The exhibition LuxTenebra made a stop at the “Meeting for friendship between peoples ,” the Catholic cultural event which is held every year in August in Rimini (Italy). The exhibition is one of the initiatives with which the Custody of the Holy Land is celebrating the centenary of the dedication of the Basilicas of the Transfiguration (Mount Tabor ) and of the Agony (Gethsemane).
The “geography of salvation”
As Paul VI wrote in the apostolic exhortation “Nobis in animo”, published 50 years ago, “alongside the ‘history of salvation’ there exists a ‘geography of salvation.’ The Holy Places have the great virtue of offering the faith irrefrangible support, allowing the Christian to come into direct contact with the environment where ‘the Word became flesh and lived among us.’
The contents of the exhibition were at the centre of a meeting organized by the association Pro Terra Sancta, to reflect on the custody and preservation of the Holy Places as a way of dialogue and peace. Fra Alessandro Coniglio, discreet of the Holy Land and President of the Scientific Committee for the celebrations of the centenary of the two basilicas, spoke on behalf of the Custody of the Holy Land - which since 1342 has looked after the Holy Places in the name of the Universal Church. “The disciples,” he stressed, “were invited by Jesus to return to Galilee, to the places where they had lived with him; they were invited to also live in the new dimension of the Risen, Jesus continues to be present in their lives. In the same way, those who visit the Holy Places live this grace, the possibility of entering into relation with the very life of Jesus.”
Architecture and Mystery
Hence, fra Alessandro stressed, the importance of the monumentalization of the Holy Places, “not to freeze the Mystery they contain but to stimulate the pilgrim to live that Mystery more and more.” This was discussed more specifically by the architect Vincenzo Zuppardo, curator of the exhibition, and Carla Benelli, in charge of the projects of preservation of the cultural heritage of pro Terra Sancta.
The former focused on the figure of the architect Antonio Barluzzi, appointed by the Custody to build the two shrines. His stylistic and architectonic approach “was aimed at the Mystery which those places want to communicate. Architecture and forms were at the service of the meaning, for Barluzzi, they were to help people to identify with that Mystery.” The latter spoke of the commitment in the field of pro Terra Sancta for the preservation and development of the cultural heritage, especially through the training of qualified local personnel. This work was the result of the intuition of fra Michele Piccirillo, of the Custody of the Holy Land, and the encounter with the architect Osama Hamdan, the real soul of the project, until his death a few months ago. In this way, the work of restoration not only preserves the monuments, but weaves the social fabric and becomes a small seed of hope.
Marinella Bandini
