Sacred Spaces
An Exhibition of Installations

Featuring:
Seyed Alavi
Taraneh Hemami
Dee Hibbert-Jones
Rhoda London
Nomi Talisman
Rene Yung

Curated by Terri Cohn

June 27 - August 4, 2004
Berkeley Art Center, Berkeley, CA
Supported by an Award from the National Endowment for the Arts

With Catalog Essay by Terri Cohn and Meredith Tromble

Sacred Spaces, curated by Terri Cohn at the Berkeley Art Center in 2004, emerged from a profound desire to explore the notion of sanctuary in an era marked by global instability and personal loss. Cohn envisioned an exhibition that would respond to the violence and chaos following the events of 9/11 by creating spaces that offered solace, reflection, and spiritual engagement.

The exhibition featured six artists—Seyed Alavi, Taraneh Hemami, Dee Hibbert-Jones, Rhoda London, Nomi Talisman, and Rene Yung—whose works explored deeply personal and collective interpretations of sacred space. These installations manifested diverse and sometimes surprising notions of beauty, loss, and renewal, inviting viewers to experience contemplative environments that transcended the turmoil of the outside world.

“It is somewhat ironic that today's situation has so many parallels with medieval and Renaissance times. We are deeply engaged in religious wars; combating our own widespread plagues; and involved in struggles between divergent viewpoints about the origins and purpose of life. We continue to grapple with moral issues concerning marriage, fidelity, childbirth, sexuality, and miscegenation. It is little wonder that our beliefs about the sacred have become confused, or that the most conservative side of many religions has served up simplistic solutions to ease a general sense of despair and confusion that reflects the sorry state of the human condition.

“...Artists, writers, musicians, and playwrights have always had remarkable responses to difficult times, and this period is no exception. It is no surprise, therefore, that there is a strong desire to create spaces–physical, emotional, conceptual, spiritual–that respond to, yet feel insulated from, the toxicity of the current world. The artists in the exhibition have responded to these challenging public conditions with very personal notions about sacred space. Their works express sensitive interpretations of beauty and loss, manifest extreme contradictions, and evoke the idea of palingenesis, suggesting the natural emergence of hope or sublimity that can arise from loss or destruction.”

–From Sacred Spaces Catalog, Berkeley Art Center, 2004