"we want to help you, but we want to own you"

danish artist kristian von hornsleth has decided to make a statement in uganda.

he will strike a deal with any ugandan. a pig for your name. by providing an animal (much needed by the detrimentally poor ugandans), the individual will officially change their name to hornsleth.

and the people are grateful.

hornsleth claims that this is a political statement--one that exposes how humanitarian and government sponsored aid groups are merely abiding by the motto: "we want to help you, but we want to own you."

george sabadu hornsleth, who received a pig, makes a good point:

"Africans adopting European names for gifts - we've been doing that since colonial times. Why do you think I am called George?"

it's an interesting idea that certainly gets the artist's point across.

and while i agree that the message and hypocrisy is legitimate, what angers me is that in the process of his artistic protest, hornsleth is degrading the people of uganda who are attempting to rebuild themselves as africans and survivors of genocide.

use yourself as a medium for protest.

use your artistic abilities.

use your voice, your heart, your money.

but don't use people who have nothing.

don't take your photos, create a book and invite your stuck up first class society to a party with "drinks and a dj" to show off your 100 new hornsleths. its on the same page as bum fights.

when will we learn to treat others as we wish to be treated ourselves?

but then, i am in the privileged situation where i need not worry about where i put my head to sleep at night, where my next meal comes from, which of my family will be raped, killed or contract AIDS...i have the luxury to be angry about injustice.

i guess hornsleth has effectively made his point...mankind can be boiled down to being a society of pigs

source: Ugandans grab 'pig-for-name' deal and Hornsleth's website