Nina Maria Kleivan is a Danish-Norwegian artist who has produced a controversial photo-series titled “Potency,” where she dresses her daughter, Faustina, up as various ruthless dictators as a way to illustrate how “we all begin life the same. We all have every opportunity ahead of us. To do good, or inexplicable evil.”
“We all have evil within us. Even small children are evil towards each other,” Danish-Norwegian artist Nina Maria Kleivan tells Haaretz as she explains why she chose to dress up her baby daughter as the most evil historical figures of the 20th century.
“Even my daughter could end up ruling Denmark with an iron fist. The possibility is still there. You never know.”
“You need to be conscious that your actions have consequences that impact on your fellow human beings. The people I let my daughter portray didn’t give a damn about the human cost, the casualties, their thoughts caused,” Kleivan says.
“The responsibility is yours alone. You can’t throw it away – as a parent, as human beings – and say that you just followed orders.”
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