Statement by Margot Kässmann, The Special Envoy of the Evangelical Church in Germany for the 2017 Reformation Jubilee

The World Reformation Exhibition is for me the key event during the whole of Reformation Summer 2017. It will offer room for different approaches to Reformation ideas and projects not only in churches and religions, but also in public and social life. Through different thematic areas, and focal themes in particular weeks, the World Reformation Exhibition “Gates of Freedom” will provide a place where we can reflect about Reform und Reformation. It becomes clear that Reformation is not a closed process - it is still ongoing. And Reformation is not a purely Protestant enterprise. Rather, all denominations and religions renew themselves again and again, as do governance systems and society itself.

The World Reformation Exhibition “Gates of Freedom” will take place within this wide range of topics and issues. Anyone looking at the ring around the Wittenberg town centre will soon think of gates – when they imagine the first scenes of people arriving here in 2017 to be part of the Reformation experience. There will be seven entrances to the town centre. These are gates through which people want to go in order to arrive in Wittenberg. Gates played a big role back in Ancient Israel. Holding the gates of the enemy represented great power at the time: people gathered outside the city gates and justice was administered at the gate. The Psalmist sings the praises of open gates, gates opened to faith. In a secular age, people need such open gates to worship. They are gates of longing for God and a new reality, in which peace and justice embrace. Closed doors restrict freedom; they create fear and wrongdoing. Open doors, however, are a vision of a peaceful future – and there will be seven gates around Wittenberg in the Reformation Summer of 2017. The town will become a space for enjoying discussions, dancing, wondering and wrestling for answers, reflecting and remaining silent. Those who perceive Reformation as situated in this wide, open space and in an international and ecumenical context will experience this as a new departure into the 21st century.

The seven gate areas will be designed and brought to life by churches, organisations, initiatives and cultural workers from all over the world. They will reveal their view of “Reformation”. The “Welcome Gate” will serve as a watchtower and give the visitors a panoramic view of the city. The walk along the Wittenberg embankments will pass through the gate areas for Youth, Spirituality, Globalisation/One World, Culture, Ecumenism and Religion, and finally Peace, Justice and Caring for Creation. A tower at the railway station will be designed like a book. There will be a garden full of paths, a lake with stranded boats and a cloud full of prayers and wishes. That way the visitors can experience current Reformation issues in a way calling for personal response.

In addition, 14 theme weeks will offer a full programme on several open-air stages in the town. Event tents will invite passers-by to discussions, workshops and much more – so that they can look to the future at the place where, 500 years ago, the world was changed. The World Reformation Exhibition will offer daily programmes that are both informative and appealing through the many forms and colours, ideas and sounds, places and persons. We want participants to take up future issues in this historical place. This can – we hope – lead to partnerships and cooperation, since sharing good ideas and thoughts is part of the Reformation trail as well.

Two special accents:

Yadegar Asisi’s Panorama
A special installation will be unveiled in Wittenberg to mark the 500th anniversary and we hope it can be opened as early as October 2016: Wittenberg at the time of the Reformation. A 360° cyclorama will bring to life the city at the time of Philipp Melanchthon, Cranach the Older and the Younger, Katharina von Bora, Martin Luther and Justus Jonas.

This attraction will stay in Wittenberg even after the anniversary. The artist Yadegar Asisi continues the artistic tradition of creating huge circular images that was popular in the 19th century and fell into oblivion with the advent of cinema.

For Berlin he created a Panorama of the “Berlin Wall“, in Leipzig a battle scene from 1813 – artworks that fascinated viewers. Asisi says: “Whether I depict town walls or natural scenery, I am moved by the tension between the creative forces of humans and nature. Ultimately I am concerned with the multifarious variations of coming to life and passing away.”

When stepping into the picture, visitors will gain not only new viewpoints but also the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the world of Martin Luther. They can rediscover the Reformation at one of its original sites. The Rotunda that is emerging in Wittenberg is not a historical museum but relies strongly on sensory experience.

And: the exhibition “Luther and the Avantgarde”
A further plan is to turn the old prison in Wittenberg at the edge of the embankments into a space for art. We hope that, under the guidance of Professor Dr. Walter Smerling of the foundation for art and culture (Stiftung für Kunst und Kultur e.V.), artists from all continents can grapple with the idea of Reformation. This may be linked up to the next Documenta art show in Kassel.