A controversial sculpture of former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon in a coma is to be exhibited in Tel Aviv.
The life-size sculpture is part of an installation by Israeli artist Noam Braslavsky that depicts Sharon in a hospital bed, with his eyes open, and breathing.
Sharon has been in a coma since he suffered a massive stroke in January 2006.
Braslavsky told CNN: “It’s a semi-mausoleum of Ariel Sharon, which allows people in Israel to mourn. Israelis didn’t have opportunity to mourn and it’s come to be a kind of taboo that nobody touches.”
“What I do with the installation is a kind of very morbid process of giving people a way to confront their feelings,” said Braslavsky. “Feelings are not only adoring, which is part of Israeli society, but also despising.
“The most important thing as an artist is the ability to give to the viewer the possibility to be in a personal moment with this figure that had so much impact in the life of every Israeli — and everybody who lives in this area.”
Braslavsky said the artwork has caused controversy in Israel, but added that his intention was to get people talking about Sharon.
Among those who disapprove of the installation is member of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, Yoel Hasson. In a statement issued in Hebrew he described the work as “sickening voyeurism.”
The exhibition opens on October 21 at the Kishon Gallery in Tel Aviv.
Have you checked out YWN Radio yet? Click HERE to listen!
(Read More: CNN)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
3 Responses
When I started reading the headline, I thought he got out of his coma. That’d be amazing. What do you think he’d say after waking up and seeing how the world’s changed since he entered his coma?
At least now the Israelis will have the opportunity to spit on this guy who destroyed so many peoples lives and families. Great idea.
If it would be a wax model of Sharon sitting at his desk or something like that, would it be less contriversial or the same?? Just trying to get people’s opinion.