As hoaxes go, this one is bound to be memorable. David Cerny, a Czech artist, admitted today that he managed to hoodwink the great and good of Brussels, and his own government, with a major artwork to mark the Czech Republic's six-month presidency of the EU.
When the giant eight tonne mosaic – supposedly the work of 27 artists from each of the EU member states – was unveiled at the headquarters of the Council of Ministers this week there was laughter as Slovenia was associated with masturbation and five Lithuanian soldiers were depicted urinating on Russia.
Alexandr Vondra, the Czech deputy prime minister, hailed the work, called Entropa, as the perfect illustration of his country's "A Europe without barriers" motto for its presidency.
But Cerny has now admitted that he pulled off a great European hoax.
When challenged by the Czech media, he said he had made up the names of the artists and that he made the mosaic with two friends.
"We knew the truth would come out," the artist is quoted by Reuters as saying. "But before that we wanted to find out if Europe is able to laugh at itself."
Vondra is furious. "An agreement of the office of the government with the artist clearly stated that this will be a common work of artists from 27 EU states," he said in a statement.
"The full responsibility for violating this assignment and this promise lies with David Cerny."
Click on the picture to see which country is which
1. UK (empty space)
2. Netherlands
3. Finland
4. France
5. Sweden
6. Germany
7. Belgium
8. Czech Republic
9. Poland
10. Luxembourg
11. Slovenia
12. Bulgaria
13. Latvia
14. Italy
15. Romania
16. Slovakia
17. Estonia
18. Portugal
19. Lithuania
20. Denmark
21. Ireland
22. Hungary
23. Greece
24. Spain
25. Austria
26. Cyprus
27. Malta
