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Snow White and the Madness of Truth

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The installation Snow White and the Madness of Truth.

Snow White and the Madness of Truth (Swedish: Snövit och sanningens vansinne) was a 2004 item of installation art by Swedish, Israeli-born composer and musician Dror Feiler and his Swedish wife, artist Gunilla Sköld-Feiler. Feiler and Sköld-Feiler created the visuals and the music for the artwork together, which was installed in the Swedish History Museum in Stockholm, Sweden.

The installation consisted of a long pool of water coloured blood red, upon which floated a small white boat named "Snövit" ("Snow White") carrying a smiling portrait of Hanadi Jaradat, a Palestinian suicide bomber who killed 21 Jewish and Arab Israelis, and injured 51 more.[1]

A text was written on the walls, and the sound of Bach's Mein Herze schwimmt im Blut (Cantata 199) played in the background. This piece begins with the words, "My heart swims in blood / because the brood of my sins / in God's holy eyes / makes me into a monster". According to the artists, the installation was made to "call attention to how weak people left alone can be capable of horrible things".

The artwork became the centre of some controversy when then Israeli ambassador to Sweden, Zvi Mazel, vandalized it, claiming that it "glorified suicide bombers" and was "an expression of hatred for the Israeli people."[1] Reactions to the piece have been compared[by whom?] to reactions to Steve Earle's song "John Walker's Blues", which appeared on his 2002 album Jerusalem.[2]

Controversy

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In early 2004 the artwork briefly came to the attention of the international media after it was vandalized on January 16 by Zvi Mazel, the Israeli ambassador to Sweden. Mazel disconnected the electricity powering the installation and tipped one of its lights into the water, causing a short circuit. When Mazel was asked to leave he refused and had to be escorted out by museum security.[3] The event was filmed by the museum's security cameras.[4]

Mazel later gave contradicting statements about the event. To the Swedish media, he said it was done in the heat of the moment,[3] but to Israeli media he said it was premeditated and that he had planned it even before he saw the artwork.[5]

The installation was a part of the Making Differences exhibition at the Swedish History Museum. On January 18, 2004, Thomas Nordanstad, who was responsible for the exhibition, was attacked by an unidentified man who tried to push Nordanstad down a staircase. Nordanstad had also recently received over 400 e-mails containing various threats. Both Kristian Berg, head of the museum, and the artists also received many threats. The following Sunday, a museum guard had to remove a group of people who were throwing various objects into the water.[6] After the attack on Nordanstad the number of visitors to the museum increased to approximately 1,400 per day, up from roughly the same number per week.[7]

According to Swedish Dagens Nyheter journalist Henrik Brors there may have been hidden motives behind Mazel's act. He speculated that it may have been done in an effort to discredit Sweden and the European Union by depicting them as antisemites, and to have the EU back down from its peace efforts in the Middle East.[8] In the analysis in Dagens Nyheter Brors further speculated that Mazel may have done it to give Israel an excuse for not attending the international anti-genocide conference Stockholm International Forum that was to be held in Stockholm January 26–28.[8]

The Young Christian Democrats, the youth organisation of the Swedish Christian Democratic party, reported the artwork to the police in hope that action could be taken pursuant to Sweden's strict laws against hate speech.[9] Mazel himself asked in an interview "If we Jews say that this offends us, why can't a government remove it?".[10]

Stockholms Lokaltrafik decided to remove advertising of the Making Differences exhibit that used a picture of Hanadi Jaradat; those posters were a part of C. M. V. Hausswolff's artwork "God made me do it" and had nothing to do with Feiler/Sköld installation "Snow White and the Madness of Truth."[7]

An e-mail protest organized by the Simon Wiesenthal Center was directed at Prime Minister Göran Persson's office. By the morning of January 27, 2004, 13,603 emails had been received.[11]

Kristian Berg stated that "I did not hear anyone who saw the work say that it was an anti-Semitic installation, against the Jewish people or against the Israeli people, I therefore think that this work was politically hijacked – the interpretation that Ambassador Mazel gave it was very narrow and very political."[7]

As scheduled, the artwork was removed from display on February 8, 2004. In 2011 the Feilers created a new installation called "Once upon a time in the middle of winter" based on the events.[12]

Notes

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  1. ^ a b Myre, Greg (9 January 2004). "Israel envoy defends his attack on a Stockholm art exhibition; Ambassador says the display 'glorified suicide bombers'". International Herald Tribune. ProQuest 318419008.
  2. ^ Lenas, Sverker (21 January 2004). "Varför uppstår vantolkningarna?" [Why do the misinterpretations occur?] (in Swedish). Dagens Nyheter. Retrieved 12 July 2010.
  3. ^ a b Kihlström, Staffan (17 January 2004). "Ambassadör förstörde konst" [Ambassador destroyed art] (in Swedish). Dagens Nyheter. Archived from the original on 11 October 2012. Retrieved 12 July 2010.
  4. ^ Forsare, Malena (4 February 2015). "Den andra sagan om Snövit" [The second tale about Snow White]. Sydsvenskan. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  5. ^ Melman, Yossi (19 January 2004). "Swedish envoy: We cannot constitutionally remove exhibit". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 1 February 2004. Retrieved 12 July 2010.
  6. ^ "Attack mot konstnärlig ledare" (in Swedish). Dagens Nyheter. 18 January 2004.
  7. ^ a b c Barkat, Amiram. "PR flurry in Stockholm over envoy's outrage – Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News". Haaretz. Retrieved 12 July 2010.
  8. ^ a b Brors, Henrik (19 January 2004). "Sharon vill försvaga Sveriges trovärdighet". Dagens Nyheter. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016.
  9. ^ Forssmed, Jakob. "'Snow White and The Madness of Truth'" (in Swedish). Young Christian Democrats. Archived from the original on 6 July 2004.
  10. ^ Bolling, Anders (21 January 2004). "Mazel skonar Persson i ny attack" [Mazel spares Persson in new attack]. Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 19 February 2006.
  11. ^ Portail d'informations Archived 2007-07-17 at archive.today
  12. ^ "Feilers 'Snövit' seglar igen" [Feiler's "Snow White" sails again]. Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish). 7 February 2011. ISSN 1101-2447. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
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