Today’s news / Muhammad drawing sparks huge interest
The satirical cartoonist Kurt Westergaard died in 2021. Several of his drawings of the Prophet Muhammad are being put up for auction. (Archive photo). Photo: Pool/Reuters

Muhammad drawing sparks huge interest

The auction website kwicons.com, hosting the sale of one of satirical cartoonist Kurt Westergaard’s Muhammad drawings, has repeatedly crashed due to high interest. The site received thousands of visitors every hour after the auction began, according to auctioneer Erik Guldager. There was significant email correspondence, questions, and newsletter signups. The site was down for ten hours just before the auction and experienced intermittent crashes. A bid of 340,000 euros, about 2.5 million Danish kroner, was placed for the controversial drawing first published in Jyllands-Posten in 2005, which prompted violent global protests and led to Westergaard living under PET protection. The starting bid was 200,000 euros, but it’s uncertain if the current bid will meet the reserve price set by the initiator of the auction. The auction has attracted international attention with bids from multiple continents and will conclude on March 1st. There are three rounds in total, offering six versions of the Muhammad drawing.