Vatican looks Michelangelo for Venice Biennale pavillion

VATICAN CITY - Agence France-Presse

Vatican prepares a multimedia presentation inspired by Genesis. And the work looks at faith and world. REUTERS photo

Five centuries after Michelangelo, the Vatican has commissioned fresh works on the biblical themes of creation and chaos for a show at the prestigious Venice Biennale art festival.

The exhibition explores themes from the Book of Genesis through works by artists including renowned Czech photographer Josef Koudelka -- but there are no depictions of the Madonna and Child or suffering Christs, the Vatican said yesterday.

“Creation, Un-Creation, Re-Creation” brings Koudelka together with Italian artists from the Studio Azzurro and Australian-born American Lawrence Carroll in a show which probes themes from the essence of human relationships to the destruction wrought by natural disasters.

The three Studio Azzurro artists behind the “Creation” theme look at the origins of humanity, with an interactive and multimedia installation which places the visitor at the centre of “a psycho-sensory and cerebral movement,” the Vatican said. Koudelka’s “Un-Creation” draws inspiration from the sibling rivals Cain and Abel and “the material and ethical destruction” by man.

Carroll’s “Re-Creation” uses salvage materials to create a sense of a fresh start, the sort Abraham experiences after a dark period of war and destruction according to the Genesis.

Cardinal Ravasi, who organized the show along with the director of the Vatican museums Antonio Paolucci, said Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who resigned in February because of old age, had hoped the project would spark dialogue on the modern world and questions of faith.