After the scheduled 3 weeks the art installation LUMEN CHRISTI was prolonged for another 3 weeks. In these 6 weeks more than 80.000 people visited the exhibition in the collegiate church in Salzburg. A further facet was the redesign with a 31 m high and 600 square meter canopy .

Photos: ©Stefan Zenzmaier


Installation Kollegienkirche Salzburg

8.4. – 1.5.2022

The archetypes of death and resurrection ascend under the dome of the collegiate church.

In her art installation Andrea Reiser takes up the primal theme of devine creation.

 

Death and life - the eternal conflict which determines our world. For Christians the dynamics are solved by Christ as perfecter of the world in favour of life. His resurrection ís the birth of a new heaven and a new world. The architect of the collegiate church, Johann Fischer von Erlach, implemented exactly that theme 300 years ago and built an image of the celestial Jerusalem. The images of John´s epiphany are strong as the world is described as being at peace

with itself.

 

Women believe even more than men in life as they give and preserve life.

 

Women were the first witnesses of the resurrection of Jesus:

  • they are the first ones who believe the divine saviour is alive and the Risen Lord entrusts
  • the gospel to them as he knows that women
  • protect His creation.

With her installation in Salzburg´s biggest church of Our Lady the artist wants to point out that women bestow future and hope upon us.

 

Christian Wallisch-Breitsching

Kollegienkirche Salzburg

 

One of the most commonly known sentences in the Bible is“ Do not be afraid“

In times like these this sentence has gained vital importance.

 

The fascination of the Collegiate church or University church in Salzburg has accompanied me for many years. Be it as a citizen of Salzburg, an artist or a woman who has often wondered about

St. Mary, the woman and mother, and the many female figures in the Bible. The empty sacred space inspired me to the idea of the LUMEN CHRISTI RAY OF HOPE project. In our quite limited period of time we encounter life as well as death in our everyday life, or I personally in

my work at the hospice. What touches us, gives consolation or shows us the way? What kind of symbols have accompanied us for centuries? In how far can nature, animals and plants enrich our lives?

Where do we as individuals and as mankind move to? Every creature strives for light, we hope to get affection and compassion, we want to be cherished as human beings on our individual ways of life.

The installation is a symbiosis between the written word, symbols and portrayals from nature put on a transparent fabric that combines the play of light and shade in the room. At that time of the year there is more light coming through the dome, depending on the times of day and the weather, darkness is fading. The visitors were invited to encircle the installation, pray or experience silence, read and take in the visible as well as their invisible own feelings. In the Easter Vigil the four panels of fabric were pulled apart to make the empty grave, respectively the empty room visible, and the installation became accessible. People are allowed to enter and look up to the dome, a new perspective opens up if you view the installation not only from outside,but from the inside, from the centre.

 

Andrea Maria Reiser



Download
LUMEN • CHRISTI • LICHT • BLICK Osterfestschrift
In der Broschüre finden sich die Bibelzitate, wie auch Symbole und Fotografien der Installation vom Hochziehen in die Kuppel bis zu Detailaufnahmen.
AMR LC Broschüre-kl.pdf
Adobe Acrobat Dokument 8.7 MB