize the situation then act so scared for Ms Galas, if you really have a stalker it's a police matter, END OF STORY Yet ironically it is the person accused of being the stalker that has gone to the police. Quite ironic that if you are a "stalker" you will call various agencies to help you and fully expose yourself. And believe me this is being investigated and the truth will come out in the end.

    As for the various articles on Kalliope, first off this has no relation to Diamanda and is just another smear campaign. When Kalliope was younger she got involved in a cult when we intervened and got her out of it, she spoke up against the cult and they hired a well know Internet terrorist to discount her credibility. Please Google Joe Moreno if you do not believe me. She did have a room mate that sold things and they tried to implicate it was all her, She did not have the money to fight this legally and this stuff is still up. Diamanda knew all about this and actually thought it was hysterical and now it's being used against her.

    Diamanda I will guarantee 1000% percent that if you simply leave this girl alone you will never hear from her again and isn't this what you want or claim to want? Why did you mail a very close friend of hers to convey "a message" this was just a few days ago.

    As for the other associates of Ms Galas I have no beef with you, but hope you have more productive things to do with your lives, and I will not respond to petty insults or childish outbursts, nor will be baited in this ongoing travesty.
    TO @WHO KNEW HER - thank-you for speaking the TRUTH it helped bring closure if I may quote from him



    I knew the whole situation from beginning to end have you read the hundreds of emails (and I do mean hundreds) there is always that friend you confide in when you are going thru a relationship and I was THERE. It was not until the hostility crept in that everyone jumped in.

    The only people here I see stalking here are Ms Gala's friends and associates.

    May you get the justice you deserve.

    Ms Galas we are of the same age group, I am not resorting to any attacks or insults but please leave this girl alone. She is no threat to you and you know it.

    Dakini Kali aka Mambo Enka

  • Mamba

    @Garth the screen shots do exist but were seized as evidence along with a file folder so big everything had to be wheeled in a portable suitcase

  • P.I. Rhode Island

    Thank you Miss Kali. Your knowledge of this case will be useful to the investigation
    that is now being pursued in this cyberstalking issue. Please save every document
    you have.The truth will be required here and although you are not very articulate above,
    you have indicated that you have evidence since you have shared your e-mail openly
    here, unlike your colleague, who appears with you on your site here.
    You have also been implicated as a lover of Kalliope Amorphous by Ms. Amorphous,
    whose description of your own husband is on file..It may be your husband who talks nightly
    with a rather renowned journalist, whom Ms. Amorphous has indicated is HER stalker,
    and who has discussed with your husband his obesession with lesbians and and Ms.

    We need all this information. THank you for your generosity. Please try to retrieve
    the trunks of documentation you say are in the hands of the police. We
    have contacted them and they have no such documents as of yet.
    Thanks in advance.
    P.I. Z.Ramos Rhode Island

  • it’s sad but true

    I did not have time to read all of these postings but I worked for Diamanda and I want to say that what "Mamba" said is pretty much true. Love turned to hate pretty fast didn't it kalliope? It does for everyone in her life sooner or later. The girl wasn't and isn't a stalker. Diamanda adored her and now she hates her. The more she loves you the more she hates you when its over. It's in the music because it's her life. Guess she fell harder for Kalliope than we thought.

  • What the hell?

    How many online personalities does Kalliope have anyway?

  • The many voices of Ms. Galas

    Ok this is getting really funny. Anyone familiar with Diamanda’s writing style will be able to identify her many posts on this list under many names and there ARE many.

    ‘P.I. Rhode Island’ - which seems to be the latest. I laughed so hard I wet my panties - I guess she thinks that because that cracked up and cracked out facebook page she had got shut down no one will know just how strange she had become unless they were reading it?!? - Did she ever think that maybe someone was taking notes?

    ‘MALAKAS’- “CORNHOLE MAGGOT INFESTED FUCKERS” - my god I know she posted that on her facebook page once! - Someone ought to have the screen shot of that at the least! Or maybe ‘SEBASTIEN PLEASE WILL YOU’ – yes that was an actual identity….shut off this site! Surely by now Sebastian has been fired for not getting it right.

