This latest exhibition at the British Museum examines what makes believing such an important part of human behaviour. Love London Love Culture rounds up the reviews…
The Guardian: ** “Most of the objects have been chosen for their content rather than their aesthetic merit. This probably works well on radio, where each is a starting point for a rich discussion. Visually, however, it is thin fare.”
The Times: ***** ” Might we equally, or more accurately, have been designated Homo religiosus? Could it be our propensity to imagine the transcendent that distinguishes us, our ability to conjure up the abstract, our predisposition towards belief? That is the question that the latest show at the British Museum invites us to ponder.”
The Financial Times: “the aim here is to dispense with any grand narrative thesis, and let the conflicting stories told by the objects impress on the observer the need for greater understanding and greater generosity towards ideas and beliefs that may not be immediately familiar.”
The Telegraph: **** “Living with Gods is one of those exhibitions at which the British Museum excels. Its subject is so vast, so amorphous, that you fear it could proceed only by imparting generalities. At times, it does lapse into this, with a few banal, gnomic texts on the walls that say everything and nothing at once. Yet, because it borrows the formula of MacGregor’s successful radio series – foregrounding objects that, crucially, have individually fascinating stories to tell – it holds our attention throughout.”
Evening Standard: **** “A virtue of Living With Gods is that it takes your thoughts in directions it didn’t necessarily set out to explore. Themes of other worlds, the dichotomy of knowledge and faith, sacred places and spaces, public celebrations, sacrifice and, finally, conflict and co-existence (we enter a tragic dimension of refugees and modern wars) are pursued carefully and with a delicate touch.”
London Visitors: “The British Museum has taken a new, experiential and innovative approach to the design of this exhibition. It incorporates the sounds, music and silence associated with religious practice, achieved with atmospheric lighting effects.”
Living with Gods – Peoples, Places and Worlds Beyond is on display at the British Museum until the 8th April 2018. For more information visit: http://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/exhibitions/living_with_gods.aspx