Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth Cake Controversy: Swedish Minister Of Culture Slammed For 'Racist' Cake (VIDEO)

Sweden's minister of culture Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth found herself in a sticky situation after photos of her cutting into a cake depicting a naked black woman sparked an uproar.

The Local, Sweden's English language newspaper, reports that the taxpayer-funded party took place on April 15th as a celebration of World Art Day. According to Sweden's daily newspaper Dagens Nyheter, the minister has received demands for her resignation after she kicked off the event by slicing into the cake.

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As party-goers cut into the cake-woman's body, a human head screamed in pain.

The performance artist responsible for portraying the cake's head, a man (yes, a man) identified by The Local as Makode Aj Linde, posted a comment alongside a photo of the cake on his Facebook page.

"This is After getting my vagaga mutilated by the minister of culture, Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth," Linde wrote. "Before cutting me up she whispered "Your life will be better after this" in my ear."

Many were quick to condemn the installation as racist.

"[The minister's] 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," Kitimbwa Sabuni, spokesperson for the National Afro-Swedish Association, said in a statement.

According to the daily Svenska Dagbladet, Linde believes that the National Afro-Swedish Association misunderstood his artwork.

The installation "was reportedly meant to highlight the issue of female circumcision," The Local reports.

According to the World Health Organization, about 140 million girls and women are living with the consequences of female genital mutilation, which has no health benefits and is generally carried out when girls are between infancy and 15-years-old. Amnesty International explains:

Female genital mutilation is the removal of part or all of the external female genitalia. In its most severe form, a woman or girl has all of her genitalia removed and then stitched together, leaving a small opening for intercourse and menstruation. It is practiced in 28 African countries on the pretext of cultural tradition or hygiene.

You can watch the installation in the video below.

UPDATE: This post has been edited to update our sources.

Comments

[Angela Gendron Aguero]

01:47 PM on 11/16/2012

I can't believe this. If the culture minister and the others in that room didn't react with disgust immediately, then there is something severely wrong with their judgment. I don't care who "designed" this "installation" or what the "interpretation" was supposed to be. It is inexcusably offensive.

[bosse]

10:02 PM on 09/09/2012

Pus eating sweedish bitches, I know they love black men now no sex discrimination

[Havana Thinks]

11:36 AM on 05/04/2012

Why was the face so outlandish? It was wrong!

[ArsalanTWIT]

12:17 PM on 04/23/2012

so so strange! why was the cake there in the first place

[JustTheFacts4Me]

02:17 AM on 04/23/2012

Why would she, or the artist, even THINK of doing this? I found her laughing while cutting the "cake" bizarre and offensive. How is FGM funny - EVER. Especially if you say you are against it. She clearly has zero judgement and a disturbing sense of humor.

[Sockme]

04:14 AM on 04/22/2012

Typical US response to something like this - looking for rac.ism everywhere.

The performance art was designed and acted by a black man. The point was to draw attention to the fact that millions of young girls have their gen.it.als cut each year. In this sense it was quite effective.

[HeidiDahl]

05:27 PM on 04/24/2012

Right, black men have never been implicated in the oppression of black women, of course.

[OH canada]

01:19 AM on 04/22/2012

white people have a cancer (racism) in their soul, I'm convinced it is innate and it will never change

[Sockme]

04:10 AM on 04/22/2012

Which is why it was designed and performed by a black man.

[Sockme]

04:15 AM on 04/22/2012

So you are convinced white people are innately inferior hmm who's the raci.st again?

[rissole]

12:51 AM on 04/22/2012

It did draw attention to female genital mutilation, and that's a good thing.

[jonny dipstick]

11:55 PM on 04/21/2012

Are you sure this wasn't to try and bring this topic to light? It did do that. I wonder a few things. Why is this practice not stopped by the women there when they get older? Isn't it obvious that the mutilation doesn't do what they thought it would do? Can't they just know that or see that? What kind of messed up person would knowingly mutilate their kid? Especially if it happened to them? Lastly, how did the cake taste?

