Art Censorship Swedish Style: Gallery Owner Charged with

Aug 1, 2014

Swedish art gallery owner Henrik Rönnquist returns to discuss the latest news concerning art censorship in Sweden. Last we spoke, Dan Park a Swedish artist, was arrested and sentenced to jail for his street art. When Park uploaded pictures on his blog to tell his fans what was going on - he received another prison sentence for doing so. Henrik recently had a private art exhibit which featured several of Dan Park’s pieces. During the day of the showing, both protestors and police were standing in front of the gallery. Protestors were screaming “Nazi swine,” “fascist” and “racist” from the streets behind the police barricade. Henrik talks about what happened when the cops eventually stormed his gallery, arrested Dan Park again and left with 9 pieces of art 30 minutes into the showing. Henrik was told by the police that he wasn’t being arrested “out of consideration for the opening” but he indeed was facing charges. He’ll discuss what he is being charged for and why this particular art is creating such an uproar in “tolerant” “anti-fascist” Sweden. Henrik talks about why freedom of art must be free. He is prepared to fight this all the way, although he’s facing violent threats and financial loss. We’ll also hear about the African-Swedish Association who headed the hate crime accusation. Rönnquist says what’s happening in Sweden now is very, very dangerous and Sweden is heading towards dictatorship. He makes the comparison to the book The Whisperers: Private life in Stalin’s Russia. Meanwhile, Sweden’s welfare system is crumbling and immigrants are arriving daily with no papers and getting entitlements that even Swede’s do not get.

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