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Lars Vilks, a Swedish artist, participated in the "The Dog in Art" exhibit at T?llberg outside of Karlstad, Sweden. He submitted several drawings that were based on Sweden's Rondellhunds (roundabout dogs). The drawings were then removed from the show on July 20. Lars depicted the Roundellhunds with the head of Prophet Muhammad.
This controversy quietly took place in T?llberg, a small town in the V?rmland region in central Sweden, south of Stockholm. The local newspaper for the V?rmland region, NWT.se, reported the incident at 10 p.m. that same evening.
M?rta Wennerstr?m, the person responsible for "The Dog in Art" exhibit, said the removal of Vilks's art was a joint decision involving the organizers, "authorities," and other "private persons."
"We didn't understand the seriousness at first. Now we know that it is an extreme insult to portray the prophet Muhammad as a dog," Wennerstr?m said.
On the other hand, in Uppsala, Muslim associations and congregations formed a committee for planning protest actions against publication of drawings of Prophet Muhammad similar to those drawn by Vilks. Among others, Uppsala Nya Tidning has published Prophet Muhammad as a roundabout dog, which has angered many.
The caricature drawings by Vilks published in many papers including Uppsala Nya Tidning have raised emotions among many Muslims.
"We will try to convince him that one cannot publish such drawings. It will hurt Muslims here in Sweden. [And] Sweden has big investments in Arab countries. What if Muslims would react furiously and boycott Swedish products (Scandia, Ericsson, Volvo, etc.)? Why repeat what happened in Denmark?" Yihya said.
For full story from IslamOnline.net, click here.
IslamOnline.net's Euro-Muslims also invites you to read the live debate on the "Freedom of Experssion" that was run between Othman Al Tawalh is a Muslim researcher on the affairs of Muslim minorities in the West, a member of the Muslim Council of Sweden and Lars Stroman, Editorial Writer of the Swedish daily Nerikes Allehanda.
Euro-Muslims page also has interviewed Jonas Otterbeck, an assistant professor at the School of International Migration and Ethnic Relations, Malm? University, Sweden. Jonas Otterbeckhas done research on Muslim discourses on Islam in Sweden and on the situation of Muslim pupils in public schools. Presently he is investigating Islamophobia in Sweden together with colleague Pieter Bevelander, associate professor of economic history. Listen to the audio interview with Jones Otterbeck by clicking here
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