    ‘MORONS’ – “SHIT-INFESTED FUCKHEAD VERMIN AND…DEGENERATE INSECT LARVAE.” - LOL…..only Diamanda could boast a string of words like those in only one sentence (actually the beginning and end of one)… “THEY can choke on their own sperm infested VOMIT.”...a line from a yet to be released album from the singer herself, I think it has something to do with insects, Arachnids probably.

    ‘Con Fukius’ - maybe not last, but surely the least - “ConFukius say, "Sebastien need to shut up. He make big fool of himself and Diamanda. He simple-brained henchman. He think he know Diamanda, he not really know her yet." - I almost split my gut I laughed so hard. I think I might have even shit my undies.

    Anyway, what ever name she goes under beside her own you can be sure the language will be pretty fucking funny. So if you have nothing better to do, have a sick sense of humor, keep posted and keep reading along to see just how crazy it will get – and please stop posting unless it isn’t about Ms. Galas.

    Anyone interested in talking about censorship on this blog?

  • Agathos Christos

    What I'm interested in is this 'collaboration' between Diamanda Galás and David Wojnarowicz.


    I'd like to hear more about this collaboration. Nobody gives a damn about this blasé jilted lover crap.

    "Despite what some articles are reporting, Galas and Wojnarowicz never met, never collaborated. A friend of Wojnarowicz, Amy Scholder, confirms the two artists spoke a few times by telephone and admired each other's work, but that's it. Galas' music was never a part of any edit of Fire In My Belly by Wojnarowicz, a fact easily proved by Wojnarowicz's extensive notes and sketches for the work."


    One forgets; Ms. Galas portrays insanity, she does not suffer from it.


    Oh Xerxes, the reason she can portray insanity so convincingly is because she HAS experienced it. You should try it sometime. It isn't a bad thing. Heck a lot of my best friends are admittedly insane people and me as well.

    So unless you are her shrink and I really hoping you are not, you don't know shit. Who the fuck are you anyway?

  • MP

    Agathos Christos thank you for your post and the link to the salon piece. Appropriations happen all the time, most of the time people are to stupid or ignorant to catch it. Rappers do it all the time. Not that appropriations are wrong. Diamanda's audio and David's film is an almost perfect mix. Regardless if it was intended to be that way or not. Try watching it with and with out the audio. Art enhances art. Happens all the time.

  • CNN

    New York City (CNN) -- I want this article to break your heart. But it deals with a subject that has had a tough time of it in the break-everyone's-heart department. I'll bet that a number of you will be more angry at me than sympathetic by the time you finish reading it. If indeed you finish reading it.


    Here are 10 realities about AIDS, and I've learned them the hard way:

    1. AIDS is a plague -- numerically, statistically and by any definition known to modern public health -- though no one in authority has the guts to call it one.


    I have watched almost everyone I once knew die.





    There is no cure and the amount of money expended toward finding one is pathetically small.

    7. There is no incentive for pharmaceutical companies to find a cure since they are making billions selling, at highly inflated prices, the many anti-viral drugs that those infected must consume -- drugs that only keep us living but still infected just enough to continue to possibly still infect others.


    9. There is no one of any use really in charge of this plague, in America or anywhere else in the world -- and it is a worldwide plague by now -- and this lack of decent, responsible and humane leaders has been so since its beginning in 1981. They lie to us. I consider most of those who have been or are in charge as equal to murderers.



    30 years of HIV -- Three men reflect



    -- They also tell us we can't get legally married.

    -- They also tell us that we cannot legally adopt children.

    -- They also tell us religions will not recognize us.

    -- They also tell us we can't serve our country yet.

    -- They also tell us our real history cannot be taught in schools.

    -- They also tell us that gay students cannot organize in schools.

    -- They also tell us that people who murder us are not committing hate crimes.

    -- They also tell us we cannot insure our partners.

    -- They also tell us our partners are not legal.

