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D.C. Art Gallery Protests Video Removal From National Portrait Gallery

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The Smithsonian's decision to remove a controversial video from an exhibit earlier this week has sparked a 24-hour protest at a Washington art gallery.

Barbara Escobar, the manager of Transformer Art Gallery in the District's Logan Circle, says they're holding the protest against what she calls "censorship" by the Smithsonian for removing the video from an exhibit.

The Smithsonian decided to remove the video after complaints from conversative groups that the video, titled "A Fire in My Belly," was sacrilegious. The 30-minute video shows ants crawling on a crucifix and curators say it was meant to portray someone suffering from AIDS.

Escobar says they will show a four-minute excerpt from the video in its storefront window every day until it's reinstated at the National Portrait Gallery.

The gallery is also organizing a silent protest march this evening to the Smithsonian.

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