[CPProt.net] Munch Museum defends sale of 'The Scream' board game

[MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)]

Munch Museum defends sale of 'The Scream' board game 

Mon Oct 24,11:57 AM ET
 

The Munch Museum in Oslo, which was robbed of its world-famous painting "The
Scream" in a daring heist last year, defended a new board game inspired by
the theft amid criticism from the art world.

"Some people think it's horrible to treat the matter as a game but we see
things totally differently. It's a completely innocent game," museum
spokeswoman Jorunn Christoffersen told AFP.

The game, "The Mystery of The Scream", created by the Aschehoug publishing
house, went on sale last week, including at the Munch Museum's gift shop.

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

Grabbing "The Scream" and "Madonna" off 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, are
still missing.

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

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

The game targets children over the age of six, and participants play the
roles of either detectives or robbers. Aschehoug says the game is
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.