Page - 99 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 01/01

Approaching Religious Symbols in the Public Space | 99www.jrfm.eu 2015, 1/1, 95–101 seum. from the perspective of production it is relevant to consider the multicultural background of the artist, born in 1973 and living today in Paris and luxembourg. seen in the context of her whole work, Proposition de détour translates cultural differences and stereotypes into a visual-spatial dimension and challenges them, asking the ques- tion “what might be a universal language?”11 This challenging question is handed over to the audience. here, we consider the perspective of reception in the particular case of an ex- hibition in 2010 at which Proposition de détour was displayed.12 The visitors to the museum were invited to walk on this labyrinth-carpet and to perform what used to be a religious practice that, within the museum space, is estranged from its original context. Depending on their cultural knowledge and religious orientation, different visitors may have approached this work – which has been displayed in many countries – in various ways. The very use of such a general shape as a labyrinth opens possible references to other religious practices and ideological orientations as well. One per- son may walk on the labyrinth-carpet associating it with a Christian pilgrimage, while another will take the walking in the museum as a playful way to interact with this work of art of an internationally established artist. People who are familiar with Per- sian rugs or islamic concepts of paradise will put this aspect in the foreground. in any case, the contrasts merged in this work of art can hardly be ignored, for instance the formally harmonic fusion of Christian and islamic symbolism, or the suggested asso- ciation between the cold stone of a cathedral floor and the experience of a soft, warm wool carpet, or the habit of viewing works of art in museums from a secure distance and the invitation to touch with one’s own feet a precious contemporary artefact. The reception process, in this case, stresses the bodily dimension of experiencing a work of art. The suggested reception of the merged religious symbols is realised in the ideal case by means of a visual-spatial performance. Depending on the factual reception process in which visitors are engaged, su-Mai Tse’s Proposition de détour may act as a religious and/or an artistic response to con- temporary, often conflicting diversities of beliefs and orientations. By merging differ- ences, the work of art challenges the audience and engages it in an active interpreta- tion process. The engagement of this kind of interacting with religious references in contempo- rary arts and museums through a communicative approach highlights new dimensions of dealing with religion in the public space. selected symbols, narratives or practices are extrapolated from communities and traditions and put on stage in new media and public places. This alienation does not transform the meaning-making processes in a unique direction but invites the audience to take an active role as interpreter; when 11 Cf. http://peterblumgallery.com/exhibitions/su-mei-tse-proposition-de-d-tour/press_release [accessed 14 May 2015]. 12 signs of life, Museum of art lucerne: http://www.kunstmuseumluzern.ch/ausstellungen/lebensze- ichen-altes-wissen-in-der-zeitgenossischen-kunst [accessed 14 May 2015].