Vatican City: For the first time ever, the Holy See willbe present at the 55th International Art Exhibition in Venice. The event, whichis organized by la Biennale di Venezia, will be open to the public fromSaturday, June 1st to Sunday, November 24th, 2013.
At a press conference today, Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi,president of the Pontifical Council for Culture spoke to journalists on thesignificance of the Vatican’s presence at the Biennale Arte, as it is known.Cardinal Ravasi told journalists that the Holy See’s presence would promote anoccasion for dialogue in a diversified context.
The annual art exhibition allows both countries andnon-profit organizations an opportunity to develop their own artisticproductions to contribute to the event. While it is not a marketplace for art,the Biennale allows for artist to display their artistic representations in apublic forum.
The theme chosen by the Pontifical Council of Culture fortheir exhibition is one which Cardinal Ravasi said was fundamental for bothculture and Church tradition: the first 11 chapters of the Book of Genesis.
“Specifically, the first eleven chapters have beenchosen, as they are dedicated to the mystery of man’s origins, the introductionof evil into history, and our hope and future projects after the devastationsymbolically represented by the Flood,” the Cardinal said.
The three major themes highlighted by Cardinal Ravasiwere synthesized into three thematic elements that will be represented in thevarious contemporary artwork that will be presented by the Holy See: Creation,Uncreation, and the New Man, or Re-creation.
Studio Azzuro of Milan, a group of artists specializingin photography, graphics and animation were chosen by the Holy See to presentthat theme of Creation. Czech artist Josef Koudelka and Australian born artistLawrence Carroll will present the themes of Uncreation and Re-creation,respectively.
Cardinal Ravasi expressed his thanks to the artists fortaking on the enormous task of representing the themes of Genesis in theirartwork. “A vital, rich, and elaborate dialogue has been established with them[the artists] and is a sign of a renewed, modern patronage. To them, my mostheartfelt thanks,” he said.
Also present at the press conference was Professor PaoloBaratta, president of the Biennale di Venezia who applauded the participationof the Holy See as well as their “attention to the contemporary arts.”
The Biennale, he said, “is not a marketplace forexhibiting art in relation to its commercial value; it is a place where onesees art at the moment of its birth.”
It is rather a place where a work of art is viewed in thecontext of its creation, as the fruit of the yearnings, motivations and urgesof artists and not in view of its final destination.”
The director of the Vatican Museums, Professor AntonioPaolucci, expressed his satisfaction with the representations of the themescreated by the artists for the 55th International Art Exhibition as well ascommenting on their selection.
“In a pavilion configured as wide open to culturalintersections and emotional pathways, we decided to select, in collaborationwith the scientific committee, a group of internationally renowned artists who,in the variety of their languages and techniques, would produce convergingcharacteristics, sensibilities, and openings with reference to the pathchosen,” Prof. Paolucci said.
Source: Zenit.org