Gray Moon Gallery
Belgian painter Jan Theuninck in front of Holy Land, 2006, a work by Kader Attia
The idea of a ‘Holy Land’ is a recurring theme in several religions: an idea of a better place that eventually will be reached and a promise that helps to endure the hard conditions of the present moment. In the past decades, Europe has often figured as a Holy Land for Africans faced with war and poverty. Of those that undertook the journey, tragically, many have died at sea before ever reaching the shore. It is estimated that 20,000 refugees have died at sea over the past twenty years, an average of eight people a day. This tragedy is not always present in our consciousness, as their bodies disappear to the bottom of the sea, outside of any nation state.
As part of a historical continuum, North African colonial soldiers have served in the European wars – over 30,000 African soldiers have lost their lives in World War I to protect France from the German invasion – but their descendants were never granted any rights to migrate to Europe, so the idea of Europe as a Holy Land lives on. Kader Attia's installation is a temporary monument that aims to offer a respectful burial to both the drowned refugees and the colonial soldiers, with a series of mirrors in the shape of a Muslim grave or a gothic window, directed towards the sea. As seen from the sea, the mirrors look shiny and attractive, but once approaching it is clear that they merely reflect reality. They embody the gap between fantasy and reality for the migrant, while the visitor, seeing oneself in the mirror, is temporarily included in the story and can get back out again.
www.beaufort2018.be/en/holy-land-2006
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Jan Theuninck is a Belgian painter
www.boekgrrls.nl/BgDiversen/Onderwerpen/gedichten_over_sc...
www.forumeerstewereldoorlog.be/wiki/index.php/Yperite-Jan...
www.vredesmuseum.nl/galerie/wargasm.php
www.graphiste-webdesigner.fr/blog/2013/04/la-peinture-bel...
www.eutrio.be/nl/expo-west-meet-east
www.eutrio.be/fr/expo-west-meets-east
www.e-architect.co.uk/architects/le-corbusier
Belgian painter Jan Theuninck in front of Holy Land, 2006, a work by Kader Attia
The idea of a ‘Holy Land’ is a recurring theme in several religions: an idea of a better place that eventually will be reached and a promise that helps to endure the hard conditions of the present moment. In the past decades, Europe has often figured as a Holy Land for Africans faced with war and poverty. Of those that undertook the journey, tragically, many have died at sea before ever reaching the shore. It is estimated that 20,000 refugees have died at sea over the past twenty years, an average of eight people a day. This tragedy is not always present in our consciousness, as their bodies disappear to the bottom of the sea, outside of any nation state.
As part of a historical continuum, North African colonial soldiers have served in the European wars – over 30,000 African soldiers have lost their lives in World War I to protect France from the German invasion – but their descendants were never granted any rights to migrate to Europe, so the idea of Europe as a Holy Land lives on. Kader Attia's installation is a temporary monument that aims to offer a respectful burial to both the drowned refugees and the colonial soldiers, with a series of mirrors in the shape of a Muslim grave or a gothic window, directed towards the sea. As seen from the sea, the mirrors look shiny and attractive, but once approaching it is clear that they merely reflect reality. They embody the gap between fantasy and reality for the migrant, while the visitor, seeing oneself in the mirror, is temporarily included in the story and can get back out again.
www.beaufort2018.be/en/holy-land-2006
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jan Theuninck is a Belgian painter
www.boekgrrls.nl/BgDiversen/Onderwerpen/gedichten_over_sc...
www.forumeerstewereldoorlog.be/wiki/index.php/Yperite-Jan...
www.vredesmuseum.nl/galerie/wargasm.php
www.graphiste-webdesigner.fr/blog/2013/04/la-peinture-bel...
www.eutrio.be/nl/expo-west-meet-east
www.eutrio.be/fr/expo-west-meets-east
www.e-architect.co.uk/architects/le-corbusier