Svenska Dagbladet reports on Lars Vilks controversy
From Baron Bodissey's post at Gates of Vienna I learned of the controversy over three drawings by a Swedish artist of Mohammed as a rondellhund (här på svenska). The organizers of Swedish exhibition of art featuring dogs in Karlstad withdrew three drawings by artist Lars Vilks because of concerns over how Muslims would react to the portrayals of Mohammed.
Svenska Dagbladet first featured a very brief report on 20 July 2007 from the TT wire service, from which I translate this quote by exhibition organizer Märta Wennerström:
We didn't understand how serious this was at first. Now we know that it is an incredible insult to represent the prophet Mohammed as a dog.
SvD followed on 21 July 2007 with a story by a named reporter (Bosse Brink), from which I translated a quote in my comments on the GoV post. Here's the wider context of that quote as given in SvD:
[MW:] I think that the drawings are good. But there is also a fear hear at the homestead museum that it [their showing] will lead to problems and uproar.
[BB/SvD:] Is this another example of compliance [undfallenhet] and self-censorship within the art world in the wake of the publication of the Mohammed drawings in the Jyllands-Posten?
[MW:] Yes, of course it is, I think they should still be there [in the exhibition]. But I was compliant [undfallen].
Note that I translated undfallen[het] as "compliance" and "compliant" in the above quote. It could also be translated 'submissive[ness]', which seemed appropriate to the question but sounded funny in Wennerström's answer. Comments on the translation (by email, as I have no time to monitor comments on the blog) are welcome.
posted by Melchior Sternfels v. Fuchshaim at 8:13 PM ܍
