Marija Nemčenko How to Bake a Swan

A performative food event by Lithuanian artist Marija Nemčenko. The performance elaborates upon a sensationalist front page article: Swan Bake: Asylum Seekers steal the Queen’s birds for barbecues.

In July 2003, UK tabloid newspaper The Sun printed a front page splash which claimed that Eastern European migrants were luring royal birds and barbecuing them, the reason being that swans are perceived to be a national delicacy in some Eastern European countries. The article became a dangerous tool of nationalism and it appeared, strategically, before Baltic countries joined the European Union, which meant a great influx of ‘fresh migrants’ into wealthier Western states. Now in a post-Brexit climate and fifteen years after the article was published, Marija Nemčenko invites you to witness a vegetarian-friendly, ceremonial swan-cutting performance.

This event is part of a larger project Swan Bake and functions as a personal response to the xenophobia in the British tabloid media.

Vegetarian Friendly.