Academic Parish of the Holy Savior in Prague
14. – 31. october
‚Dust to Dust‘, ‘空手來空手去’
CHOI Jeonghwa refuses himself to be defined as an artist but rather a mediator who connects art and people. He believes that art is an aesthetical representation of aspects of our philosophical being and what is happening around us. Hence, this main concept of his art practice gravitates toward the very simple but truthful message of the ‘vanity’ of life. Therefore, it’s very natural for him to find the medium of his installations among our daily commodities.
There is an old idea from the founder of the Jesuit Order, St. Ignatius of Loyola encouraging us to see and search for God in every single thing on Earth. This idea gave impulses to the whole Baroque art, sometimes called simply the Jesuit art. The Baroque, Jesuit St. Salvator Church is one of the most open-minded centers for religions & cultures in our era.
Intervention of the Korean artist Choi Jeonghwa tends to respond to the mind-transforming idea of St. Ignatius. It is also linked to the missions of the Academic parish, St. Salvator Church, in two ways, which are ‘embracing artistic engagement with contemporary art’ and ‘creating cross cultural dialogue under the context of religions in our era’.
However the works by Choi Jeonghwa effortlessly lead us to questions like ‘Is that the theological reflection on the inter-cultural dialogue?’, ‘Is it just an artist’s testimony of his personal experiences on the Baroque style church or just a burst of pure joy that is not weighed down by the sediments of our traditions, stereotypes and prejudices?’, and most of all, ‚Can a church be a proper place to undergo such a liberating experience?
JW Stella and Norbert Schmidt
The coorganiser and host is the Academic Parish in Prague led by Mons. Tomáš Halík. Special Thanks to Jana Tomášková and Ondřej Funda (TINA B.)
foto © Martin Staněk
foto © JW Stella Arts Collectives
foto © Petr Neubert