This is the last weekend for ArtPrizein Grand Rapids. While more than 1,500 art pieces are on display. Every year 100 to 200 entries selected for the competition never find a venue. That means they were accepted, but no one agreed to host the art.
This year, Atlanta artist NabilMousa’s piece is one of those. Mousa's sculpture, called “Paradise Built on the Bones of the Slaughtered,” has been called “controversial.” It’s a series of poles in the shape of the twin towers that were destroyed in 9/11.
“And the unique thing that I did in addition to that is that I took the Bible, the Quran, and the Torah and I bolted them to these rods, torched them and then I hung them on these towers,” says Mousa.
The piece was originally slated to be shown in Grand Rapids City Hall, but just 12 days before the opening of ArtPrize, City Hall turned it down.
A few news sources implied that city officials thought it would be too contentious, but that hasn’t been confirmed. What we do know is that the city was not fully informed about Mousa’s piece when it first considered it.
Torching holy books has led to violence in the past. Probably the most notable example was in 2011, when eleven people were killed near a United Nations compound in Afghanistan in response to Florida pastor Terry Jones burning a Quran.
Mousa was born in Syria and immigrated to the U.S. with his family when he was about 12 years old. He says it’s that kind of violence that spurred him to create the sculpture.
“I remember from early on in my childhood, all three religions had a significant influence on my life - and never really in a positive way. There’s always some kind of conflict, some kind of war going on -people being killed. And everybody claiming to be worshipping the true God and everybody else was worshipping the false God,” he says.
Mousa says City Hall curators tried to find a new ArtPrize space for his sculpture, but no other venue would take it. Some venues thought the work was too controversial. While others say they just didn’t have enough room or time to set up the entry.
Todd Herring is the creative director for ArtPrize and also its director of communications. He says every venue has its own reasons for choosing or not choosing a work, but that’s what makes the event unique.
“You know ArtPrize is a place for freedom of expression, but it’s also a place for freedom of expression for the venues too," says Herring. "So the venues do have a right to say whether they want an artwork in their space or not. And ArtPrize can’t step in and say…can’t make a call or direction one way or the other.”
Herring argues that there are still plenty of daring artworks in this year’s competition. But Nabil Mousa says excluding his work means Grand Rapids is missing out on an opportunity to talk about similarities instead of differences in Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. The work is metaphorically “burning away” the differences.
“So really by reducing that book in size, we’re taking away all of the insignificant things that are so irrelevant and hopefully just holding on to the essence of what the books offer. And all three talk about love, and forgiveness, and acceptance,” says Mousa.