    -- They also tell us we cannot have equal opportunities.

    -- They also tell us we can't kiss each other or hold each other's hands in public.

    -- They also tell us that our Supreme Court doesn't want to know about any of this, doesn't want to make us free and equal, doesn't want to honor the Bill of Rights.


    I could add a thousand more "they also's." I could expound and expand and add so many facts and figures to the above they'd put you to sleep. I helped start the two major AIDS organizations in America. I have watched almost everyone I once knew die.




    The opinions in this commentary are solely those of Larry Kramer.


    I am alive. Something most of you dirt-less windbags
    can't claim to be--the honorable Larry Kramer excepted.
    Who the fuck--not lately.


    I was drunk. I should not have taken Lord Kramer's name in vain. But I am just incensed by this whole thing.
    Diamanda is a saint. And when I met her, she was
    like Mother Teresa. Sure, she has an acerbic wit, but
    you all should lighten up. Elizabeth, she was being


    LIGHTS OUT....
    LIGHTS OUT....
    LIGHTS OUT....
    LIGHTS OUT....

  • This.was.interesting

    Wow this was an interesting and pretty strange comments list. Its funny how it turned into a whole thing about Diamandas personal life. The ex gf, lover or whatever looks like shes a tween though -- Diamanda Galas robbing the cradle LMAO! that should be the headline of these comments---or Diamanda Galas jilted by young hot chick lol crazy stuff but yeah the article about the bible and aids was totally right though

  • Se l’aura spira frescobaldi

    I want to address the issue of the censorship first: sometimes the only thing we need in a crisis situation is common sense.

    What is really going on?

    Before I go to Wojanrowicz and Galas, first lets be clear about how much freedom of speech we have, as in the US there is confusion about what is hate speech, fighting words etc. Canadians have more clarity about it.

    We have freedom of speech, as long as speech in not oppressive to someone else. If someone for ex. engages in ethnic slurs, it is oppressive.The tricky part for many people in general seems that many have no idea where is the difference between critique, protest, etc. is and the spirit of revenge, hate and intollerance.

    Critique is not just the same as venting personal hostilities, no matter how "beautifully" it is expresed. If it is expression of personal hostilities, it is more a personal act of psychoteraphy than art. Art requires more effort in transcending things, if not, it can become an act of oppression. Yes, certain forms of human creativity can be oppressive to others.

    For example representation of Japanese American in the movie Breakfast at Tiffany is oppressively bad, and some screanings were canceled before because of this.Or some other movies, like the the Birth of a Nation, or gender biaseds movies of the 50ies, strange things people were accepting than, without much questioning.

    How about Wojnarowicz video? It depends: the reading of it can be altered strongly by inclusion of Galas' music.If the movie is silent, it is an open work of art, and there is sense of despair, pain, and abandonment many people can relate on many levels, and can be interpreted on various levels too.(How we treat spiritual/ethical principles, how we treat others who suffer,etc,etc). Add to it Galas' music, and at once the movie it totally limited. It is a very unfortunate combination, and I am not sure what was really going on, as there are conflicting reports about the video exhibited. in the media, if it w as silent or not.So far I know Wojnarowicz kept extensive notes, but his notes regarding this movies didn't include Galas' score.(I didn't call Wojnarowicz estate to confirm, so, I am not sure).

    Would he include it if he was among us today? Maybe. Maybe not. The issue here is not about the ants: those are wonderful creatures, they simply have no capacity of understanding.

    What is the problem with Galas score:it is simply mentally limited act. Passive agressive act, which may started out of compassion for AIDS sufferers, but turned into an act of hate and revenge. Don't tell me every AIDS suffer feels like this, that this is the voice everyone can identify with. She took a part of a book which is part of Christian religious tradition, and most of all also a part of Jewish history, and Jewish indentity. She took words and delivered them in a sadistic sounding voice. (I find this piece anti_Semitic).

