1,720,986 research outputs found
On theater, law, and justice (not necessarily in that order)
No full textThis special issue of Documenta delves into the reciprocal relationship between ‘Theater and Law,’ establishing an interdisciplinary space for justice that transcends conventional legal boundaries. In contrast to traditional, rigid judicial frameworks that revolve around accusing and sentencing clearly defined defendants, the performing and visual arts provide a reflective environment for reevaluating legal cases and systems. Each article in this issue aspires to reconceptualize established legal perspectives by presenting artistically inspired alternatives. The contributions illustrate how the performing and visual arts foster empathetic and progressive alternatives to the judicial process, both within and beyond traditional court settings. To underscore the significance of these artistically inspired alternatives, this introduction examines the tragic case of Sanda Dia, a twenty-year-old student who died during an extreme initiation ritual from a student corps at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in 2018
Performing devotion : the theatrical staging of the cathedral in Picart and Bernard’s Cérémonies et coutumes religieuses (1723-1743)
No full textIn the engraving, ‘Ordre de la Procession pour la canonization de quelques Saints’ by the French Protestant Bernard Picart, we see a procession that marches through St. Peter’s Church in Rome. It is featured in the intriguing book, Cérémonies et coutumes religieuses. In the text that accompanies the engraving, the author tells his readers everything about this spectacular event. According to the description, all the avenues of St. Peter’s Square were occupied by an extraordinary large crowd of people. Magnificent church bells of the Vatican could be heard from afar and the people that were singing the Te Deum were accompanied by the joyous music of an ensemble of instruments when entering the Basilica. The festive atmosphere, the large number of devotees and the presence of the pope inflicted heavy emotions on the spectators. Following Bernard’s depiction, people started crying and screaming in order to catch attention and to receive the blessings of the vicar of Jesus Christ at first hand. In Picart’s engraving, the theatricality of the event is highlighted even more. Tapestries, paintings, curtains and statues decorate the enormous space. Everything is lid by candles that are placed near the rooftop, in chandeliers and in the hands of the clergymen. In this contribution, I would like to highlight the theatricality of the cathedral’s setting through the eyes of Picart and Bernard. Although St. Peter’s Basilica is itself not a cathedral, this case study, and the CCR in general, points to the exuberant character of Catholic places of worship and the specific role they fulfil in guiding the faithful. Hence, I intend to present Picart and Bernard’s depiction of the role of the church/cathedral in the Early Modern World as an enchanting, and thereby highly misleading instrument of Catholic devotion
'En voici la Turquerie' : Charting image of Islam in Picart and Bernard’s Cérémonies et coutumes religieuses de tous les peuples du monde (1723-1743)
No full textIn both The Book that Changed Europe (2010) and The First Global Vision of Religion (2010) Lynn Hunt, Margaret Jacob, and Wijnand Mijnhardt explore the intriguing Cérémonies et coutumes religieuses de tous les peuples du monde (1723-1747, hereafter CCR) by the artists Bernard Picart and Jean-Frederic Bernard. As Hunt, Jacob, and Mijnhardt argue, Picart and Bernard set the tone for a comparative approach to religion that will be of extreme importance for later ideas on religion in the Enlightenment period. The seventh volume of the CCR can be considered as a key moment in the construction of the image of Islam in early eighteenth-century Europe. After all, Kishwar Rizvi has already contended that the section on the Islam provides a clear example of the ways in which Picart and Bernard seem to break with stereotypes and preestablished ideas by proposing new ways of comparison between Western traditions and the religious rituals of the ‘Mahometans’. However, earlier research on the CCR refrains from stressing the importance of the highly popular and influential theatrical genre of the Turquerie regarding the Islamic ceremonies. In this contribution, I therefore intend to reconsider Picart and Bernard’s presentation of Islam by means of a methodological consideration of their comparative approach from the field of art history and performance studies. Highlighting some of the most theatrical aspects and characteristics in Picart’s engravings, as well as in Bernard’s discourse, I aim to construct a more nuanced image of the CCR’s Islamic section, in which the contributors balance between a respectful encounter with Islamic rituals and a slightly sharper dismissal of religious trickery
«Collusion, not collision»? : proximity and distance in Olivier Assayas’ ‘Doubles vies’ (‘non-fiction’)
Get PDFBen Chikha, Chokri
