4 Pregnant Teenagers Crucified at the European Social Forum, In the Name of God
Currently, at the European Social forum in Malmö, Sweden, four teenagers are being crucified on four metre high crosses of copper.
It’s a headline that’s sure to rip through pages of European newspapers, but its readers will be reassured, eventually, that the teens are not real humans, but made of bronze. In the Name of God is a series of four such sculptures realized by Jens Galschiot depicting:
a pregnant teenager in natural size crucified on a big cross. It is a harsh comment to the impact of the fundamentalist branch of the Christian church, with President Bush and the Pope in the lead, on contraception and sexual education. Women, including teenagers, bear the brunt of the disastrous consequences of the ban on condoms based on ´Christian´ morality.
The piece is accompanied by 12,000 posters, distributed to activists at the ESF, which explain the global politics of contraception. Glaschiot makes it clear in his statement that this is not a smear campaign, but strictly political:
The sculpture is not a global accusation against Christianity. On the contrary, I admire those Christians who take the Gospel’s claim of charity seriously – and act accordingly. I think that progressive Christians should dissociate themselves from the abuse of ‘their’ God for the sake of a reactionary contraception policy.
The sculptures have toured parts of Africa and Europe, and the artist hopes to bring them to North America in the future.
Galschiot hosts a list of online discussions engaging his work, photos from the Malmö installation, and publicizes showings on his website.
Thanks, Marc!
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