Conny Blom: Kill the Poor 
11. 10. — 28. 12. 2019
X-OP / KIBLA PORTAL, Valvasorjeva ulica 40, Maribor

Even though Sweden is among the richest countries in the world, years of neoliberal austerity politics have taught the Swedish people that to reduce public expenditure is needed in order to secure a prosperous future. Constant cuts accompanied by the farreaching privatization of basic state functions have transformed the former model welfare state into a neoliberal wet dream where the state actively assists in redistributing money from the poorest to the richest. 1980 Sweden was the most egalitarian country in the world and the economic gaps between the richest and the poorest were smaller than ever, but in 2019 the gaps have grown to be the biggest in modern times. The once pioneering welfare state has become dysfunctional with understaffed schools, hospitals and an infrastructure dependant on venture capitalists. Everything operates with an inverted Robin Hood logic. The richest 10 percent are getting 20 times more tax subsidies than the poor. Kill the Poor consists of a video slideshow of planned luxury villas that will be subventioned by the Swedish state and a satirical text on the topic, the title of the work as the wall text.