No full textChokri Ben Chikha (1969) is een Belgisch acteur, danser, choreograaf, performer en theatermaker. Hij is artistiek leider van het gezelschap Action Zoo Humain en doceert aan KASK Conservatorium in Gent, waar hij in 2013 een doctoraat in de kunsten behaalde
Spectacular processions : Early Modern Catholicism through the eyes of Bernard Picart and Jean Frederic Bernard in the Cérémonies et coutumes religieuzes de tous les peoples du monde (1723-1743)
No full textOn May 22th, 1712 Saint Peter’s Square was occupied by a large crowd of people. Following a description of the event, a procession that was installed to celebrate the canonization of a couple of saints was followed by an infinite multitude of people. The festive atmosphere, the large number of devotees and the presence of the pope inflicted heavy emotions on the spectators: people started crying and screaming in order to catch attention and to receive the blessings of Saint Peter at first hand. The description of this day can be read in the intriguing Cérémonies et coutumes religieuses (CCR) by two protestant Frenchmen living in the Netherlands: Bernard Picart and Jean Frederic Bernard. Between 1723 and 1743, they published seven volumes dealing with religious ceremonies. These volumes were unique as the volumes make up one of the earliest bodies of work that compare all the religious ceremonies, customs, festivals, rules, and characteristics known to Western Europe at that time. In the second volume of the CCR, they analyse Catholicism. Because of their shared history of persecution and exile in the wake of Louis XIV’s revocation of the Edict of Nantes, one might think the authors would be very harsh about Catholic rituals. Nevertheless, their criticism is only operating on an implicit level. Indicating that there is something ‘mysterious’ about venerating ceremonials as the canonization, they frame the religious ceremonies and customs of Catholicism as spectacular events tending towards heresy and idolatry. In this contribution, I intend to highlight their criticism on the theatricality of these Catholic rituals by means of the above-mentioned case study. Hence, I argue Picart and Bernard’s CCR should be seen as an important chain in the complex series of multifaceted transfers, translations, and transformations in the history of the Long Reformation
Gender, queer en diversiteit
No full textHoewel de afgelopen decennia veel vooruitgang is geboekt op het vlak van gender- en seksuele diversiteit, blijft onverdraagzaamheid een probleem in Vlaanderen. Zo zwakte de openlijke afwijzing van bijvoorbeeld holebiseksualiteit wel af, maar blijven impliciete negatieve attitudes sterk vertegenwoordigd. Ook in het Vlaamse onderwijs is de inburgering van onderwerpen rond ‘Gender, Queer & Diversiteit’ niet vanzelfsprekend. Acht op de tien Europese holebi- en/of queer jongeren geeft aan te kampen met negatieve opmerkingen of geweld tijdens de onderwijscarrière. Wanneer zij echter aanvaard en gewaardeerd worden door hun (school)omgeving, ervaren zij hun minderheidsstatus niet als negatief en neemt minderheidsstress af. In deze workshop zoeken we uit hoe scholen kunnen bijdragen aan het verhogen van holebi- en queertolerantie. Hoewel zowel expliciete (top-down) als impliciete (bottom-up) aandacht vereist zijn om thema’s rond ‘Gender, Queer & Diversiteit’ in secundaire scholen te promoten, schuiven we hier een geïntegreerde aanpak in de concrete lespraktijk naar voren. In die context wordt een concreet en praktisch inzetbaar tienpuntenplan voorgesteld in de aanloop naar een expliciet diversiteitsbeleid voor het secundair onderwijs
The danger of idolatry : constructing the enemy in Picart and Bernard's Cérémonies et Coutumes Religieuses (1723-1743)
No full textIn both The Book that Changed Europe (2010) and The First Global Vision of Religion (2010) Lynn Hunt, Margaret Jacob, and Wijnand Mijnhardt explore the intriguing Cérémonies et coutumes religieuses de tous les peuples du monde (1723-1747) by Bernard Picart and Jean-Frederic Bernard. As shown by the authors, their seven illustrated volumes prepared the ground for religious toleration amidst seemingly unending religious conflict. As Hunt, Jacob, and Mijnhardt mention, Picart and Bernard set the tone for a comparative approach to religion that will be of extreme importance for later ideas on religion in the Enlightenment. What has not yet done is how their interest in idolatrous ceremonies of pagan peoples around the world is part of a contemporary, early modern, Western European discourse on idolatry. As a performance scholar, I am particularly interested in both theatricality and performativity in idolatrous practices and early modern rituals, such as the ceremonies dealt with by Picart and Bernard. In this contribution, I therefore intend to stress the connection between the revival of the discussion about fetishism and idolatry in the early modern world and the work of Picart and Bernard. This discussion was triggered by the erection of the statue for Louis XIV on the Place des Victoires in Paris in 1685 after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes that same year. By protestant huguenots the inauguration rituals for the statue and the veneration for Louis XIV was now criticized as a form of idolatry
- …
