Kakan Hermansson
{{Short description|Swedish television presenter, radio host, comedian and artist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Kakan Hermansson
| image = Kakan Hermansson (cropped).jpg
| caption = Kakan Hermansson (2013)
| birth_name = Karin Signhild Hermansson
| birth_date ={{Birth date and age|1981|8|7|df=y}}
| birth_place = Lund, Sweden
| occupation = {{plain list|
- Television presenter
- Radio host
- Comedian
- Artist
}}
| known_for = Kaka på Kaka, Idol 2013
| height =
}}
Karin Signhild Hermansson (born 7 August 1981), better known as Kakan Hermansson, is a Swedish television presenter, radio host, comedian and artist. She has had her own television show on Sveriges Television (SVT) called Kaka på Kaka and has worked on shows for both Sveriges Radio and TV4. A graduate of the Stockholm art academy Konstfack, she works with a feminist art collective and has exhibited her (mostly ceramic) art in various places. She calls herself a radical feminist{{cite AV media|title=Moraltestet: Kakan Hermansson|url=http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=3130&artikel=5070417|accessdate=15 November 2016|publisher=Sveriges Radio|date=19 April 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161116014952/http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=3130&artikel=5070417|archive-date=16 November 2016|url-status=live}} and anarchist.{{Cite web |last=Morin |first=Anna |date=28 September 2022 |title=Kakan Hermansson: »Nu kan jag välkomna ångesten« |url=https://rsmh.se/kakan-hermansson-nu-kan-jag-valkomna-angesten/ |access-date=10 September 2024 |website=rsmh |language=sv-SE}}{{Cite web |title=PORTRÄTT: I Kakan Hermanssons adhd-hjärna är det aldrig tyst |url=https://issuu.com/familjelyftet/docs/attention_04_2021_webb_sid/s/14012159 |access-date=10 September 2024 |via=Issuu |language=en}}
Career
=Television=
Kakan Hermansson was first featured in the comedy show Locash, first broadcast on the Swedish ZTV television network in 2008.{{cite magazine| url=http://www.resume.se/sections/nyheter/helgintervjuer/2012/12/14/ska-det-bli-aka-av-far-man-losa-det-pa-egen-hand/ |language=Swedish |title=Ska det bli åka av får man lösa det på egen hand |magazine=Resumé |accessdate=4 June 2014 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140606222459/http://www.resume.se/sections/nyheter/helgintervjuer/2012/12/14/ska-det-bli-aka-av-far-man-losa-det-pa-egen-hand/ |archivedate=6 June 2014}} She played a "hip hop-slacker" version of herself for three seasons.{{cite web|url=http://www.sydsvenskan.se/kultur-och-nojen/ta-plats--dorrarna-oppnas/ |language=Swedish |title=Ta plats – dörrar öppnas |work=Sydsvenskan |accessdate=4 June 2014 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150326080353/http://www.sydsvenskan.se/kultur--nojen/ta-plats--dorrarna-oppnas/ |archivedate=26 March 2015}}
Along with Swedish model and musician Julia Frej, she started making comedy music videos under the name "Kakan och Julia". The videos appeared on the SVT show SVT Humor in 2010.{{cite web|url=http://www.svd.se/kultur/smakrik-kaka_6739179.svd |language=Swedish |title=Kaka på Kaka ger tysta röst |work=Svenska Dagbladet |accessdate=4 June 2014 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131013023324/http://www.svd.se/kultur/smakrik-kaka_6739179.svd |archivedate=13 October 2013 }} Due to the popularity of their videos, SVT offered them their own television show, Kaka på Kaka, which continued for two seasons. The show mixed comedy and serious interviews with a variety of celebrities.
