Posted on 05/26/2015 2:45:07 AM PDT by markomalley
By BI: Authorities in Venice on Friday closed a working mosque in an ex-church that was Icelands contribution to the 56th Venice Biennale contemporary art fair on the grounds that it was being improperly used as a place of worship.
Muslims lift their asses to Allah inside the Misericordia Abbey in Venice, Italy.
Mail.com Swiss-Icelandic artist Christoph Buechels exhibit inside a former Roman Catholic Church creating the first mosque ever in the historic center of Venice sparked controversy from the outset. The chairman of the Icelandic Art Center, which commissioned the project, complained that Venetian authorities have tried to prevent its realization rather than assist in making it possible, under the claim that the Icelandic Pavilion is not art.
Perhaps most disappointingly, the administration of La Biennale di Venezia has not supported this artistic endeavor in the way that would have been expected for an organization of its stature and proclaimed advocacy of contemporary art, Icelandic art center Eirikur Thorlaksson said in a statement.
The Misericordia Abbey in Venice
He said the closure indicated that the Biennale, one of the visual art worlds premier events, is not a venue for truly free artistic expression. Iceland chose the deconsecrated Church of Santa Maria della Misericordia for the exhibit titled The Mosque in Venice. The project envisioned a working mosque for the seven months of the Biennale, which opened May 8 and comprises national pavilions as well as a curated main exhibit.
After weeks of tensions, Venice city officials withdrew authorization for the installation citing violation of the terms, including a ban on using the pavilion as a place of worship as well as security concerns.
This is the only way Muslims should be allowed to pray in Venice:
Somebody's going to get a nasty letter from President Obama. Followed by one from the UN. Followed by one from the European Union.
Since they won’t be allowed to put a mosque inside a Catholic Church and call it art, I guess they’ll have to go with Plan B: “The Brothel.”
I do believe the FIRST nasty letter will be coming from the Pope.
It’s deconsecrated.
But anyway, look out Italy, here comes the smiley face that is Islam.
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