Drawing on Buddhist philosophy, Peace Crystal is a symbol of the body as a vessel for the eternal soul that consistently cycles through life, death, and rebirth. The crystal is five feet six inches tall – the average height of the modern human – and is carefully balanced on its narrowest point, representing the evolutionary point at which humans stood upright. For Mori, this is the pivotal moment that led to the development of intelligence and spirituality with upright posture allowing humans to receive energy from both celestial and terrestrial forces.
Following the exhibition in Venice, Peace Crystal will be gifted to Ethiopia and permanently installed in a cave. Peace Crystal honors the origins of our shared human lineage beginning in Ethiopia – the cradle of evolution of over six million years. The artwork reminds us that we all belong to one family tree, uniting individuals throughout the world to deepen our understanding of our shared humanity.
Courtesy of the Artist, Faou Foundation and Palazzo Diedo. Berggruen Arts & Culture
Peace Crystal is the third in a series of monumental public projects created by Faou Foundation to place six site-specific artworks engaging unique ecological settings, local communities, and collaborators on each of the Earth’s habitable continents. Set within the beauty of their pristine surroundings, the sculptures are a prayer for harmony and a reminder that every living being exists to revere the earth’s treasures.
Alexandra Munroe, Curatorial Advisor, Peace Crystal Project and Senior Curator at Large, Global Arts, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Foundation, says: “Many artists today are interested in spiritual intelligence, but Mariko Mori is perhaps unique in her capacity to actualize supernatural phenomena. Peace Crystal draws on Buddhist metaphysics, universal consciousness, astrophysics and paleoanthropology to manifest invisible and ancient energies between the human and natural worlds, staged in a sculptural pod of gorgeous wonder.”
Courtesy of the Artist, Faou Foundation and Palazzo Diedo. Berggruen Arts & Culture
Peace Crystal is complemented by the presentation, Peace Crystal: A Prayer for Peace at Palazzo Diedo, Venice, part of the exhibition, Janus, open until November. The installation introduces Faou Foundation and includes a video of previous iterations of the work in Japan and Brazil alongside a model of Peace Crystal and scroll offering insight into the work.
Palazzo Diedo will also host Oneness, a conversation between Mariko Mori and Emanuele Coccia on Monday, 17 June, 2024 at 19:00 at Palazzo Diedo, Fondamenta Diedo, Cannaregio 2386 with free entrance until capacity is met.
Mariko Mori is widely regarded as one of the most important artists to emerge from Japan in the past fifty years, exploring universal questions at the intersection of life, death, reality, and technology. Career highlights include Mori’s touring exhibition, Oneness – most visited in the world in 2011 – and her solo exhibition, Rebirth, shown at the Royal Academy of Arts, London in 2012.
Faou Foundation is a non-profit organization formed by Mariko Mori to increase awareness of our planet’s natural treasures. It promotes the idea, through permanent public art installations and related community-based educational programming, that humanity and nature are of equal value.
For more information, please visit https://www.faoufoundation.org/.
