Maria Bußmann :
The Art Path of Religions in Imbach

The agenda for images on the theme of the reconciliation of different major religions around the world, especially the three major monotheist persuasions of Christianity, Islam and Judaism, is the result of a request from the Imbach Friedenskapelle Society. Maria Bussmann has adorned 13 little shrines along the path to the chapel with drawings fired onto tiles. The artist found an impressive solution, one that combines the religions using a shared iconography. Accordingly it is primarily the symbolism of plants that forms the basic theme for the series of images. This agenda is preceded by a quotation from the Jewish doctor and philosopher Maimonides' Guide of the Perplexed (1180-1190) in Arabic, Hebrew and German. The quotation also reflects an approach shared by the different religions, where God is understood not in visual terms but through His work. Alongside are strings of beads, which are to be found in all religions. The steep approach to the chapel begins with a Jacob's ladder and continues with illustrations of plants in the tradition of Eden, which can be read with ambiguity as poisonous or healing, or which go on to form a labyrinth. Everything is conveyed in a reduced formal language that accords with the Jewish and Islamic proscription of likenesses. Delicate lined configurations combine to form natural as well as abstract forms which require more than a purely rational understanding.
(Cornelia Offergeld)