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Catholics
and Muslims Storming the Heavens
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The museum draws a comparison between the current negative reactions to “pompous” mosques and Catholic building fever in the early 19th century.
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When,
on the occasion of the laying of the first stone for the construction of the
massive Essalam Mosque in the Dutch port city of Rotterdam in October 2003, the
Rotterdam mayor passed the comment in his opening speech that he would have
“preferred the design to have been a bit less exotic and of a more humble
stature”, he put his finger squarely on a very sensitive spot on the bruised
vane of Dutch intercultural relations[1].
With
around 200 mosques nationwide, and the trend to construct increasingly
impressive and Ottoman style Prayer houses, including cloud kissing minarets,
the predominantly Moroccan and Turkish Muslim minorities are asserting their
right to part of the Dutch airspace—and not everybody is pleased with this
budding self-confidence. In fact, the mayor’s complaint stirred yet another
crisis in the Islam-and-citizenship debate, with the media happily providing a
forum for multicultural skeptics, leveling fresh accusations of “unwillingness
to adapt,” “cultural isolationism,” and even “usurpation of the
skyline,” at the Muslim community.
As
always, the majority of the polemicists on either side of the debate were not
particularly graced with an abundance of subtlety and historical awareness, let
alone showing any interest in the actual artistic quality and visual language of
the controversial mosques.
To
view a selection of the photo’s which were exhibited at the Museum of
Religious Art, including historical commentary click here
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In
response to this perceived lack of historical context in the mosque debate, and
the dominance of religious and cultural prejudice, the Museum of Religious Art
in the village of Uden decided to provide a historical parallel that firmly
places the avid mosque building of the past few years into the broader
historical processes of religious emancipation in the Netherlands.
With
its exhibition titled “Catholics and Muslims Storming the Heavens,” the
museum draws a comparison between the current negative reactions to
“pompous” mosques and the reactions of Protestants and Liberals to Catholic
building fever in the early 19th century. As a consequence of the religious
freedom that had been brought to the predominantly Calvinist Netherlands by the
French, who occupied the country in the late 18th century, Catholics started
“imposing” their towering neo-gothic churches all over the humble Dutch
skyline.
Until
that time, Catholics had been forced to practice their devotion in secret in
“underground” churches based in sheds and attics, or, had to seek refuge in
the churches and convents of one of the de
facto free Catholic communities in the southern countryside. Once
freedom to practice publicly was attained, more than 700 Catholic churches were
built within half a century. As the Ottoman style mosques, based on the famous
architecture of 16th century Greek architect Sinan, are inspired by the golden
age of the Islamic empire, the sky-groping steeples and rich ornamentation of
the neo-gothic churches are inspired by the glory days of the church in the
Europe of the late Middle Ages, when magnificent gothic churches symbolized both
the spatial, spiritual, and political hegemony of Christendom.
The
comparison is elaborated in a collection of images and models of churches and
mosques, accompanied by a presentation of the present and historical debate
through newspaper clippings and multimedia material. The heart of the exhibition
is formed by a series of enigmatic photographs by photographer Hans Wilschut[2]
of mosques in the marshy Dutch landscape. The photographs, all taken at dusk and
mysteriously still through the absence of a single living being, present the
viewer with a landscape that is both starkly anachronistic and alluringly
romantic. The choice is left to us: Is the Dutch skyline enriched or
“usurped”? You can see for yourself in the photo
gallery below.
In
addition to providing an interpretation of the present through looking at the
past, the exhibition further contextualizes the current situation by providing a
vision for the future. This is done by the presentation of designs for new
mosques that were submitted as graduation projects by a new generation of Muslim
architects. The futuristic dimensions and multi-purpose interior set-up of the
designs show that the children of the immigrants of the 1960s are pushing for a
much more radical transformation of building traditions and integration (or
assimilation?) into the Dutch landscape.
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Critics say that new mosques are an anachronism in the Dutch
‘city-scape’.
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The
curator of the exhibition, Wouter Prins, asserts this observation with an
interesting guess at the cause for this contrast between new ideas and the
mosques that are actually being built, saying, “The conservative and
traditional architectural style of the present mosques may be partly due to the
fact that most of their architects are autochthones. They are careful with
innovations so as not to offend cultural sensitivities, whereas the Muslim
architects don’t feel the need to be so cautious.”
The
situation in other European countries, such as the United Kingdom, where new
mosques increasingly strike a balance between traditional Islamic and Western
architectural styles, also seems to affirm this contention. However, the designs
of the young architects in Holland could also pose a temporary reactionary
style. In challenging the persistent nostalgia reflected in the Sinanian domes
and minarets, it also seems to negate continuity with traditional Islamic
esthetics and symbolism.
This
continuity is fundamental to a true integration into, as well as enrichment of,
the Dutch cultural landscape, which cannot occur when one’s own visual
narrative is squandered for the sake of assimilating into a monocultural and
overbearing conception of city planning. Likewise, the dominant discourse on
Muslims and Islam in the Dutch media needs to reconsider some of its fundamental
immutable cultural paradigms, which are imposed on the Other and hinder a
dialogue on the basis of true cultural equality.
These
and many other pressing issues are touched upon by the exhibition “Catholics
and Muslims Storming the Heavens.” With this, the small museum, which
traditionally focuses on Catholic art, takes a pioneering step in the
deconstruction and re-conceptualization of a debate of transnational
significance.
To
view a presentation of the theme of mosques and cathedrals in the Netherlands,
including a selection of pictures featured in the exhibition click here
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Rahma
Bavelaar
is
a staff writer and assistant editor of the IslamOnline.net Art &Culture
page. She holds a MA in African Studies from the School
of Oriental
and African Studies (SOAS) in London, UK. You can reach her at shabeel02@yahoo.co.uk
[1]
This article was written before the murder of Dutch filmmaker by an Muslim extremist on the 2nd of November 2004, catapulting the small
country into one of the gravest political and cultural crises it has
experienced in decades, in turn generating an unprecedented wave of insults,
inaccuracies and even physical violence aimed at the Muslim community and
its central religious institution; the mosque. Within the context of a
discourse that questions even the fundamental compatibility of ‘Islam’
with the principles underlying secular democracy and modern Western
‘civilization’, the urgency of sober and sincere voices recasting the
Muslim presence in the West back into its historical and social context,
have become a greater imperative than ever. Now more than ever, the mosque, in both its functions and its exterior message, will be called upon to
play the role of cultural bridge and broker.
[2]
The photo’s of the Dutch
mosques in the flash-file were taken by Hans Wilschut (www.hanswilschut.com)
on the request of the Museum of Religious Art in Uden for the exhibition
‘Catholics and Muslims Storming the Heavens’ which was opened until the
31st of October 2004, www.museumvoorreligieuzekunst.nl
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