The Hornsleth Village Project is a controversial conceptual art

Conceptual art

Conceptual art is art in which the concept or idea involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic and material concerns. Many of the works, sometimes called installations, of the artist Sol LeWitt may be constructed by anyone simply by following a set of written instructions...

 project by Danish artist Kristian von Hornsleth

Kristian von Hornsleth

Kristian Hornsleth is a Danish conceptual artist, who has exhibited in the Stalke Galleri. He is the postmodern artist behind the controversial Hornsleth Village Project, wherein 340 Ugandan villagers were paid in livestock to legally change their names to Hornsleth.-External links:*The Hornsleth...

 in which he went to the Uganda

Uganda

Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...

n village of Buteyongera and paid impoverished villagers to legally change their names to "Hornsleth". In exchange for consenting to have "Hornsleth" added to their identity documents, the villagers were given livestock. The project began in June of 2006. In October 2006, Kampala

Kampala

Kampala is the largest city and capital of Uganda. The city is divided into five boroughs that oversee local planning: Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division and Lubaga Division. The city is coterminous with Kampala District.-History: of Buganda, had chosen...

 officials put a stop to the project, citing ethical reasons .

By that time, 270 newly-renamed Hornsleths had each received a live pig

Pig

A pig is any of the animals in the genus Sus, within the Suidae family of even-toed ungulates. Pigs include the domestic pig, its ancestor the wild boar, and several other wild relatives...

, and another 70 had each received a live goat

Goat

The domestic goat is a subspecies of goat domesticated from the wild goat of southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the Bovidae family and is closely related to the sheep as both are in the goat-antelope subfamily Caprinae. There are over three hundred distinct breeds of...

.

Hornsleth, who has said that he would like it if the village's name is eventually changed as well, describes it as a straightforward business transaction, wherein he paid the villagers to participate in his project and pose for photographs.

The Ugandan Minister of Ethics, Dr. James Nsaba Buturo

James Nsaba Buturo

James Nsaba Buturo is a Ugandan politician. He was the Minister of State for Ethics & Integrity in the Office of the Vice President in the Ugandan Cabinet, from 01 June 2006 until 27 May 2011. In the cabinet reshuffle of 27 May 2011, he was drpped from the cabinet as replaced by Father Simon Lokodo...

, has criticized Hornsleth as being mentally deranged, demeaning, racist, obscene, a cult leader, and a homosexual, and has stated that official diplomatic measures will be taken. Nsaba Buturo also protested Hornsleth's use of the Ugandan national flag and the crested crane

Grey Crowned Crane

The Grey Crowned Crane is a bird in the crane family Gruidae. It occurs in dry savannah in Africa south of the Sahara, although it nests in somewhat wetter habitats. This animal does not migrate....

 (Uganda's national bird) on the invitation cards to Hornsleth's photo exhibition in Copenhagen

Copenhagen

Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...

, titled "We Can Help You, But We Want To Own You".

External links

• Hornsleth Village Project - official site, includes photographs of newly-renamed Hornsleths with identity documents.