Vom 25.06.-31.08. vor dem Bamberger Dom und im Kreuzgang des Diözesanmuseums
12 Botschafter, Apostel, gekleidet in Recyclingglas, spiegeln uns die Zerbrechlichkeit der Schöpfung, die Endlichlichkeit der Ressourcen unseres Planeten sowie die Verwundbarkeit des Menschen selbst. Geschaffen hat diese lebensgroßen Figuren der deutsche Aktionskünstler HA Schult. Diese 12 "People of Glass - Human Fragility" sind die Weiterentwicklung seiner international bekannten Trash-People-Serie. Schult verwandelt seit über 50 Jahren Konsumabfälle in Kunst und zeigt damit die Kehrseite unserer Konsumgesellschaft. Hier verwendet er Glasmüll - sortiert nach Farben und Herkunft - sowie ausgediente Petflaschen.
Die Glasherstellung ist vor allem wegen ihres hohen Energiebedarfs umweltbelastend: Durch die Verbrennung fossiler Brennstoffe während des Schmelzprozesses trägt sie erheblich zur Emission von Treibhausgasen bei. Die Gewinnung des für die Glasherstellung wichtigsten Rohstoffes, Quarzsand, führt zu Lebensraumzerstörung und damit zum Verlust der Biodiversität und erhöhter Erosion in den betroffenen Gebieten. Darüber hinaus haben die letzten Jahre gezeigt, dass auch Sand (zumindest für die Glasherstellung geeigneter Sand) keine unendliche Ressource ist, sondern aufgrund des weltweiten Verbrauchs droht knapp zu werden.
Exhibition "People of Glass", Fragility (Figure inside the cathedral)
FRAGILITY
Synagoga | Original figure from the Prince’s Portal of Bamberg Cathedral, c. 1225
Figure made of recycled glass | Part of the series PEOPLE OF GLASS – HUMAN FRAGILITY by HA Schult, 2025
FRAGILITY connects the Gothic figure of Synagoga with today’s glass man.
The glass man is born from our waste, our excess, our carelessness with creation. Its surface is fragile, its stance stable.
In contrast, Synagoga—the personification of Judaism: the sandstone from which she was crafted is flawless and solid, yet her posture is fragile and vulnerable. With a broken staff, blindfolded eyes, and falling tablets of the Law, she stands there. The covenant between God and His people seems broken. Is Christianity the new victorious people of God (Ecclesia, the crowned figure)? Can a covenant with God be broken?
It was humans who broke the covenant—driving out, persecuting, and murdering Jews. Only with the declaration Nostra Aetate of the Second Vatican Council sixty years ago did the Catholic Church acknowledge that God’s covenant is irrevocable and express its sorrow for all outbursts of hatred, persecutions, and manifestations of antisemitism that have ever been directed against the Jewish people by anyone at any time.
HA Schult | People of Glass – Human Fragility, June 25 – July 31, 2025
A total of twelve ambassadors—apostles clad in recycled glass—reflect back to us the fragility of creation and of humanity itself. These life-sized figures were created by the German action artist HA Schult. The "People of Glass" are an evolution of his internationally renowned Trash People series. For over 50 years, Schult has been transforming consumer waste into art, revealing the dark side of our society. Here, he uses glass waste—sorted by color and origin.
From June 25 to August 31, the figures will be on display in front of Bamberg Cathedral and in the cloister of the Diocesan Museum as part of the art and climate project “Our Environment – Hope and Action. 10 Years of the Encyclical Laudato si’.”