The 3D twin of Michelangelo’s David, “star” at the Dubai Expo, is exhibited with hidden nudity. The head and neck of the six-meter-high reproduction of the Renaissance statue are displayed in an octagonal structure on the first floor, while the genitals and legs are visible on the lower level reserved for selected visitors, a choice that has had a controversial following in Italy.
«Italy obscures Michelangelo’s David in Dubai in deference to the Islamic tradition: an unprecedented, unacceptable, intolerable humiliation. We are faced with the humiliation of Italian art »declared Vittorio Sgarbi. “The David is a work of art and should not be censored” underlined, speaking with beraking latest news, the art critic Achille Bonito. «It is an image of Italy. In Dubai they used a trick, a form of prudence to meet the sensitivity of a continent that has other religious principles “, he added.
But the organizers of the Italian Pavilion have denied the statements and accusations that deliberately tried to hide the statue’s genitals due to religious and social sensitivity in the Arab state of the Gulf, and in the predominantly Muslim region. “We planned to place the statue of David as it is now many, many months ago,” said Commissioner Paolo Glisenti. “We brought the statue of David here at the end of April in the middle of Ramadan, among other things, in the presence of many senior Emirati and Italian government officials.”
Regarding the controversy aroused by the installation, the artistic director Davide Rampello then replied that the goal was to provide a new experience by allowing visitors to see the David at eye level, while art lovers must watch the original statue at the Galleria dell’Accademia museum in Florence. «The David, an icon of beauty and perfection, is placed in the center of the area called the Theater of Memory. In today’s culture, we confuse the concept of memory with the archive. But memory has much more, the emotional factor: the David, in that position, immediately offers his gaze to visitors, becoming the testimonial of memory ». It is therefore, according to Rampello, «of an unprecedented, introspective and exciting perspective. The statue rests inside the area dedicated to representative visits from which it is still visible in its entirety from below. This was the conceptual approach, the rest are interpretations that are valid as such ».
Creating the replica using one of the world‘s largest 3D printers required 40 hours of digitally scanning the original 16th-century marble artwork with the finishing touches completed by hand, according to the Expo website. “The reproduction was performed with a very sophisticated technology used in space and finished by artisans from Florence who covered the statue with marble dust,” said Glisenti.
Based on the theme “Beauty connects people”, the Italian Pavilion is among the nearly 200 exhibitors at Expo 2020 Dubai, the first world fair held in the Middle East. The fair expects to attract 25 million visits after being delayed by one year after the coronavirus pandemic.