The City of Malmö’s investment in an anti-racist monument currently comes with a price tag of at least 2.8 million kronor, excluding VAT. In addition, there will be recurring costs for operation and maintenance, yet the municipality has not presented a total cost for the multi-year project. No monuments are planned for those who have fallen victim to the enforced multiculturalism.
The permanent artwork, Master Narratives, is to be erected in Jesusparken at Falsterboplan in Möllevången and has a budget of 2.5 million kronor excluding VAT. In addition, three artists or artist groups that proceeded in the competition have received sketch fees of 100,000 kronor each, totaling another 300,000 kronor. The reported combined cost thus amounts to at least 2.8 million kronor before VAT.
According to documents from the technical committee, the monument is also expected to incur annual costs of about 25,000 kronor for operation, lighting, and maintenance. In a specific statement from the Sweden Democrats, the total cost for construction is cited at around three million kronor including associated expenses, in addition to ongoing operational costs.
READ ALSO: Malmö Becoming an Anti-Racist City with Anti-Racist Monument
The project has been ongoing since 2019 when the association Antirasistiskt Monument submitted a citizen’s proposal for erecting a monument in Malmö. Since then, the cultural administration has continued working on the project together with the association.
Over the years, the work has included citizen dialogues, workshops, exhibitions, public discussions, project management, and an extensive memory collection where Malmö residents have been invited to share their own experiences of racism and anti-racism.
No public summary has been presented regarding the total cost of the entire project since its inception. This means that costs for, for example, personnel, administration, communication, project management, exhibitions, and various dialogue initiatives have not been reported in a consolidated financial statement. Exactly how much these elements have cost taxpayers is therefore unclear.
Block on Rods
The winning artwork was designed by artists Susanna Marcus Jablonski and Santiago Mostyn. The monument consists of a large block of onyx supported by a large number of thin bronze rods.
As part of the project, stories and memories from Malmö residents are also being collected. These will be placed in the ground under the monument’s foundation as part of the permanent design.
Swedish Children Forgotten
The costs, and the way Swedish children’s experiences of hatred are ignored, are highlighted by Nils Littorin from Malmölistan.
– There is a type of racism Malmö’s ruling politicians refuse to talk about, says Littorin, referring among other things to the case of a 24-year-old Somali man who was recently convicted of forcing a 15-year-old Swedish boy to perform oral sex on him in his own EPA tractor.
– Over these boys, Malmö’s politicians will never erect a monument, Littorin asserts.
Started with a Petition
In May 2019, a petition was published in Sydsvenskan for an anti-racist monument in memory of those who in various ways fell victim to Peter Mangs’s acts of violence in Malmö between 2003 and 2010.
The initiators emphasized that the focus should shift from the serial killer as an individual to his context and therefore repeatedly highlighted the need to address and reflect on the society and structures that (re)produce racist violence.
With the petition, the initiators wanted a monument that, in the long run, would place the discussion about anti-racism in the public sphere and recognize racism as a societal problem that requires collective efforts.