N° 6 2008 December/January
Religion
/ The Artist as Icon
This winter, the attention being paid to religion in art has reached unprecedented heights. In the Netherlands, two major exhibitions on the theme open in December, namely Sven Lütticken’s The Return of Religion and Other Myths at BAK in Utrecht and the Stedelijk Museum’s Heilig Vuur, held at the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam. Boris Groys’s and Peter Wiebel’s long-awaited Medium Religion opened at the Karlsruhe Centre for Contemporary Art (ZKM) in late November, and the Haus der Kunst in Munich is hosting the gigantic, encyclopaedic exhibition Traces du Sacré. And these examples by no means cover all of the contemporary art with religious overtones!
The big question is how much this focus on religion actually interests artists. Most art does not seem to be very religious or spiritual. Most appears to be fuelled by a sociological interest in the phenomenon of religion, which has suddenly become an important factor in our society. Artists express surprise, if not outright criticism and concern, about this interest in religion, given the fact that it has become clear that art – at least the ‘free speech’ that art presumes to stand for – is usually the first victim of a religious society.
Nonetheless Jürgen Habermas seems to have had reason on his side when he claimed that we live in a post-secular society, in which, after being at one another’s throats for so many decades, believers and nonbelievers seem to be slowly but surely developing more understanding for one another’s standpoints. This includes Terry Eagleton, who, from a completely different perspective, can now count on growing sympathy for his nuanced vision of religion; specifically, the critical, social character of religious societies.
A great deal still needs to be learned about religion, by both believers and nonbelievers. This is true not only about the religion of our own culture, the Christian tradition that has largely been lost in just a few short decades, but also about other world religions, such as Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism.
This Special does not attempt a broad overview, but investigates several different positions by highlighting four of this winter’s exhibitions. The reader may draw his or own conclusions, which of course does not preclude that he or she will ultimately see the light.
The Happy Hypocrite is a curious biannual journal edited by Maria Fusco, a London based Belfast born writer and lecturer. One could have said a curious little journal but that might unnecessarily demean its calm yet resounding potency. Slightly larger than an A5, smaller than the magazine you now hold in your hands, The Happy Hypocrite radiates an assured tone not of conceit nor of pride but of tranquil promise. With such underground publications such as Documents, The Fox, Merlin and Bananas as its inspiration, The Happy Hypocrite (a journal not a magazine) promises, indeed guarantees, the urgency for a different kind of (art) writing.
Read more..
Sven Lütticken on the Return of Religion and other Myths
29/12/08 Jelle Bouwhuis
Is religion really in the midst of a revival? In The Return of Religion and Other Myths, art historian Sven Lütticken investigates the supposed rise of religion in society through the work of contemporary artists.
Terry Eagleton From Moses to Marx (and back)
08/12/08 Joost de Bloois
In January, the British literary theorist and philosopher, Terry Eagleton, will be speaking on religion in the lecture series, Now is the Time, in Amsterdam. As an introduction, here is an intellectual portrait of a thinker who is known as one of Great Britain's most vehement polemicists.
She rebuilt a terrace house into an aviary and dwelling for an animal rights activist, had soldiers appear at the Rijksakademie in antique costumes to breathe new life into the cavalry once billeted there and, for the Shanghai Biennial, reconstructed the journey across China of the famous communist Henk Sneevliet. Mieke van der Voort’s work is colourful and diverse, at once documentary and poetic, discerning and vague. Her newest project opens this month at Casco.
Read more..
Mounir Fatmi repeatedly hits a nerve with both believers and nonbelievers. Religion is never far off in work that often seems as dark as it does hopeful – it’s just a matter of how you look at it.
Read more..
