Sculptures to commemorate the Reformation in Cambridge
The Exhibition stood outside the University Church of Great St Mary's in Cambridge from 2018-2020
Since the exhibition in Cambridge came to an end, the Book and the Trumpet have both been bought by Wheaton College in USA, and the Lamb is on loan to St Botolph's Church in Cambridge. If you would like to discuss the possibility of acquiring one of the sculptures, either on loan or to purchase, please contact Jonathan Tame (jonathantame@yahoo.co.uk)
The Archetypes sculptures explore five universal themes found in almost every culture and society. Liviu Mocan expresses them using 21st-century technology, whilst drawing inspiration from the 16th-century Reformation, a movement for spiritual and cultural reform that had an enduring impact on European society.
The exhibition was situated in the heart of Cambridge, the cradle of the English Reformation and now home to one of the world’s foremost universities – a global centre for learning, discovery and innovation.
The set of sculptures invite visitors into a multi-faceted conversation between history, faith, art and technology.
"Though the Reformation churches had an ambiguous and uncertain relationship with visual art, their interest in restoring good 'sight lines' to faith (and thus unveiling its core principles) was actually – as the very word unveiling suggests – deeply interconnected with metaphors drawn from visual experience. This is part of why this powerful new installation, which commemorates the Reformation’s theological priorities, makes so much sense as a visual experience. The works are a series of pinnacles that proclaim what most truthfully directs us to God."
— Ben Quash (Professor of Christianity and the Arts, King’s College London)
"Liviu Mocan’s superbly crafted sculptures draw the observer into an intriguing confluence of history, theology and politics that has shaped the Europe of today. Drawing on central affirmations - or ‘solas’ - of the Reformation, the sculptures serve as site-specific reminders of the dramatic happenings in Cambridge at the time, including the burnings of Martin Luther’s writings right next to Great St. Mary’s church. Yet, of more than mere historical value, the sculptures’ mesmerising and allusive qualities invite visitors from home and far away to ponder the enduring relevance and meaning of great archetypal human themes that still resonate today."
— Adrienne Dengerink Chaplin (Visiting Fellow in Religion, Philosophy and the Arts, Kings College, London)