    Take millenia old thing about public health issues among people in the desert area, many of them nomadic than, and make it to an artistic statement dripping with hate.Any communication student, or add agency employee would be smarter than this, to know how such message can be read by the audience.The ideas was ill conceived.(By the way, Rromani people still have nomadic-style prescriptions about cleanines). But maybe the curator didn't know that lyrics were from Leviticus.
    What a mess...

    Some people were offended.

    Should we censor their emotional response, in the name of non-censorship for an artist? I don't think so, as it would indicate double standards, and be a situation similar to events before sexual harassement policies, when the harassers were censoring others' responses. This exhibit is a sign of compassion toward persecuted minority, but it shouldn't became an occasion for spitting in any direction.

    Should a creative individual say anything, to anyone, whenever he/she pleases in the name of art (or whatsever, wounded ego even?)? I don't think so. People are equal. Exercising healthy sense of boundaries is important in this case too. Some maturity please, usage of frontal lobes is good for everyone, it goes for art too. Everyone, every person deserves to be treated with dignity.

  • Se l’aura spira frescobaldi

    As for using the word "plague," I oppose it. Pandemic is a cleaner word,yes, less of dramatic-hysteric kind, but kinder toward HIV positive/AIDS suffers themselves.

    As for Galas as a genius: in my oppinion she is not one. Not going to lengthy explanations here this time.

    And the irony is that Catholic Church also promotes the idea of monogamy, which is even less radical what Larry Kramer first suggested at old times. (And I am not advising against condoms here).Check out HIV/AIDS statistics among Catholics around the world. Certain stuff is better known by WHO professionals and medical anthropologists, than by certain journalists, etc. Strange? Maybe. Food for thought? Yes.


    You still are all so stupid it hurts my brain to think about you (your vitriolic response to Galas' genius.

  • Salmonella Fashionista von Rosenbaum

    If people here and anywhere else would just stop equating 'Lady' Diamanda Gaga, Gallo...-I mean Galás- with gay rights, gay and/ or AIDS-activism...She has nothing to do with the majority of us...NOTH!NG.

    Light up, grow up!

  • Salmonella Fashionista von Rosenbaum

    Ps. What on earth is this ?
    Scroll down to view screenshots of a rant that has appeared on a Facebook page for Diamanda.

    We have Diamanda here (if in fact it is her) whining about a stalker and not being able to afford an attorney, but who at the same time apparently finds it OK to talk in public about beating to death and killing another woman, Celia Farber -a prominent AIDSjournalist, or have her killed by alligators, while making a snuff film. Oh please! I'm so sorry that bad things happen to innocent little angels like you, little innocent Diamanda....

    What do I also see? -A Kalliope Amorphous cheering(foolishly) with *like*?!

    Again: GROW UP! Seriously....

  • Salmonella Fashionista von Rosenbaum

    XERXES, and you are Einstein...?!

  • Salmonella Fashionista von Rosenbaum

    PPS: I believe that Lady Diamanda claims to be an "AIDS-activist." Has she ever brought your attention to the insert material of the so-called "HIV-Tests"?

    -I cite: "At present there is no recognized standard for establishing the presence or absence of antibodied to HIV-1 or HIV-2 in human blood.

    "So far" are we after more than 25 years with "AIDS."


  • A Video Expose On Diamanada Galas Premires Today!

    It needs to end NOW Diamanda everything you have said about Kalliope is a lie


    PS Here are the screen shots!

  • Agathos Christos

    More flattering quotes from her first Facebook page, quotes found here:


    Oh, and don't forget these 2 links in case you missed them:

  • Kalliope Amorphous

    Diamanda, do you really think I WANT to reveal my personal life in order to counteract your lies? I have waited FIVE MONTHS for you to stop your obsession and your lies. I have shut my mouth and sat back and watched you bring up my name again and AGAIN, as you manipulated everything you possibly could to make people believe I am your "stalker" WHILST you have been stalking me and obsessing over me. What is your problem? Do you think it is glamorous to have me as a "stalker"? It's sick. I told you to move on and I meant it.

