Séminaire collectif du CRAL
Art et littérature : l'esthétique en question
12 mai 2014

"The Ferrari's Case: Contemporary Art and Blasphemy in Jorge Bergoglio's Buenos Aires"
par Andrea Guinta

Andrea Giunta est professeur à l'Université du Texas, Austin (USA)

Conférence
(1 h 20  min)

 

Questions & Réponses
(32 min 27 sec)

Cliquez ici pour voir la vidéo en grand écran sur la chaîne YouTube du CRAL.

 

In the year 2004, at the Centro Cultural Recoleta in Buenos Aires, a retrospective exhibition of the Argentine artist León Ferrari took place. Along with his beautiful drawings and most poetic works were displayed objects and collages where Ferrari questioned religion as the Foundation of violence in the Western civilization. His interpretation is founded on a revision of the Bible rather than on the religious institutions. Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, then Archbishop of Buenos Aires and now Pope, wrote a letter to the community warning about "blasphemy" perpetrated in a public cultural institution. The exhibition and this letter set off both the press and the public. Masses were given, artworks were destroyed, the exhibition was shut down, and appeals to justice were submitted. The extensive literature published in those days (more than 800 articles during the days of the exhibition) gave place to a paradigmatic case to analyze the relationship between art and religion as well as art and freedom of expression in contemporary culture.