When does the art meditation take place?

The art meditation takes place on Wednesday, October 14, 2026, at 5:30 PM.

What artwork is in focus?

The focus is on Bonhoeffer in Harlem by contemporary artist John Young.

Where does A Quarter Hour of Art take place?

The event takes place in the Erlöserkirche in Bamberg.

How long does the event last?

The format A Quarter Hour of Art is designed as an approximately 15-minute art meditation.

Is the event chargeable?

A specific admission price is not specified in the available event information.

Are there further dates for the format?

Yes, in autumn 2026, further art meditations will be offered in several Bamberg churches.

Bonhoeffer in Harlem: When Contemporary Art Revives History in the Church Space

Name: A Quarter Hour of Art: Bonhoeffer in Harlem by John Young
Start: 2026-10-14T17:30:00+02:00
End: 2026-10-14T17:45:00+02:00
Location: Erlöserkirche

An artwork, a church space, a moment of responsibility

On Wednesday, October 14, 2026, the Erlöserkirche Bamberg invites you to the art meditation A Quarter Hour of Art. The focus is on John Young's contemporary work Bonhoeffer in Harlem, which opens a concentrated encounter of art, theology, and memory in the church space.

Between Harlem, Berlin, and Bamberg

John Young, born in 1956 in Hong Kong and raised in Australia, combines transcultural perspectives with questions of ethics, identity, and social responsibility in his artistic work. The work series Bonhoeffer in Harlem arose from Young's engagement with Dietrich Bonhoeffer's stay in New York and his formative experiences in the African American Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem.

Bonhoeffer's encounter with the black Social Gospel serves as an art-historically and theologically significant reference point. Young translates this story not into a linear illustration but into a multilayered installation of abstract visual motifs, photographs, text panels, and a hand-knotted silk carpet.

Materiality as a Carrier of Memory

The exhibition works with contrasts: dark chalkboard surfaces meet bright colors, opaque surfaces meet transparency, strict typographic images meet the textile warmth of the silk carpet. African-inspired color spaces, photographic condensations, and text-image-like compositions create a tension-filled aesthetic between loss, resistance, and hope.

Particularly striking is the connection of different materials and cultural production methods. A silk carpet made by Tibetan carpet weaver Dolma Lob Sang in Nepal expands the work discussion to include a spiritual and global dimension. Paper, glass, textile, and chalkboard paint not only appear as design tools but as carriers of history and human experience.

Art Meditation in the Church Space

The format consciously leads from the classical exhibition space into sacred architecture. The exhibition atmosphere of the Erlöserkirche directs attention to spatial impact, light, and silence. A quarter hour is enough to slow down perception and connect aesthetic experiences with biographical and social questions.

The event is part of the autumn evening format A Quarter Hour of Art, a collaboration of the main department of art and culture of the Archdiocese of Bamberg, the Protestant Deanery Bamberg, and the Catholic pastoral area of Bamberg West. Further art meditations will focus on works in St. Martin, St. Stephan, the Upper Parish, and St. Gangolf.

A Work about Attitude and Hope

Young's work connects the memory of Dietrich Bonhoeffer with a contemporary reflection on responsibility, transcultural understanding, and the possibility of solidarity in action. The art meditation thus opens access that links art-historical analysis, religious education, and personal reflection.

Visitors can expect a concentrated art experience in a special environment: a short, intense discussion of the work with sensory spatial impact and lasting impulses. Those who want to experience modern art in dialogue with the church, history, and social responsibility will find an impressive occasion for aesthetic experience in the Erlöserkirche.