    Every week, the Google alert on my name brings up YOUR NAME. WHY? Because under every article about you, there you are talking about me. Every critical comment made by anyone is an opportunity for you to say "Oh Dear, my stalker Kalliope Amorphous is back". You have done this under your own name and under aliases: EVERY IP ADDRESS TRACED BACK TO YOU. Two of the newspapers confirmed this and I thank them.

    So, you want to keep playing this and making a public spectacle with your lies? OK. Here's the truth:

    What you did here, was the last straw:

    You have lied to your fans (and probably everyone in your life). You could not move on and now I am forced to expose MY LIFE and YOUR LIFE to negate your FIVE MONTH LONG TIRADE OF LIES. You initiated this. You insisted on making it a matter of public interest and now the truth has to be shown. You have far more to hide than I do, but that's probably why this whole mess started in the first place.


  • scrivetemi


  • to be cont here
  • The truth about me Michelle Walsh aka Kalliopae/Kalliope Amorphous

    Here's the truth.....

  • Fabulous

    Wow. What a thread. Ya gotta love it. The Great Diamanda Galás reduced to imitating herself over and over and over again. How many of her voices appear above? Let us count the ways . . . . But VERY VERY SAD, actually. Especially that her life and legacy have been reduced to this absolute TRASH. Much worse, though, is that the work of David Wojnarowicz and the tragedy of the AIDS epidemic -- our "brothers of blood and sisters of compassion" -- have both been trivialized by the likes of this spoiled California girl.

  • Mamba

    Everything is addressed in this video and a special update will be announced soon. There has been an out pouring of support for Kalliope and Diamanda three to five fans have nothing to say about it.


    Sal, Diamanda is the only great genius.

  • Homer C.

    Part 3 of continues here.

    Here is a blog containing an overwhelming amount of evidence here:

  • Carlos Cueto Ledesma

    Pobrecita de Kalliope, por favor, entiéndanla, justifíquenla... ella sufre muuuucho con todo esto, es una graaan artista y no merece taaanto sufrimiento, taaanta difamación...TANTA PUBLICIDAD !!!!!!!

    Kalliope Chinga tu madre !!!! entiende que no puedes y no podrás por más que desperdicies tu tiempo en publicar páginas enteras llenas de porquería y mentiras, manchar lo que Diamanda se ha ganado a base de talento y trabajo duro.

    Se ve que todo esto ya lo tenías preparado ya que empezaste a guardar imágenes desde el principio, pero te diré algo, este tipo de publicidad es efímera. Las imagenes y las tantas pruebas que publicas no hacen más que demostrar el gran enojo que existía y que existe hacia tí. Quisiste utilizar a Diamanda para darle a tu carrera algún impulso pero por qué ???.. no puedes luchar por algo propio ???.. La reacción lógica de cualquier persona frente a un comportamiento como el tuyo es este, Diamanda es coherente con lo que dice, piensa y hace, al contrario de lo que muchos dicen y por lo que muchos se espantan, yo estoy orgulloso de su actuar ya que es lógico. Qué esperabas ?... una felicitación ?... un gracias ?... nooo, por menos que eso una mentada de madre y todo el desprestigio que te mereces por querer sacar partido de alguien que de manera sincera te brindó un lugar donde pudieras platicar directamente con ella ( y que gracias a tí muuucha gente ya no puede hacerlo ) y vender tus pendejos perfumes.

    Pero esto seguirá y con todo gusto yo también seguiré.

    Vamos, muéstrale a la gente como sufres, que sientan lástima por tí, quizás ese sea tu único talento.

  • VC

    I just want to say I think it is despicable how Galas maligned this young girl. I looked at all the websites read quite a bit and can only see one person getting harassed and stalked by a crew. If you know anything about cyberstalking this is always the way it is and is the first thing they look 4. Kaliope seems like a talented young woman, has an overwhelming amount of evidence against Diamanda and her employees. Ihope this goes to court but it already looks like Diamanda ruined her own career by her obsession with this young girl. What a real shame to read some of the things i just saw