Paradise Has Many Gates

The Vancouver Biennale launches its 2018-2020 citywide public art festival this summer—its first installation, unveiled June 20 in the seaside Vanier Park, is Saudi Arabian artist Ajlan Gharem’s Paradise Has Many Gates. The structure architecturally echoes a traditional mosque though rendered in chain link, making it both airily transparent and ominously evocative of a cage. The dichotomy between form and material evokes the multifaceted conflicts of religious constraint and democratic freedom, embodying the Biennale’s current theme: re-IMAGE-n, which intends to encourage the re-exploration of prevailing belief systems.

Images courtesy of roaming-the-planet.

_________

Never miss a story. Sign up for NUVO’s weekly newsletter, here.