When the Dutch secret services documented in installation artist Jill Magid's show at Tate Modern turned up to permanently confiscate the exhibits at the end of the run, it provided a fitting conclusion.
Called Authority to Remove, the key item they swiped was a manuscript which had been blacked out and sealed behind glass weeks before. The show itself represented the final chapter of Magid's four-year project to create texts and audio-visual works revealing the "human face" of intelligence forces in the Netherlands.
Jill Magid's manuscript being removed from the exhibition by Dutch authorities
The General Intelligence and Security Service had already imposed strict conditions on Magid's work, and they remain reportedly hostile to her plans to write a novel about her experiences inside the covert operation.
Curators and staff had been instructed to let the government henchmen ransack the gallery by Magid, who was left with mixed feelings.
"This raises questions about the nature of commissioning," she reflected.
"My brief was to reveal the face of the organisation – I felt I did just that. It feels strange to have written a book which will never be read."
Pictures © Amy Dickson
