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ISLAM

Muslim threats close Danish art exhibition in Berlin

An exhibition by Danish artists in Berlin has been closed because of threats received over a photo deemed to be offensive to Muslims, organizers said on Thursday.

The exhibition, which opened in central Berlin on February 22, has been closed to ensure the safety of staff and visitors, Ralf Hartmann from the artists’ collective Kunstverein Tiergarten said.

The show by Danish art group Surrend is aimed at depicting what they say is the absurdity of extremism in all religions.

One of the 21 photos is of the Kaaba – the cube-shaped building inside the Grande Mosque in Mecca – with the inscription describing the stone as “stupid”. Another shows an astronaut on the moon standing next to an Israeli flag. The photo has the inscription “Neonazi-Hallucination”.

In 2006 an avant-garde adaptation of a Mozart opera was scrapped in Berlin because of threats resulting from the use of Mohammed’s decapitated head in the production.