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18-11-06, 12:10 PM
A Ugandan minister has condemned a Danish artist as "racist" for persuading villagers to adopt his name in exchange for a pig or a goat. The criticism comes as an exhibition of Kristian Von Hornsleth's photos from the village of Buteyongera opens in the Danish capital, Copenhagen.
Hornsleth, however, says he is trying to help the villagers by highlighting the failure of international aid.
The exhibition is called: "We want to help you, but we want to own you."
'Mirror'
"After 50 years of Third World aid, Africa is still poor," Hornsleth told the BBC's World Today programme.
He said his proposal to the villagers was an example of free trade, which left the villagers better off.
But Ugandan Ethics Minister Nsaba Buturo said the idea was "demeaning" and "racist".
"He is playing on the plight of some of our people by telling them a lie - by giving them a piglet, they will come out of the poverty he says they are in," the minister said.
Hornsleth says that 100 villagers already have identity documents with their new name and a further 207 are having them processed.
He says that eventually, he would like the village to change its name.
"We are mirroring things which are happening at a higher level - how we treat each other, the Western world and Africa."
Hornsleth says the Ugandan villagers are aware that they are making a statement and denies exploiting them to gain publicity for his exhibition.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/6157612.stm
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