Pitchfork

Photo by Kathryn Yu

You have to hand it to Björk. At the moment, it feels like she's got the whole world in a tizzy, and all for uttering two words.

The first, of course, was "Kosovo!", shouted during a late February concert in Tokyo in the context of incendiary Volta tune "Declare Independence". That particular utterance led to the cancellation of a proposed appearance at the 2008 EXIT Festival in Novi Sad, Serbia, as confirmed last week.

The second, as previously mentioned, was "Tibet!", which the Icelandic iconoclast shouted during a March 2 performance of "Declare Independence" in Shanghai, China. Not surprisingly, China, which has exercised a controversial rule over Tibet for 58 years, took offense to Björk's remarks.

According to an Associated Press report, the Chinese Ministry of Culture released a statement late last week claiming Björk's Tibet shout-out "broke Chinese law and hurt Chinese people's feelings." The report suggests China-- where even a Dirty Three show can result in a riot-- intends to "be stricter on foreign performers" following the Björk incident.

Björk already commented on the matter in a statement she released last week. Here are those words again:

"I have been asked by many for a statement after dedicating my song 'Declare Independence' to both Kosovo and Tibet on different occasions. I would like to put importance on that I am not a politician, I am first and last a musician and as such I feel my duty to try to express the whole range of human emotions. The urge for declaring independence is just one of them but an important one we all feel at some times in our lives. This song was written more with the personal in mind but the fact that it has translated to its broadest meaning, the struggle of a suppressed nation, gives me much pleasure. I would like to wish all individuals and nations good luck in their battle for independence. Justice!"

Meanwhile, EXIT Festival's Bojan Boskovic released a statement to NME.com this past Friday in response to the controversy surrounding Björk's nixed EXIT appearance. Björk's management recently shared an email from Boskovic in which the EXIT Festival co-founder threatened to cancel Björk's performance if the Kosovo matter was not swept under the rug. NME reports that Boskovic claimed the email in question "was not an official EXIT statement," but was instead sent to show "my great concern about what is going on."

Boskovic continued, "Two weeks later I have a different opinion about it. We do want to see [Björk] at EXIT. We're trying to see with management now if this is the best time to have her. There is an open invitation as far as EXIT is concerned."

While you ponder all that, have another look at these Björk tour dates.

Björk:

04-11 Manchester, England - Apollo
04-14 London, England - Hammersmith Apollo
04-17 London, England - Hammersmith Apollo
04-20 London, England - Hammersmith Apollo
04-22 Plymouth, England - Plymouth Pavilions
04-25 Wolverhampton, England - Civic Hall
04-28 Belfast, Northern Ireland - Waterfront
05-01 Blackpool, England - Empress Ballroom
05-04 Sheffield, England - City Hall
07-20 Ferropolis, Germany - Melt! Festival
08-07 Zambujeira do Mar, Portugal - Festival Sudoeste TMN