Open City by Teju Cole

Perhaps Afro-Swedish artist Makode Aj Linde did us a clumsy favor in the creation of the “Hottentot Venus” cake that premiered in April 2012 at a party for the Swedish minister of culture. An online video of the cake, a grotesque golliwog caricature of an African woman designed to be cut at its genitals, sparked outrage—and even calls for the minister’s resignation. The video gives us a view of the party-goers, presumably Swedish art patrons and government officials, as they swallow the inherent repulsion the art installation raises in an effort to be “in” on the artsy joke. It seems...  read more