When the statue was inaugurated just over a month ago, several years of debate - about and how Sweden's first anti-racist monument would be created - could have been over.
But the other week, Sydsvenskan's art critic Linda Fagerström took a hard look at how it turned out. She does not think that the monument meets the expectations raised by the sketches and believes that the work in that respect is a "disaster".
It is the artists Susanna Marcus Jablonski and Santiago Mostyn who created "Master narratives", a 29-ton stone bumblebee that is held up by 168 bronze rods and has been placed on Falsterboplan, the place that in Malmömun is called Jesusparken.
- It was important to us that what we created would be allowed to take place. That the work would be something that places the conversation about racism and anti-racism in the public eye, says film worker Manal Masri, who was part of the group of activists and cultural workers who took the initiative for the monument.
In the center of the work, under the large stone, there is a black polished stone slab under which Malmö residents' written memories of racism have been buried.
- It is such a beautiful act, like a ritual. That we put the city's painful memories to rest there and let them become part of the monument's foundation, says Manal Masri.
It was in a call that she, together with Nicolas Lunabba, Daniel Diaz, Showan Shattak and Robert Nilsson Mohammadi, first raised the idea of a place where Malmö residents could process the racist acts and shootings that Peter Mangs carried out between 2003 and 2010.
Mangs was sentenced to life in prison for two murders and eight attempted murders. Although it was clear that his act had racist motives, he was not convicted of a hate crime, which has been criticized by both lawyers and several of the plaintiffs.
Manal Masri's brother is one of the survivors of Peter Mang's assassination attempt. She describes how it affected her and the family in the acclaimed documentary film "Letter to a serial killer" (2017).
She hoped the film would lead to public recognition of the racist violence.
- But nothing happened after it arrived, she says and believes that there is more to the story that must not be forgotten.
- It's not just about the racist violence, it's also about the structures that allowed it to continue for so long.
Nina Embrin has made it to Jesus Park together with her husband Lars Johansson just to look at the new statue.
- It is so beautiful that it is not wise, she says and her husband agrees.
She remembers what it was like to live in Malmö during the time of Peter Mang's murder.
- I remember that you thought it was terrible, you started to get a little afraid of where to go and wondered if you dared to be outside.
At first, the statue, just as the initiators wrote in the appeal, was intended as a memorial to Peter Mang's sacrifice.
Now Manal Masri wants the monument to exist beyond him. If she had the choice, his name would not even be mentioned, neither in interviews nor in connection with the monument.
- The monument confirms that we know about what has happened, but even more important for us is that it should be about the future. That it should call for anti-racist resistance and become a meeting place where we gather, talk, share knowledge. Where we process trauma or grief together. A place for new stories.
It is the first time passerby Fredrik Huhtanen sees the monument "complete". He lives nearby and has followed the construction.
- I like it, it feels like it complements the Jesus Park, makes it a little more proper. It feels good that it is written here and that it is a democratic project behind it.
Malmö resident Maud is also seeing the work for the first time. She is noticeably taken.
- I had no idea it looked like this from the pictures. What a block, she says and sits down on the benches around the monument.
- What is surprising is that it hides so much under its surface. I would like to know what is written in the letters, she says and thinks that already in our meeting she notices that the statue gives rise to exciting conversations.
A woman shakes her head as she walks by.
- I think it looks cheap. If they put 2.4 million kroner on this work, couldn't they have made a nicer fence around it?
She does not want to give her name and does not attach much importance to the significance of the monument, but is mostly angry at what the taxpayers got for their money.
That's how it has to be, reasons Manal Masri, that people have different opinions about the work.
- But regardless, it will outlive us all and mean different things to each new generation. It is powerful.
