Kitimbwa Sabuni, spokesperson for the National Afro-Swedish Association, probably said it best when he described this incident to a Swedish paper as a "racist spectacle."
Sweden's minister of culture, Adelsohn Liljeroth, participated in an art installation that took place at Stockholm's Moderna Museet in connection with World Art Day on April 15.
The Local reports that as part of the event, which was reportedly meant to highlight the issue of female circumcision, Liljeroth began cutting a large cake shaped like a black woman, symbolically starting at the clitoris, in a ceremony that has sparked outrage and prompted calls for her dismissal.
"According to the Moderna Museet, the 'cake party' was meant to problematize female circumcision, but how that is accomplished through a cake representing a racist caricature of a black woman complete with 'black face' is unclear," Sabuni said in a statement. He went on to say that the mere fact that the minister participated in the event, which he argued was also marked by "cannibalistic" overtones, betrays her "incompetence and lack of judgment." "Her participation, as she laughs, drinks and eats cake, merely adds to the insult against people who suffer from racist taunts and against women affected by circumcision," he added.
Liljeroth reportedly defended her actions, saying, "I understand quite well that this is provocative and that it was a rather bizarre situation."
"Bizarre" would be an understatement. You have to see — and hear — the footage of this horrifying "cake party" to believe it.
Read more at the Local.
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