Art- and dialogue project by the artist Jens Galschiøt
The art and dialogue project ”The Children of Abraham” was created by the artist Jens Galschiøt. The project is based on the sculpture ‘Fundamentalism’, which focuses on the three monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The three religions are often called ‘the people of the book’, as all of them acknowledge Abraham as their common ancestor. In a way, the disagreements between the three religions are a family dispute between ‘The Children of Abraham’.
The sculpture Fundamentalism
The sculpture ‘Fundamentalism’ is built on 8000 copper books, which form the letters ‘F.U.N.D.A.M.E.N.T.A.L.I.S.M’, which is erected on a circular pedestal. On the outside of the circular pedestal are mounted flat screens showing the 'bright' quotations from the Torah, the Bible and the Qurans. On the inside, 14 screens are also mounted, showing the 'dark' quotes from the same religious books.
The idea of the sculpture is to establish a dialogue that these three religions are both very loving and very human. At the same time, it is an enlightenment project about the religions that creates dialogue that can help break down prejudice.
Fundamentalism was exhibited for the first time at the art center 'Silkeborg Bad' on 17 January 2015.
In addition to the sculptor, 'Abraham's children' are a number of communication tools that consist of a quiz, quote summary, screensavers, 10 smaller sculptures and a number of exhibitions and dialogue meetings.
The Scripture columns are 10 sculptures that help to broaden the debate about fundamentalism, and religion.
Like the Fundamentalism sculpture, their displays show the light and dark quotes.
Quote Quiz is a quiz where you have the opportunity to test your religious knowledge. Guess which religion the quote comes from and see how many quotes you guess right.
For many, it will be surprisingly difficult to guess where the religious quotes and writings come from. The quiz clearly shows what positive and negative prejudices we have towards the religions.
Try the quiz and see how many you can guess right
All the quotes are presented online. The quotes can be divided into topics and can easily be searched at the cross of the various religious writings.
The screensaver switches between the 600 quotes, just like the sculpture. The screensaver is freely downloadable and installed.
The screensaver is a kind of staging of the mood of the Fundamentalism sculpture. The almost meditative screen recitation of quotes is very enlightening, but also very scary when the dark quotes show up in great contrast to the bright ones. There is a quiet and sustained reflection on the religious quotes as they are continuously displayed on one's computer.
There is plenty of opportunity to take part in the project, be it schools, cultural or religious institutions, NGOs, libraries, art museums, inquisitive individuals or anything else. In addition to this interactive quiz, you can download a quote screen saver for your PC, find educational material, debate posts and check out the latest developments, events and exhibitions on fundamentalism.dk and facebook.
Support the dialogue by spreading awareness of this project by passing on information about the project and sharing it with colleagues and friends.
