[CPProt.net] Munch Museum halts sale of 'Scream' board game Wed Oct 26, 12:28 PM ET

[MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)]

Munch Museum halts sale of 'Scream' board game Wed Oct 26,12:28 PM ET
October 27, 2005 


The Munch Museum in Oslo, which was robbed of its world-famous painting "The
Scream" in a daring heist last year, agreed to stop selling a controversial
board game inspired by the theft.

"The city of Oslo has a different view on this than we do and has said that
we should not sell this game... It has let us know that and we will bow to
the request," museum spokeswoman Jorunn Christoffersen told AFP.

The game, "The Mystery of The Scream", has been criticized in Norway's
artistic circles since it went on sale last week, including at the Munch
Museum's gift shop.

"In principle, I find it a bit in bad taste to make a game out of the theft
of 'The Scream'," Kaare Berntsen, the artistic director of the Kaare
Berntsen Gallery in Oslo, told AFP earlier this week.

"My initial reaction is to disapprove of an initiative that helps trivialize
a national and international drama while the painting is still missing," he
said.

During the dramatic robbery in August 2004, two armed and hooded thieves
burst into the museum and threatened a member of staff with a gun as stunned
tourists looked on.

Ripping Norwegian artist Edvard Munch's "The Scream" and his "Madonna" from
the walls, the robbers fled the scene in a stolen car driven by an
accomplice.

The paintings, believed to be worth as much as 100 million dollars (83
million euros), are still missing.

"It is not difficult for us to understand that selling this game is
controversial. We have decided not to turn this into an matter of
principle," Christoffersen said, adding that all copies of the game were
removed from the museum gift shop.

Created by the Aschehoug publishing house, the game is pitched at children
aged more than six years, with participants playing the roles of detectives
and or robbers.

The makers said the game was educational.

"In addition to 'The Scream', the game has 36 cards featuring different
artworks that the children know. It's a fun way for them to learn about the
diversity of artistic creativity," the head of Aschehoug's games division,
Magnus Skrede, said.