Helsinki (AFP)

An art exhibition inspired by Michael Jackson opened Tuesday in Helsinki, its organizers ensuring that it was not to "glorify" the singer, still pursued by allegations of sexual assault, ten years after his death.

"Michael Jackson: On the Wall" brings together ancient and unpublished works of art that represent the king of pop and its impact on popular culture by artists such as Andy Warhol, American photographer David LaChapelle and British ceramist Grayson Perry .

The rich exhibition of 90 works was first presented in 2018 at the National Portrait Gallery in London, where it was very well received by critics. She then shot in Paris, Bonn (Germany) and now Helsinki in Finland.

The German and Finnish exhibitions take place after a new round of charges against Michael Jackson.

In a shocking documentary broadcast earlier this year by the American television channel HBO, "Leaving Neverland", two men say they were victims of repeated sexual assault by the star when they were children, in his property spooky a few hours from Los Angeles.

The organizers, however, said the exhibition would be presented in the Finnish capital "as planned" and would be introduced with a text explaining that "ongoing debates may have changed the way the exhibition can be interpreted".

"We can not shy away from these difficult issues and of course we condemn any type of sexual assault," Aroo Miller, head curator of the Espoo Museum of Modern Art, told AFP.

"But we want to provide a space for free discussions where artists can express themselves," she added. "This exhibition and these artists do not glorify Michael Jackson but analyze its importance in our culture".

According to Arja Miller, some organizations concerned about these controversies refused to sponsor the exhibition, without having seen it.

"I am sure that if they had seen the exhibition, they would have agreed to be our partners, because it shows a wide variety of works," she told AFP.

Many of the works inspired by Michael Jackson play with the riotous and the grotesque, like the giant golden statue of the superstar with his domestic chimpanzee, Bubbles, created by Paul McCarthy, and the full size portrait commissioned by Kehinde Wiley by Michael Jackson shortly before his death in 2009 and staged on horseback, in shiny armor and surrounded by cherubs.

For the Romanian artist Dan Mihaltianu, who has been interested in the influence of the singer in post-communist Bucharest, Michael Jackson "will always remain an icon, it is impossible to make it disappear". "Ten years after his death, we approach his story in another way."

© 2019 AFP