Inquirer reinstalls artwork

An art exhibition removed from The Inquirer's first-floor public room on Monday following employee objections and confusion over its content has been reinstalled on the 18th floor of the newspaper building at 400 N. Broad St.

The dismantling of Aleksandra Mir's "Newsroom 2009," which consisted of eight large mock Inquirer section fronts, was the result of several misunderstandings, according to officials at The Inquirer and at Peregrine Arts, the exhibit's presenter.

The faux fronts featured material drawn directly from the newspaper's archives, but reconfigured by the highly regarded artist in sometimes jarring, sometimes humorous fashion.

Zeroing in on a fragmented and veiled portrayal of women in news, advertisements, captions, and photos, the exhibit was mounted as part of Peregrine's Hidden City, a festival of performances and exhibitions taking place at historic venues throughout Philadelphia this month.

"Newsroom 2009" will be open to the public on weekends from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. until the end of June.

Mir has been in Italy and unavailable for comment.

Jay Devine, an Inquirer spokesman, said the newspaper would honor its agreements with Peregrine and had worked with the presenter to relocate the exhibit. A spokeswoman for Peregrine said the exhibition would continue as planned at The Inquirer. She had no further comment.

Still unresolved was how to replace a stack of mock Inquirer sections that had been printed as exhibit takeaways. The sections were discarded Monday after newspaper officials thought they represented some kind of joke or prank.

Some employees had complained about the mock fronts, which were not accompanied by identifying labels and featured such images as tussling female roller-derby players next to blocks of news text discussing female "political power brokers."

The 18th floor of the Inquirer and Daily News Building, in the iconic white tower, is largely unused these days. In the past, it served as a home base for special projects.

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