Iceland’s contribution to the Venice Biennale was considered a security threat by local authorities, reports the New York Times.
Swiss artist Christoph Büchel represents Iceland at the art fair this year. His project, called The Mosque: First Mosque in the Historic City of Venice, is located in a former Catholic church in the Cannaregio neighbourhood and will serve as a place of activity for the Venice Muslim Community and includes educational and cultural programmes for the public. The project is done in collaboration with Muslim associations in Venice and Iceland.
According to the NY Times, Büchel “wanted a church to host the mosque in order to create a quintessentially Venetian layering of cultures”. He spent months trying to find a willing partner for the project before finally being able to rent the Santa Maria della Misericordia, a small church owned by a lighting company.
Mosque Installed at Venice Biennale Tests City’s Tolerance http://t.co/fNoT1KFDp5
— New York Times World (@nytimesworld) May 6, 2015
The Muslim community in Venice welcomed the idea, saying it had been a dream of theirs to have a mosque in Venice’s historic centre, where many Muslims work but don’t have a good place for prayer. However, local authorities were more hesitant.
The NY Times reports that the “project came close to collapsing in mid-April, after Venetian officials sent a letter to the Icelandic Art Centre, which is organizing the pavilion, with warnings that the police considered the mosque a security threat.”
The project will open its doors to the public tomorrow, Friday.
Iceland’s contribution to the Venice Biennale was considered a security threat by local authorities, reports the New York Times.
Swiss artist Christoph Büchel represents Iceland at the art fair this year. His project, called The Mosque: First Mosque in the Historic City of Venice, is located in a former Catholic church in the Cannaregio neighbourhood and will serve as a place of activity for the Venice Muslim Community and includes educational and cultural programmes for the public. The project is done in collaboration with Muslim associations in Venice and Iceland.
According to the NY Times, Büchel “wanted a church to host the mosque in order to create a quintessentially Venetian layering of cultures”. He spent months trying to find a willing partner for the project before finally being able to rent the Santa Maria della Misericordia, a small church owned by a lighting company.
Mosque Installed at Venice Biennale Tests City’s Tolerance http://t.co/fNoT1KFDp5
— New York Times World (@nytimesworld) May 6, 2015
The Muslim community in Venice welcomed the idea, saying it had been a dream of theirs to have a mosque in Venice’s historic centre, where many Muslims work but don’t have a good place for prayer. However, local authorities were more hesitant.
The NY Times reports that the “project came close to collapsing in mid-April, after Venetian officials sent a letter to the Icelandic Art Centre, which is organizing the pavilion, with warnings that the police considered the mosque a security threat.”
The project will open its doors to the public tomorrow, Friday.
