Swiss 'have a cow'
2005-06-29 14:40
Geneva - Seventy plastic cows gracing the streets of Geneva for the past week have been so badly treated that organisers said on Monday they are considering halting a planned four-month exhibition.
The brightly-coloured fibreglass bovines, which are dotted around the Swiss city, have been damaged and spray painted with graffiti, with two even dumped in Lake Geneva, said organisers of the "CowParade".
"Cow parades have been held in cities such as Brussels, London and New York, but nothing like this has ever happened," said Pierre Jacques, the man behind the street exhibition that started 10 days ago.
"What kind of image of our city does this give to tourists?"
Jacques said he was planning to group the cows in a single, guarded exhibition site that could be closed overnight.
Otherwise, he said, the Cow Parade would have to be called off.
The first Cow Parade, the brainchild of Swiss artist Pascal Knapp, was held in Zurich in 1999.
Companies and other sponsors fund the cows, each of which is decorated by a different artist.
At the end of the exhibition, the cows are meant to be sold off at a charity auction, but that also could be in doubt, organisers said.