A painting depicting a couple making love while covered in Quranic verses was removed from a Swedish museum this week after hundreds of complaints, some threatening, from Muslims who found it offensive, officials said Thursday.
| I can see removing it because it's stoopid and tasteless... |
The painting, "Scene d'Amour," by Louzla Darabi, was removed Monday from an exhibit about AIDS at the World Culture Museum in Goteborg in southern Sweden. More than 400,000 of Sweden's 9 million residents are Muslim, and the museum received some 700 complaints about the painting, including some that were threatening. Museum director Jette Sandahl said the painting was removed because it was detracting attention from the exhibit. "We were having so many conversations with the audience about that painting, and it was getting more and more intense," Sandahl said. "It shifted the focus from HIV and AIDS, which is what the exhibit is about."
| Obviously it's not about art... |
The exhibit, which contains about 500 works of art, is meant to highlight the human tragedy of AIDS but also contains sections focusing on hope and desire. Sandahl said "Scene d'Amour" was meant to "be a celebration of erotic love." The painting was replaced by another work by Darabi, that also contains an erotic scene but without Islamic verses. Darabi could not be reached for comment. |