Swedish graffiti group kidnaps cow

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Swedish graffiti artists have kidnapped a fibre-glass cow from the international art exhibit CowParade, held power drills to its head and threatened to "sacrifice" it unless the sculptures were declared "non-art".


A video sent to a newspaper showed the cow flanked by two masked, black-clad figures wielding power drills in front of a sign reading "Stockholm's Militant Graffiti Artists".


"We demand that the cows are declared non-art. Otherwise the hostage will be sacrificed," said a voice on the video. The group gave the organisers of the Stockholm exhibit till noon on August 23 to comply with their demand.


The video was shown to police investigating the cow's disappearance last week from an island housing Stockholm's Modern Art Museum.


"We are very upset about the whole matter," said Helena Cederberg, a spokeswoman for CowParade, which is touted as "the world's largest public art event".


It has displayed life-size cows decorated by local artists across the world starting with Chicago and New York in 1999.


The shows are sponsored by local business and promote the work of professional and amateur local artists. When the show ends, the cows are auctioned and 75 percent of the proceeds go to charity. The Stockholm cows are to be auctioned next month.


There are 68 more fibre-glass cows grazing on pavements, squares and in shop-windows all around Stockholm, but Cederberg said: "We're not going to worry just yet about the other cows, we are waiting for information from the police."


CowParade is also on show in the Czech capital Prague, Manchester and Harrisburg in Pennsylvania. It opens soon in South Africa.


Vandalism marred the Prague show, prompting ex-president Vaclav Havel, who decorated one cow, to say: "Maybe some people can't bear to look at anything nice, unusual or ornamental, maybe they can't even bear to look into the mirror".