Gregor Schneider Cube Hamburg

Controversial artist Gregor Schneider’s Black Cube has become the subject of a strong debate about the political value of public art and the icon of the objections that contemporary art can still raise. Inspired by the Holy Kaaba of Mecca and supposed to be exhibited in Piazza San Marco, Venice, the “Mecca” of millions of tourists, the artwork caused grave fears for terrorist attacks. For these reasons, the installation was rejected by the 2001 Venice Biennial and has found his final placement in the German city of Hamburg in March 2007. Peter Schiering tells the story of this work through the reflections and the reactions of artists, politicians, art critics, showing us how still today art can be a socio-political hotspot, and a tool for debating about the themes of the censorship and of the infamous clash of civilizations between East and West.