Damien Hirst delivers controversy with giant uterus sculptures at Qatar hospital
The Guardian 19 November 2018
Family First Comment: Impressive!
“Named The Miraculous Journey, it shows a foetus growing in the womb and culminates with a 14-metre (46ft) newborn.”
#BiologyMatters
www.ChooseLife.nz
Health authorities at a hospital in Qatar are braced for an outcry after unveiling 14 giant bronze sculptures by British artist Damien Hirst that graphically chart the voyage from conception to birth.
The vast open-air installation greets patients arriving at the $8bn (£6bn) Sidra medicine hospital and is the centrepiece of a modern art collection that officially opened this week in Doha. Named The Miraculous Journey, it shows a foetus growing in the womb and culminates with a 14-metre (46ft) newborn.
The sculptures were originally unveiled in October 2013 but then covered from public view until recent weeks following an outcry on social media. The official reason was to protect them from building work at the hospital.
Hirst acknowledged that the set might prove controversial when they were first unveiled in 2013. “You know culturally, it’s the first naked sculpture in the Middle East… It’s very brave,” he told Doha News.
Officials also arranged for a young boy to recite a passage from the Koran about the formation of life in an apparent effort to assuage critics.
READ MORE: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/19/damien-hirst-delivers-controversy-with-giant-uterus-sculptures-at-qatar-hospital
