Bacon-shaped artworks spark debate over Copenhagen spending

Copenhagen Municipality’s purchase of three bacon-shaped stone artworks for 24,000 kroner has sparked debate over public spending, DR reports.

The works are by artist Kasper Hesselbjerg and were made from red-banded limestone cut to resemble bacon. They are among four stones created for his exhibition “Pigs and Pork”. The municipality’s works will be part of its collection and loaned to schools, institutions and municipal offices.

Christian Bülow, a Danish People’s Party member of Copenhagen City Council and the municipality’s Council for Visual Art, was the only member to vote against the purchase. He said his objection was not to modern art generally, but to using municipal money for such works. His party would abolish the council, which supports art projects with about 1.1 million kroner a year and buys artworks for just over 800,000 kroner, in addition to administrative costs.

Bülow said the money could instead go to social care, including care assistants and home-care workers. He also argued that politicians should identify areas where public spending could be cut.

Mathilde Kastbjerg of the Conservative Party, another council member, voted for the purchase. She said art was an important part of public education and that residents should be able to enjoy it in public spaces, including schools, libraries and municipal workplaces.

Hesselbjerg said he welcomed the purchase as recognition of his work and was pleased it would be displayed publicly. He said the exhibition explores how food connects people to the world around them, and that the stones can prompt both sensory and political discussions about bacon.

A poll on B.T.’s website found that 12 per cent of readers considered the stones a good purchase, while 88 per cent opposed it. Hesselbjerg said he was pleased that some readers found the work meaningful.