The huge statues below are quite amazing. They're also rather unpopular in some circles. Probably many circles. Interesting to note why.
Artist Damien Hirst created “The Miraculous Journey," a collection of 14 sculptures that will amaze people outside the Sidra Medical and Research Center in Qatar. These statues are controversial in the Muslim world because of the final statue which is of a baby. A naked baby.
“I suppose the cultural differences are a bit difficult. You know in England, there wouldn’t be a problem with a naked baby, you see the embryo and the egg and sperm," reportedly said Hirst. "You know culturally, it’s the first naked sculpture in the Middle East.”
That reaction may seem a little silly to may of us. But just for a moment consider the horror and outrage statues like these would cause in the United States outside a hospital. Not because the baby was naked of course. People would be tearing their hair out at the sight of the unborn. There'd be protests. Vandals. Boycotts. The fact that they showed the development of life in the womb that culminated in the birth of a baby would be a scandal, something people needed to be protected from.
View the statues below. They're quite astounding:
