A Fire in My Belly is an unfinished American avant-garde film directed by David Wojnarowicz.
It leads into pairs of repeated images: beggars and police officers, sugar skulls and a painting of a human sacrifice, and mummies and a tombstone.
Its production happened during a turning point in his career, as his partner Peter Hujar died from AIDS in 1987 and Wojnarowicz tested positive for HIV.
[4] In November 2010, after consultation with National Portrait Gallery director Martin Sullivan and co-curator David C. Ward but not co-curator Jonathan David Katz,[5] Smithsonian Institution Secretary G. Wayne Clough removed the film from the exhibition in response to complaints from the Catholic League, U.S. House Minority Leader John Boehner, Representative Eric Cantor and the possibility of reduced federal funding for the Smithsonian.
"[13] He said that because of the controversy surrounding the footage and the possibility that it might "spiral out of control", the Smithsonian might have been forced to shut down the entire "Hide/Seek" exhibition, and that was "something he didn't want to happen.
"[6] I think it was very important to cut off the dialogue that was headed towards, in essence, hijacking the exhibit away from us and putting it into the context of religious desecration.
[5] In response, The Andy Warhol Foundation, which had provided a $100,000 grant to the exhibition, announced that it would not fund future Smithsonian projects.
[25] The artist AA Bronson sought to withdraw his art from the exhibit, with support from the lending institution, the National Gallery of Canada,[26] but was unsuccessful.
[35][36][37] On January 20, 2011, the Center of Study of Political Graphics held a protest at the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art.
[38] Clough issued a statement standing by the decision, spoke at a Town Hall Los Angeles meeting,[39][40] and appeared at a public forum on April 26–27, 2011.