Hermansson was an assistant to Pär Lernström on the radio programme PP3 at Sveriges Radio. In 2013, Hermansson was a travelling reporter for the TV4 show Veckans svensk on which Lernström was the presenter,{{cite web|url=http://www.qx.se/noje/22888/kakan-soker-veckans-svensk|language=Swedish|title=Kakan söker veckans svensk|publisher=QX.se|accessdate=4 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131101181308/http://www.qx.se/noje/22888/kakan-soker-veckans-svensk|archive-date=1 November 2013|url-status=live}} and was also his assistant on TV4's Idol 2013.{{cite web|url=http://www.aftonbladet.se/nojesbladet/tv/article16437431.ab|language=Swedish|title=Per Lernström leder "Idols" comeback – och hon blir ny sidekick|work=Aftonbladet|accessdate=4 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131101144712/http://www.aftonbladet.se/nojesbladet/tv/article16437431.ab|archive-date=1 November 2013|url-status=live}}
=Radio=
In early June 2014, Hermansson was announced as the host of one episode of the popular Sveriges Radio P1 show Sommar i P1.{{cite web|url=http://www.aftonbladet.se/nojesbladet/article18997525.ab|language=Swedish|title=Kakan Hermansson kritiserar 'Sommar i P1'|work=Aftonbladet|accessdate=4 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140603224527/http://www.aftonbladet.se/nojesbladet/article18997525.ab|archive-date=3 June 2014|url-status=live}} Hermansson criticised the lack of diversity in Sveriges Radio's selection of hosts for the show, saying "It makes me terribly angry to see how very white we are sitting here. We do not represent Sweden," referring to those attending the press conference for the show.{{cite web|url=http://www.svt.se/kultur/kakan-1|title="Kakan" Hermansson sågar Sommar i P1|date=3 June 2014 |publisher=Sveriges Television|accessdate=6 June 2014|language=Swedish|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140606000504/http://www.svt.se/kultur/kakan-1|archive-date=6 June 2014|url-status=live}} Hermansson also said that she was shocked at how "Swedish" the whole event was. Journalist Mustafa Can criticised Hermansson's comments in an article in the Aftonbladet newspaper.{{cite news|url=http://www.aftonbladet.se/kultur/article19010489.ab|language=Swedish|title=Jag är sjukt svensk|newspaper=Aftonbladet|accessdate=6 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140606211407/http://www.aftonbladet.se/kultur/article19010489.ab|archive-date=6 June 2014|url-status=live}}
=Art=
As an artist, Hermansson's works express ideas about gender, class, and sexuality. She graduated from Konstfack, a Swedish university college of art, crafts, and design, and among other projects arranged a nail art convention as part of her work toward her degree. She works mostly with ceramics and has had exhibitions at Stockholm's NAU Gallery and Gustavsberg's arthall.{{cite web|url=http://www.gustavsbergskonsthall.se/Utstallningar04_ENG.html |title=Exhibitions 2009– 2013 |publisher=Gustavsbergs Konsthall |accessdate=4 June 2014 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304051127/http://www.gustavsbergskonsthall.se/Utstallningar04_ENG.html |archivedate= 4 March 2016 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.svd.se/kultur/kakan-och-roxy-farhat-tar-farval-till-man_8866522.svd |language=Swedish |title=Kakan och Roxy Farhat tar farväl till män |work=Svenska Dagbladet |accessdate=4 June 2014 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140105165757/http://www.svd.se/kultur/kakan-och-roxy-farhat-tar-farval-till-man_8866522.svd |archivedate=5 January 2014 }} Hermansson is one of six members of the feminist art collective Den nya kvinnogruppen (The new women's group) which was created in early 2013 in reaction to the dominance by male artists of the Swedish art scene.{{cite web|url=http://www.kuriren.nu/kultur/missionen-ar-att-demokratisera-konsten-7591422.aspx|language=Swedish|title=Missionen är att demokratisera konsten|newspaper=Norrbottenskuriren|accessdate=4 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140428163030/http://www.kuriren.nu/kultur/missionen-ar-att-demokratisera-konsten-7591422.aspx|archive-date=28 April 2014|url-status=live}}
