On 15 April 2012, images showing Sweden’s Minister of Culture, Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth, cutting into a cake in the shape of a naked black woman have led to an outcry across the country and online. The art installation marking World Art Day, created by Makode Aj Linde, was meant to highlight female genital mutilation, as the Minister can be seen cutting into the reproductive region of the exhibit.
According to Al Jazeera website, the National Afro-Swedish Association has called for the minister’s resignation, describing the event as a “racist spectacle.” Feminist movements and African women published statement and articles against this installation, like The missing ingredient in Sweden’s racist-misogynist cake, written by the Kenyan artist and activist Shailja Patel.
Read this article and more on this issue below:
>> The missing ingredient in Sweden’s racist-misogynist cake, written by Shailja Patel
>> In Sweden, firestorm over cake art installation (Al Jazeera)
>> Swedish minister denies claims of racism over black woman cake stunt (The Guardian)