Conceptual artist Marta MinujÃn is building a life-size replica of the Parthenon, but sheâs using banned books instead of marble blocks. As Smithsonian reports , the artist has issued a public call for people to donate 100,000 prohibited titles toward her project. Next spring, the final product will stand in a public square in Kassel, Germany, where Nazis once burned thousands of âun-Germanâ books.
MinujÃn is creating the large-scale installation for documenta , a global arts exhibition thatâs held in Kassel every five years. This yearâs title is â documenta 14: Learning From Athens. â Keeping with the theme, the show will kick off in Athens on April 8 and open in Kassel on June 10.
This isnât the first time MinujÃnâs work has challenged the repression of knowledge and free speech. In 1983, she created a similar public work, El Partenón de Libros , after Argentinaâs military dictatorship fell apart. Made from 20,000 books forbidden by the junta, it stood along a central street in Buenos Aires. Instead of simply dismantling it, MinujÃn had two cranes tip it sideways and instructed onlookers to collect and keep the books.
Marta Minjuin's Parthenon of books will be on display for 100 days starting on June 10, 2017 in Kassel, Germany.... https://t.co/wx17mVstDy
MinujÃn's new Parthenon will be larger and more ambitious than her last. It will also recall a different political injusticeâwhen German Nazis burned around 2000 books on May 19, 1933, during the â Aktion wider den undeutschen Geistâ (Campaign against the Un-German Spirit).
Still, the underlying theme remains the same. Like the original 1983 work, MinujÃn's new Parthenon will set âan example against violence, discrimination, and intolerance,â said Adam Szymczyk, artistic director of documenta 14, in a press statement quoted by the American Library Association.
The new Parthenon of banned books will go on display in Athens on June 10, 2017. After 100 days, it will be dismantled, and the books distributed among onlookers. Want to contribute a title? Documenta 14 Â posted instructions online for donating once or currently banned works.
Loading recommendations... Please wait while we load personalized content recommendations