Passanten (Passers-by)
Foundation Groninger Churches has already kept churches alive for fifty years. Standing upright. In good condition. Populated and staffed. Wonderful memories of life, suffering, birth and death: churches cherish these. And SOGK cherishes the churches. But it cannot staff the churches without people. Without the generations and generations of visitors, users: passers-by.
The mirror church is a tribute to these passers-by. Volunteers, church councils, local residents, praying people. Taco Anema made pictures of these people. And we exhibited them in this installation.
Three meters high, coated with mirrors all around. A solid, concrete foundation as a symbol for the loyalty of the passers-by, their photos continuously projected in stained-glass windows. All the time a different image.
People walking around the small church, see them all pass by. And at the same time they see themselves as passers-by. As a contributor to history, at that moment. Just like the churches that have for centuries been carried by contributors.
Exhibition Taco Anema ‘Passanten’
Der Aa-kerk in Groningen
up to and including 21 August 2019
Then at other locations follow
www.groningerkerken.nl
Photos: Roelof Bos