EU top discusses Galschiøts Fundamentalism-sculpture + 2 new art-happenings.

  1. EU top discusses Galschiøts Fundamentalism-sculpture + 2 new art-happenings. at newly ended Children of Abraham/Fundamentalism exhibition
  2. Looking back
  3. Fundamentalism-sculpture discussed by EU´s leaders in the bureau!
  4. Unbearable – polar bear to be spiked on 5m tall CO2 graph for COP21!
  5. 60 meter long sculpture is to show a year in prostitute´s life and put focus on trafficking.
  6. Galschiøt goes for the cookie tins.
   
 
 
 
          
  
Dear 
  
The summer is getting closer and so is our controversial exhibition in and by the EU parliament. After a very successful "Children of Abraham"-exhibition, the first of its kind with the full Fundamentalism-sculpture we look forward towards a possible freedom of speech-crisis in the EU parliament.
 
28 EU parliamentarians have come together to present our art and dialogue project The Children of Abraham this October. This is usually not a big deal. But due to the terrorist attacks in Paris and Copenhagen the exhibition is now discussed in the very highest levels in the bureau. Artist Jens Galschiøt is not sure if this attention is to be considered an honor, a scandal or a catastrophe. MEP Bendt Bendtsen who initiated the application of the exhibition cannot imagine that a peaceful exhibition could be prohibited, just because it shows the dark and bright sides of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. If it is actually prohibited it will trigger a new standard for artistic freedom of expression in Europe.
  
Meanwhile other art happenings are being prepared. Galschiot and his employees have stared modeling a full size polar bear which is to be spiked on a 20 meter long, 5 meter tall graph of human CO2 emission. The sculpture is called UnBearable and it will be presented at the crucial climate summit COP21 in Paris this November/December. As it is rather costly to make a sculpture of this size, we plan to finance it through Crowdfunding. If it becomes a success we hope to be able to crowdfund even more of our art in this way.
  
550 + 1 is another sculpture we are eager to present. The 60 (!) meter long sculpture depicts a year in a prostitutes working life. We are working full time making the small copper-torso sculptures that are to represent the 550 men. The sculpture is presented at the political summit "Peoples Summit" in Bornholm, Denmark in June.
 
At the Galschiots art-workshop in Odense we are looking forward to making and presenting these sculptures which will probably make a lot of attention and create a lot of debate.
 
Lots of greetings.
 
Chief of secretariat Lasse Markus
and all the people of Gallery Galschiøt
 
 
 
 
Looking back at the first full Children of Abraham art exhibition

The first art-exhibition with The Children of Abraham project including the sculpture Fundamentalism has now ended. We take a look at how it all went down.

For 92 days it was exhibited at Art Centre Silkeborg Bad with lots of positive reactions and reflections. We see this as a sign of the relevance of the exhibition and the project.

13,499 guests visited the exhibition. It is more than twice as many as the Art Centres average number of visitors. Opposite the trend, this exhibition attracted more and more visitors as the rumor about it spread. Thus the exhibition site had to hire additional personnel to man the restaurant and make tours.

 Over 50 school groups were shown round the exhibition, while numerous other schools visited without a tour. On the whole, the exhibition and the project were used in a large number of schools as a starting point for nuanced and including discussions about religions.

5 Pillars of Scripture-sculptures were exhibited at various cultural and educational institutions. They ensured that the debate came out of the art institution and into schools and libraries.

TV, Radio, Blogs and newspapers covered the exhibition. See Media Overview (in Danish I´m afraid), while visitors wrote 1520 comments about the exhibition on scraps of paper – gathered here (in Danish too I´m afraid – after exhibiting at EU we will have some in other languages)!

The future of the art- and dialogue project and the Fundamentalism sculpture

The sculpture is now placed at Galschiots art-workshop in Odense. We are preparing it for installation by the EU Parliament in October this year. For that we need 28 monitor screens which are brighter and protected against rain, wind and vandalism. We are also working a number of future exhibitions in Denmark and abroad.

If you have just the right place for exhibiting the Fundamentalism-sculpture. A place that is ready and willing to start a constructive dialogue about the monotheistic religions, you are more than welcome to contact them or give us a hint.

 Fundamentalism-sculpture at the EU  

MEP Bendt Bendtsen from the EU parliament has assembled a group of 28 parliamentarians with representatives from the various groups in the EU parliament. The 28 MPs have applied to exhibit The Children of Abraham art project by the EU parliament in Brussels. Inside the parliament 10 minor Pillar of Scriptures–sculptures are to be exhibited – each showing the brightest and darkest quotes from the Torah, the Bible and the Quran in 8 different languages. The big Fundamentalism sculpture is to be placed at the public Luxemburg square just in front of the parliament. The sculpture also shows the religious quotations.

The art-exhibition is to take place week 42-43 in October this year. We hope!

Normally the parliamentarians have the right to a certain number of exhibitions at the parliament, and usually it happens without discussions. But because of the tense situation due to the recent terrorist attacks and the sculptures´ focus the dark and bright sides of religions and our wish to start a dialogue about religious fundamentalism, the art exhibition is being discussed at the highest levels in the parliaments Bureau. Here they are debating whether to allow Galschiots exhibition or not.  

This is a bit ironic, as the Children of Abraham-project is meant to start an including dialogue which build bridge between the religions and tries to prevent religious fundamentalism and extremism. If the EU Bureau denies the exhibition it will be serious blow to artistic freedom of expression in the EU which will start a lot of debate.

