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The Cathedral of Thorns

The Cathedral of Thorns is a full building-sized illuminated labyrinth on the Caribbean island of Curaçao. Visitors are invited to walk through its corridors and experience an artistic journey through a troublesome history toward a bright future; both sides represented by the hostile yet beautiful thorns. To raise consciousness of the similarities between religions, the design includes symbols of today's world religions and ancient nature-based religions. The walls have niches containing objects of contemporary art by guest artists, expressing mankind's ability to change, share and collaborate through creativity. In addition, the labyrinth also functions as a stage for performances. The Cathedral of Thorns was designed by Herman van Bergen, winner of the prestigious Cola Debrot Award in 2016, and was constructed by unemployed youth. This work of art (in progress) unites all themes of Van Bergen's previous thorn-art sculptures into one expansive project: a building honoring Mother Nature and the Free Spirit that achieves change through creativity.

Friends of the Cathedral,

Art & Music heal all wounds

Stay tuned for more information…

From next week 12th of June we will start organizing small-scale music performances with a limited audience. Little by little we hope to welcome you all back to the Cathedral.

Banda Krioyo Nobo, Arjen de Graaf violin, Vernon Chatlein percussion, Enrico Henriques, piano

We hope that everyone is doing well and that you are safe and healthy. The Corona crisis has seized the world, and no one could have imagined the enormous consequences it would have for all of us.

The Labyrinth Cathedral of Thorns is not just another community project. It is an achievement of unprecedented scope, a manifestation of the good in humanity, an Ode to the Free Spirit. COVID-19 suddenly disrupted everything and we almost saw all our hard work of eight years go up in smoke.

But we won’t give up that easily! During the past few weeks of lockdown, the predominant feeling was the desire to carry on as soon as possible and start shaping our ‘new normal’. Now that we are out of lockdown, with your support we can slowly begin doing that. Nobody knows what the future holds, but we only have one choice here and that is to go on! We can’t let this project fail, especially now. Because the world so desperately needs this hope and perspective.

Or call Daisy + 5999 526 63 49