'Shared Sacred Sites' exhibition in Ankara now open
1 July - 30 September 2021
CerModern, Ankara
The “Shared Sacred Sites” project explores a diverse range of locations in the Mediterranean, the Middle East and the Balkans where the three Abrahamic religions have coexisted. As they have done for centuries, Jews, Christians and Muslims sometimes pray in shrines of another religion. These shared sacred sites are a well-established phenomenon in these regions and reveal the porosity of the boundaries that exist between the different religious communities.
Despite theological differences, the three religions share a number of elements in terms of beliefs, rites, holy figures and sites. These crossovers, however, are not devoid of ambiguity and can sometimes also lead to conflict. These sanctuaries thus offer many examples of sharing, but also of partition and division.
“Shared Sacred Sites” explores this phenomenon by locating it through various examples in different contexts and by highlighting the entangled places and practices, symbols and figures that define it. Located at the heart of Anatolia, the city of Ankara is ideally positioned to tell the story of “Shared Sacred Sites”, because this area has been a space of cultural and religious contacts for centuries.
Conceived as a sort of “pilgrimage” through Mediterranean landscapes, the exhibition reveals both the historical and contemporary aspects of these “sharing of the sacred”. Thanks to a scenography combining anthropological research and contemporary art, it invites visitors to take a journey around shared sanctuaries.
Based on years of anthropological and historical research, the multifaceted “Shared Sacred Sites” project is characterized by a rewriting in each iteration of the exhibition. Indeed, the overall topic remains the same, but form, content, and context change from one location to another. Versions of this exhibition were first held at the Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilisations (Mucem) in Marseille (2015), then at the Bardo Museum in Tunis (2016); at the Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art, the National Museum of Photography and Yeni Cami in Thessaloniki (2017); at the Musée National de l’Histoire de l’Immigration in Paris (2017); at Dar el-Bacha-Musée des Confluences in Marrakesh (2018); at The New York Public Library, The Morgan Library & Museum and the CUNY Graduate Center in New York (2018); and at Depo in Istanbul (2019).
For more information, see:
ENG:
https://www.anadolukultur.org/EN/35-announcements/1347-shared-sacred-sites-exhibition-in-ankara/
FR
https://www.ifturquie.org/fr/etkinlik/sergi-paylasilan-kutsal-mekanlar/
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YouTube vidéo: https://youtu.be/lisZBOLqIkg
TU
https://www.ifturquie.org/etkinlik/sergi-paylasilan-kutsal-mekanlar/
https://www.anadolukultur.org/35-duyurular/1347-paylasilan-kutsal-mekanlar-sergisi-ankarada/
& REMINDER
the Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Shared.Sacred.Sites.Lieux.Saints.Partages