An original translation by Hermes

His work ‘eating a Koran’ criticizes religious fundamentalism. It is composed by an installation, a video and a performance

The navarran artist Abel Azcona, an international exponent of performance art, is receiving threats as a result of is work “Eating a Koran”, in which he swallows pages of the Muslim holy book.

This belongs to a research project which was started during a seminar about religious fundamentalism and the necessity to “feed ourselves with fiction, lies and fear”. This work is composed by an installation, a performance and a video production, in which the artist spends 6 hours eating a Koran as a critique of religious radicalism. “I believe in freedom of speech, provocation, and artistic freedom, and I will surely continue doing it today, tomorrow, and forever”, Abel Azcona himself commented. He has been threatened by emails and SMS messages.

‘I believe in art as a tool for critique and for setting up debate about identity policy”, the navarran artist adds. He received criticism since he engaged in the world of performance, “but this will never change my way of thinking and working. And what’s more, threats clear my path, and thus I know that I am on the right one”, that is why he will continue using art as a “weapon of criticism for anybody wishing to feel and listen to it”

Abel Azcona, who now is in Iruñea, has worked in Spain, France, UK, Germany, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Argentina, USA, The Philippines and Japan. His childhood was marked by mistreatment and abandonment, so now he uses his projects to fight against fear and fundamentalism.

He does artistic installations, videos, photographs, sculptures and appropriated art, and his works are autobiographical, using pain in order to create empathy with his feelings, and using provocation in order to make viewers take part in the process.

He will soon travel to Malaga and in February to Bogotá, where he will spend 2 months with workshops, performances and talks.