[rangerdan107]

03:11 PM on 04/21/2012

Offensive, probably, but it got all of your attention didn't it. Now transfer all of your outrage to the act of female mutilation.

[teagoddess]

12:50 PM on 04/21/2012

Look at the representation of the African woman as basically a white American stereotype of Africans of the most offensive order. This is a form of sensationalism crafted solely to give the artist more exposure through creating a controversial, offensive representation of a serious problem being carried out in tribes in Africa. What is the relevance of this white, privileged woman cutting into this cake and laughing about it?

Genital mutilation should not be a source of humor. I can't understand anyone defending this as a vehicle for raising awareness of a horrific practice. This could have been accomplished in a way that is RESPECTFUL TO THE VICTIMS.

[jandos]

01:57 PM on 04/21/2012

How do you make this an issue of American stereotypes when it took place in Sweden?

[airmikee99]

03:25 PM on 04/21/2012

You realize the cake was designed and made by a black man, right?

[teagoddess]

12:38 PM on 04/21/2012

I'm amazed at the number of people defending this work and the behavior of the Minister and attendants. This makes a mockery of the subject of gential mutiliation. IT'S A STUNT!

[giallo1]

12:25 PM on 04/21/2012

For everyone who has been excusing this art - insisting it's not racist, not even taking into account the thoughts or feelings of the people who are offended by this - listen up.

Even more than the cake (which I find extremely distasteful, what REALLY sickens and saddens me is that the people standing in the room are LAUGHING. Laughing as they cut the cake and the woman screams in agony. Can someone who's defending this please explain to me how this is ever funny. If the artist was intending to make a point about genital mutilation, it was completely lost - you can tell by the reactions of the people in the room.

So everyone telling offended people to just lighten up and defending this exposition: how do you explain the laughing? And do you yourself find it funny? If you had a loved one who was hurt by something you did but you didn't really understand why, would you continue to do it or would you stop to prevent hurting someone you cared about. People should not immediately discount the feelings of people who perceive racism or discrimination in certain situations, you can't just tell them to be quiet and not even try to understand - it's insensitive and unkind.

[PhloxJeana]

11:55 AM on 04/21/2012

It's pretty tasteless to have the cake form of a woman to slice up, much less "cannabalize." But if the cake wasn't a cake, if it was a decoration on a lawn, there's be a HUGE backlash because of the racist characiture of an African woman.

Good art is controversial and this is one piece intended to drive home the terrible subject. For me, this evokes repulsion on two levels yet I'm impressed that the artist can evoke such a strong response in me from such a benign medium.

[jonny dipstick]

11:57 PM on 04/21/2012

I was thinking that as well.

[benkerr77]

11:58 PM on 04/21/2012

Good art is controversial? Beg to differ! Monet, Da Vinci, Rembrandt, and Kinkade. Those are popular artist with "good art," hardly offensive or controversial. This cake is hardly art and begs attention therefore it has to be controversial because it is NOT good. You know who else likes to be controversial?....Terrorist.

[PhloxJeana]

12:44 AM on 04/22/2012

That doesn't even make sense. Monet, Da Vinci, and Rembrandt were masters of their media. They made beauty out of raw materials. Kinkade was a hack who make Hallmark card-looking paintings from commercial canvas with commercial paint. There are no masters anymore, there's only imitation or interpretation, both of which (if done well) have a controversial spark. And none of this has anything to do with terrorists. What a knee-jerk way to "julianni" a post.

[bkhart]

04:50 PM on 04/22/2012

Monet, Rembrandt, and Da Vinci were all controversial in their times, and Kinkade is being remembered for some of his antics while intoxicated. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/12/thomas-kinkades-troubled-past_n_1421117.html

[Unplugyourself]

08:58 AM on 04/21/2012

Anything that sheds light on this horrific issue is good for the world. Too bad she just ended her career.

[PhloxJeana]

11:57 AM on 04/21/2012

He, the artist was a male.