Fundamentalism-sculpture exhibited

Giant Fundamentalism-sculpture exhibited

1. Invitation to opening exhibition of the art installation ‘Fundamentalism’

2. Probably the world’s largest art manifestation within the subject

3. 100.000s of working hours, tons of materials and 600 quotes

4. Terror in Paris emphasize necessity of the dialogue project

5. Vernissage at Art Centre Silkeborg Bad

6. Dialogue at exhibition

7. Online inter-activities

Skulturen i pamorama salen pÃ¥ Sikeborg Bad

Dear Sir

I hereby invite you to attend the opening exhibition of the art installation ‘Fundamentalism’. This monumental sculpture is a part of the art project The Children of Abraham which focuses on the monotheistic dogmas. It is with great pleasure (and a lot of pride) that we prepare to open the project’s first full exhibition at Art Centre Silkeborg Bad in Denmark. The inauguration happens this Saturday, January 17. We know that you live far away and probably cannot make it. But you still deserve an invitation. :-)

This art project must be one of the world’s largest art manifestations to stage religious interconnectedness and religious fundamentalism and extremism. With it, we hope to start a constructive, inclusive dialogue on the subject. See introduction mail.

The work of realizing this huge project has been an immense achievement. The initiator of the project is the Danish artist Jens Galschiot. He and a large number of employees and volunteers have literally spent hundreds of thousands of working hours on the project. 5 tons of copper have been used for the sculptures, along with 10 tons of steel, 3 tons of wax, 8.000 wax books (molded into Bibles, Torahs and Qurans), 1 full kilometer of rolled copper plates, 6.000 rivets and 75 flat screens with minicomputers. In addition to building the sculptures, 2 years have been spent on finding 300 of the brightest and 300 of the darkest quotes from the Torah, the Bible and the Quran.

The terrorist attack in Paris has, sadly, made both the sculpture and dialogue project even more relevant. With this project, the artist starts a difficult and very sensitive discussion about religious fundamentalism. Focusing on how similar the religions really are, for better or worse, he opens up for a dialogue and bridge-building-process that he believes is so badly needed.

The artist Jens Galschiot has thought the project through thoroughly as for whether his sculpture 'Fundamentalism' could provide a basis for violent reactions. But the core of the project is very balanced. It focuses on Judaism, Christianity and Islam and argues that all three religions essentially contain the same dark and bright sides. And that one can build a very benevolent society as well as a totalitarian regime, from all the three religions.

In relation to the terrorist attack, Galschiot has sent out this press release and he is not in doubt that he shall carry out the project as planned, it has only become more needed.

This weekend the sculpture was erected at Art Centre Silkeborg Bad in Denmark. It took 8 men, a woman, two huge trucks, a manitou and a truck three days to carry out the work. You can see the result on the photo above and the photos on the web We are very pleased with the result and the heavy letters could just fit into the splendid panorama hall of the Art Centre. It's great to see the sculpture erected. Despite its colossal dimensions it almost seems to float, and inside the circle is a Zen-like tranquility.

A number of initiatives are made to strengthen the dialogue without directly involving the sculpture Fundamentalism. In this way the broader public can participate too.

Activities around the exhibition

6 minor-sculptures Pillars of Scriptures have been placed in schools and libraries in the provincial town of Silkeborg in Denmark, to nurrish the dialogue outside Art Centre Silkeborg Bad.
At the Art Gallery, dialogue rooms are established. Here you find educational material, literature and interactive activities.
Prejudice-quote-quiz. On the online quiz, one has to guess from which of the 3 books various quotes originate. By collecting points it is possible to win a copper book from the sculpture.
All 600 quotes are presented digitally in 8 different languages. They are divided into subjects like ‘clothing’, ‘slaves’ and ‘women’.
A screen saver with the brightest and darkest quotations from the sculpture can be downloaded for free.

After the exhibition at Art Centre Silkeborg Bad the project will start a tour to different locations, probably starting with Luxemburg Square by the EU parliament in Brussels. There are still some openings in the program so do take contact if you want us to exhibit in your country.

Contact the Secretariat at aidoh@aidoh.dk or at +45 6618 4058 (or +45 6170 3083)

Best regards

Chief of communications Lasse Markus

Invitation to the opening exhibition of the sculpture installation ‘Fundamentalism’

On Saturday January 17th, Art Centre Silkeborg Bad opens the exhibition of the largest known art manifestation focusing on religious interconnectedness and Fundamentalism.

The giant sculpture Fundamentalism is made by Danish sculptor Jens Galschiot and is a part of his art and dialogue project The Children of Abraham.

It has taken 5 years to construct the sculpture and we would be honored to see you, with companion to this large event.

Program

11:00am The Artcentre opens
11:30am Sculptor Jens Galschiot introduces the work
12:30pm Sculptor Jens Galschiot introduces the work again
2:00pm Opening speech by Bishop Henrik Stubkjaer amongst others
5:00pm The band HUDNA plays world music (three different cultures, religions and musical cultures merge. The group won the award for ‘best world track’ at the Danish Music Awards in 2013 and 2014).
6:00pm The Art Centre closes.