A right-wing Brazilian lawmaker, Danilo Balas of Jair Bolsonaro's Liberal Party, filed a complaint with the São Paulo state prosecutor's office (MPSP) against the Museu de Arte de São Paulo (Masp) over its exhibition *La Chola Poblete: Pop Andino*, alleging religious offense. The complaint, supported by a Change.org petition that gathered over 12,000 signatures, targeted works from the series *Vírgenes cholas*, which blends Andean and Catholic iconography with queer and trans perspectives. The MPSP dismissed the complaint on 3 June, ruling it was based on "abstract conjecture" and that the prosecutor's role is not to replace curatorial judgment.
The dismissal matters because it reaffirms the coexistence of artistic freedom and religious freedom in Brazil, a principle the museum defended as fundamental. The case highlights ongoing tensions between conservative political forces and contemporary art institutions, especially when works engage with religious symbols and marginalized identities. The exhibition, curated by Masp's artistic director Adriano Pedrosa, had already gained international attention at the 2024 Venice Biennale, where Poblete received a special mention for the same series, underscoring the global stakes in local censorship battles.