Visitors can experience Marc Chagall´s dream of the Bible at Europa-Park

 

From 28 November 2009 until 10 January 2010, visitors of Europa-Park will experience a completely new kind of art exhibition: “Faith, hope, love – Marc Chagall´s dream of the Bible” invites them to become acquainted with the famous artist´s personal view of the Bible.

“Faith, hope, love”: what they meant to Chagall and how he assembled his dream of the Bible in his illustrations – this is what the visitors of Europa-Park will experience and feel during the winter opening.

For example, the “Path of Hopes” offers the guests the opportunity to light a candle for each of their hopes or wishes, so that a sea of lights will illuminate the way into the exhibition.

Just like the Bible, also the art exhibition at Europa-Park begins with the Word. However, here the words are hovering above the visitors. The way leads on through the “Live Book”. Brought to life by the visitor´s own reflexion, moving through the timeless social values from 2000 BC until today, seemingly without any effort. In this room the visitors will find the Original London Polyglot from the 17th century.

“In the Course of Time”, with sketches by Marc Chagall and 18 original hand-coloured Bible etchings, is the next room of the exhibition. Here, the works of art are displayed on a dark background, supported by oversized motifs from the Koberger Bible (1483) and the Biblia Ectypa (1695). These motifs form a historical reference to Chagall´s works, thus demonstrating the stability and significance of the values hope, faith and love. The artworks are accompanied by Bible passages and an explanation of the works, which is also suitable for children.

“The Power of Life” is the key note of the back exhibition room, where Chagall´s pictures are presented on a blue background. They are supported by historical contexts and biblical text, ending with the Tree of Knowledge and the Tree of Life.
A box is located in the centre of the room. Inside the box, the visitors will find unaltered excerpts of the Koburger Bible, which is one of the most important publications of the 15th century, and the Biblia Ectypa from 1695, with copperplate engravings of the Old and New Testament.

With this absolutely new kind of exhibition, art becomes an approachable and vivid subject for young and old alike. The idea was realised with the significant support of Meret Meyer, Marc Chagall´s grand-daughter, who also provides Europa-Park with all 36 lithographs and etchings. Already before the first very successful Chagall exhibition in 2007, Meret Meyer suggested to present a trilogy at Europa-Park and since then was very active in realising her idea. “My grandfather´s concern was always to reach the hearts of the people with his art in an easy and understandable language. Here, art and the world of a theme park fuse to form a unity”, says Chagall´s grand-daughter.
With its new and extraordinary exhibition, Europa-Park also meets Chagall´s desire to transport the message of the Bible to today´s world, thus making it even more comprehensible. However, he always refused to comment on his works, as he wanted them to speak for themselves.

The Bible and its message have a very special status in Marc Chagall´s creative work. “I did not read the Bible, I dreamt it”, said Chagall. Growing up in the Jewish quarter Witebsk, he was influenced by Hasidism, a mystical movement, which honours and celebrates God´s omnipresence. In 1930, Chagall was asked by the French publisher Ambroise Vollard to illustrate the Bible. He travelled the Holy Land in order to capture its characteristics completely. Biblical and everyday images mingle, so that Chagall´s artworks are not to be seen as comments or merely illustrations of the Bible.

The visit of the exhibition “Faith, hope, love – Marc Chagall´s dream of the Bible”, which is supported by Mercedes-Benz, is included in the admission ticket for Europa-Park. Moreover, the exhibition and Europa-Park can also be discovered with a special evening ticket, valid from 4 pm to 7 pm, at the price of 15.50 €. Individual visits of the exhibition without Europa-Park are possible every Saturday and Sunday from 9 am to 11 am, at the price of 8 € for adults and 5.50 € for children. Special offers for groups of 20 persons or more are available from 30 November until 18 December 2009, Monday through Friday.