MEP Bendt Bendtsen is a little baffled by this. After all, it is a very peaceful work of art despite the subject. He believes that it is a matter of freedom of expression for parliamentarians and expects that the Bureau with Martin Schulz in charge agrees to the exhibition.

For further information contact Bendt Bendtsen's office in the EU Parliament:

MEP Bendt BENDTSEN -Rue Wiertz B-1047 Brussels, ASP 10E114
Tel: +32 2 28 47125
Email:
bendt.bendtsen-office@europarl.europa.eu

 Unbearable sculpture. Polar bear speared on 5 meter high climate graph

Water is rising, climate is changing and COP21 is getting nearer. In November/December 2015 the world leaders meet in Paris for the crucial climate conference COP21. So far the world and its leaders have failed miserably in changing the CO2 emission that is going to shape our futures in unimaginable and rather scary ways.

We plan to use art to bring attention to the future climate catastrophe. The sculpture Unbearable depicts a large polar bear in copper which is placed at the end of a 20-meter graph, which shows the emission of CO2 from year 0 until today. The graph ends in a very sharp increase in 5 meters height and here the polar bear is hanging.

The 20 meter graph shows a sudden increase in greenhouse gases which starts around year 1850 making it quite clear that we humans are responsible for the increase in

We plan to fund the sculpture via crowdfunding as it is rather expensive in material, work force and transport. In this way we will rally support for the project from individuals all over the world. In return, when supporting the project, one gets a miniature sculpture of the polar bear or a poster – all depending on amount donated. We are very excited to see how it goes.  

The sculpture is presented this November at COP21 in Paris.

550 + 1 - a 60 meter long sculpture with focus on trafficking.  

The 60-meter-long sculpture 550 + 1 shows a long, long line of naked male copper torsos standing in one 60 meter line. At first glance the sculpture looks beautiful and aesthetic. But as one nears the end of the 550 naked male torsos one sees that the 551th torso is a nude woman with spread legs.

The 550 male torsos represent the number of men an average Nigerian prostitute is "servicing" in Copenhagen in one single year!

Thus, the sculpture is an illustration of one year in a prostitute's life, opening up for a debate about human trafficking and prostitution.

The sculpture is presented at the People's Summit in Bornholm, Denmark, June 11-14 and it will also be exhibited at the major international women's conference "Women Deliver" in Copenhagen in 2016.  

Galschiøt occupies the biscuit tins.

Galschiot has finally received the ultimate recognition! His sculptures can now be seen on biscuit tins along with some of Denmark most remarkable monuments. (Biscuits are one of the most "Danish" commodities – they are sort of connected to the fairytale-story of Denmark with castles, small houses and H.C.Andersen who wrote The Little Mermaid and other known fairytales.)    

The cookie company has asked if they could use Galschiots statue of Hans Christian Andersen on their new cookie tin collection where the most important Danish memorials are included. And as we like the idea of being compared to the most important Danish monuments and we couldn’t stand for the delicious cookies inside the tins, we chose to say yes. We have been eating them ever since.

Some of Galschiots fine art colleagues probably see it as a sign that Galschiøt has become too popular and banal. Galschiot himself thinks that it is an expression of great popular impact (and that it is quite funny). He is, though, sad that his mother is dead, as she would have been so proud, showing the biscuit tin at her nursing home!

The cookies can only be bought in Denmark and USA. If you want a box you will have to call Kelsens Cookies  

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About the Artist Jens Galschiøt 
 
By Bruun Rasmussen, Scandinavia's largest auction of fine Arts.
   
"Internationally, Galschiot could be characterized as one of the most significant Danish artists of late modernity (after 1980). His artistic production covers a wide field of expression; from jewellery and small dainty figures to gigantic, politically emphatic sculptures.
 
He is among the best-known Danish artists abroad. His reputation extends from Hong Kong, and Mexico to Germany, Spain, and the U.S.A. Apart from clothing sculptures Jens Galschiot creates international happenings to highlight the present imbalance of the world".  
 
 
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Links to Fundamentalism & The Children of Abraham 
 
See introduction-mail about the art- and dialogue project The Children of Abraham
 
Introduction movie about the sculpture and project. 16 minutes
 
Photos from putting up the sculpture at Art Centre Silkeborg Bad.
 
Concept about the sculpture project in different languages: Danish, English, French, Spanish, Dutch, PolishItalian and Arabic.
 
  
  
Contact to The Children of Abraham.
Chief of communication Lasse Markus 6618 4058/mobil 6170 3083
 
 
  
General information about Galschiøt
  
About Jens Galschiøt See Wikipedia:
Portrait of Jens Galschiøt (engelsk) CV (PDF) 
  
Galschiots Homepage: Galleri Galschiøt
 
Contact to Jens Galschiøt:
 
E-mail:
aidoh@aidoh.dk,
Internet: www.aidoh.dk
tel. +45 6618 4058,  mobil +45 4044 7058
Banevænget 22,
DK-5270 Odense 
Denmark

 

 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
   
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 
 
This mail has been sent from the sculptor Jens Galschiøt's workshop. Contact to the workshop: Galleri Galschiøt
Banevænget 22
5270 Odense N
Denmark

Tlf : (+45) 6618 4058

Fax:(+45) 6618 4158  E-mail:
aidoh@aidoh.dkportrait of Jens Galschiot 2012

websides:
To Gallery Galschiot
To Galschot webside
to "The Children of Abraham’projekt
Overview over Galschiøt sculptures
Portrait of a sculptor Jens Galschiøt (PDF) 
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