Gates of Vienna: Swedish Muslims Will Exhibit the Modoggies

Saturday, August 18, 2007

Swedish Muslims Will Exhibit the Modoggies

by Baron Bodissey

Our Swedish corrsespondent Carpenter sent us an email this morning with the latest on the Modoggie affair:

TT (Tidningarnas Telegrambyrå, the Swedish news agency) reported yesterday that the network of SEMUS (Sekulära Muslimer i Sverige = Secular Muslims in Sweden) is about to exhibit Vilks’ Mohammed-drawings in a gallery. A sign of moderation?
The dispatch was published in many newspapers, among them Helsingborgs Dagblad.

Here’s Carpenter’s translation of the article in question:

Muslims exhibit Vilks’ Mohammed drawings
Muslims now want to exhibit Lars Vilks’ drawings of the prophet Mohammed as a dog. A balanced debate on the artwork is needed, the initiators think
[...]
It’s the network Sekulära Muslimer i Sverige (Semus) and the magazine Minaret who together have initiated the exhibition of the much-discussed dog drawings
"This will happen on an established stage for music and culture in Stockholm. Negotiations are going on; I think it’ll be finished next week," says Hooman Anvari of Semus to TT.
More than that he doesn’t want to say as yet, but he considers the chance that the exhibition will take place to be good.

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“In part because there’s a public interest for a balanced discussion on this matter, and in part because Lars Vilks has agreed to take part,” says Hooman Anvari.
This is the third try for the drawings during a short period. Exhibitiors in Värmland and Bohuslän earlier have said no to showing them.
Hooman Anvari himself thinks the drawings are disgusting, but he wants them exhibited anyway.
“The intention is to create a balanced debate on free spech, freedom of religion and democracy. These issues tend to get polarized if one doesn’t handle the debate in a good way.”

Gates of Vienna: Swedish Muslims Will Exhibit the Modoggies