Installation “Shattered Souls … in a Sea of Silence”

They wear the same robes as their brothers in faith, have studied the same holy scriptures and vowed eternal fidelity to the same god.

But their hands concede no blessing, and their words offer no comfort. They are the evil that roams the house of the Lord, tormenting human beings and mocking the Lord by violating His holy commandments. Believers have left the church by the thousands, holding the hands of their children who joined as merry young Christians and came back as broken souls. Ravished, abused, mortified.

They step out into life with a burden on their shoulders that will never vanish. A burden which feels like a stain and silences them because no-one is willing to listen. Not within the family, not in church, where up to the highest ranks unscrupulous accessories hush up and deny every wrongdoing to protect a guilty priest.

Shattered Souls in a Sea of Silence Dennis Josef Meseg Kölner Dom 2023 Weltjugendtag 3

With his installation „Shattered Souls“ the artist Dennis Josef Meseg wants to bring home the desperate, silent cries of abused children seeking justice for their maltreated souls to all people. Without exception. Unmistakably.

From 1 to 6 August, on the occasion of this year’s World Youth Day, 333 children-shaped mannequins wrapped in the colours of innocence and the Curia will line up outside Cologne Cathedral.

And silently point to where evil roams…

Short version of the installation documentation (approx. 20 min./ German)

Shattered Souls in a Sea of Silence (SHORT VERSION) Kunst-Installation Dennis Josef Meseg 2023

Watch this video on YouTube

Long version with background information and interviews with the installation team (approx. 45 min./ German)

Shattered Souls in a Sea of Silence (DOKU - LONG VERSION) Kunst-Installation Dennis Josef Meseg 2023

Watch this video on YouTube

📝 Text Ricarda Reich

With the kind support of Dot on Point Produktions

The Preparations

📷 Dennis Josef Meseg

Production

📷 Ricarda Reich

The official flyer/ The official poster

Impressions 1

📷 Klaus Stein/ Wuppertal (Germany)

Impressions 2

📷 Christopher Goebel/ Cologne (Germany)

Impressions 3

📷 Anne Lorat/ Cologne (Germany)

Impressions 4

📷 Johannes Thusek/ Düsseldorf (Germany)

Impressions 5

📷 Melanie Josten – Kunst in Szene (Germany)

Impressions 6

📷 Christoph Pickel

Impressions 7

📷 Petra Nottebaum

I received these notes from visitors during the installation period in Cologne (German)

Installation “Shattered Souls in a Sea of Silence” for World Children’s Day and the 24th Family Court Day in Bonn on Münsterplatz

On the occasion of World Children’s Day and the 24th Bonn Family Court Day, the installation “Shattered Souls in a Sea of Silence” was set up on the Münsterplatz in Bonn. The art action was realised at this location in cooperation with the Federal Initiative Women for the Protection against Violence from Hanover.

Impressions 1 – Bonn (Germany)

📷 Laut-werden.de

Impressions 2 – Bonn (Münsterplatz and family court)

People in the photos: Prof. Dr Salgo, Hungarian-German family law expert, senior professor at the Department of Education at Goethe University Frankfurt am Main since 2015, who is a major advocate for the protection of children. Jessica Reitzig, journalist and author of the book “Im Zweifel gegen das Kind”; photographer of Glücksatelier (Instaprofile: @gluecks_atelier).

Installation “Shattered Souls in a Sea of Silence” for the Bishops’ Conference 2023 from 25-28 September in Wiesbaden on the Dernschen grounds and Luisenplatz.

During the period of the Bishops’ Conference on the topic of “Abuse”, the installation was on the Dern premises on 25 and 26 September and on Luisenplatz on 27 and 28 September. Unfortunately, it was not possible to bring the installation closer to the venue. So the art action was in the centre of Wiesbaden and all 333 protagonists pointed their fingers at this year’s Bishops’ Conference.