Hermansson is a lesbian and identifies as a feminist.{{cite news|url=http://hd.se/mer/2013/11/30/rakt-pa-sak-med-kakan-hermansson/|language=Swedish|title=Rakt på sak med Kakan Hermansson|newspaper=Helsingborgs Dagblad|accessdate=4 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140204141745/http://hd.se/mer/2013/11/30/rakt-pa-sak-med-kakan-hermansson/|archive-date=4 February 2014|url-status=live}} On 28 May 2014, Hermansson held an art exhibition during the "West Pride", an LGBT festival in Gothenburg.{{cite AV media|url=http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=104&artikel=5874696|title=Kakan Hermansson ställer ut konst under West Pride|publisher=Sveriges Radio|accessdate=6 June 2014|language=Swedish|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140606232701/http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=104&artikel=5874696|archive-date=6 June 2014|url-status=live}}
Hermansson held an exhibition at a museum run by Kristianstad council shortly after having been sacked from the Audi Q2 marketing campaign. The Facebook page comment section closed due to the high number of critical posts and police protection was provided for the exhibition.{{cite news|title=Polisbevakning på museum efter hatet mot Kakan Hermansson|url=http://www.svt.se/nyheter/lokalt/skane/polisbevakning-pa-museum-efter-hatet-mot-kakan-hermansson|accessdate=20 November 2016|publisher=SVT Nyheter - Skåne|date=19 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161119233422/http://www.svt.se/nyheter/lokalt/skane/polisbevakning-pa-museum-efter-hatet-mot-kakan-hermansson|archive-date=19 November 2016|url-status=live}}
=Controversy=
In 2012, Hermansson expressed controversial comments about Swedish police and men in general on Twitter. When she was hired in 2016 for a campaign by a marketing firm to take part in designing a version of the Audi Q2, Audi customers protested in social media against her participation, citing her inflammatory views. Audi chose to end the collaboration and apologised.{{cite news|title=Audi avslutar samarbete med Kakan Hermansson|url=http://www.di.se/nyheter/audi-avslutar-samarbete-med-kakan-hermansson/|accessdate=15 November 2016|newspaper=Dagens Industri|date=15 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161116015813/http://www.di.se/nyheter/audi-avslutar-samarbete-med-kakan-hermansson/|archive-date=16 November 2016|url-status=live}} Shortly after having been sacked from the Audi marketing campaign, she publicly apologised to all police officers in Sweden for her inflammatory comments four years earlier, using her personal blog.
In October 2023, Hermansson faced criticism for using derogatory language, referring to Aron Flam as "scum" in a comment on Instagram. This incident occurred after Flam had expressed support for Israel during their Gaza war. Subsequently, Hermansson posted a message that contained offensive language, stating, "Zionists, fuck off," directed at those who sided with Israel in the conflict. Following widespread media attention, the Swedish edition of Elle distanced themselves from her comments and removed her blog from their website.{{Cite web |date=27 October 2023 |title=Elle tar "starkt avstånd" efter "Kakans bildutspel på Instagram |url=https://www.expressen.se/noje/elle-tar-starkt-avstand-efter-kakans-bildutspel/ |access-date=27 October 2023 |website=Expressen |language=sv}}
References
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}
External links
- [http://kakanhermansson.blogspot.com/ Kakan Hermansson on Blogspot] (includes images of artwork)
- [http://www.dennyakvinnogruppen.se/ Den nya kvinnogruppen (The New Women's Group)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180810091740/http://dennyakvinnogruppen.se/ |date=10 August 2018 }} (in Swedish)
- {{Commons category-inline|Kakan Hermansson}}
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Category:Swedish LGBTQ comedians
Category:Swedish LGBTQ broadcasters
Category:Swedish lesbian artists
Category:Swedish lesbian entertainers
Category:Swedish women comedians
Category:Swedish women radio presenters
Category:Swedish women television presenters
Category:21st-century Swedish women artists
Category:21st-century Swedish comedians