Thoughts on A Clear View of Heaven 1

Texts on the restoration work on the Sistine Chapel are the point of departure for our research into the theme, where we come from.

A restorer’s reports on laying bare and reconstructing Michelangelo’s frescoes are directly linked to questions concerning our origin. How was art perceived in Michelangelo’s time? How is it perceived today and how does the baroque way of life relate to our lives today?

At the same time it is a confrontation between baroque and popbaroque music as well as its performing artists, who are mysteriously connected among one another in a similar way as baroque fresco paint is with its perception today. Little is so far removed from us and yet concerns us so directly.

When contemplating the theme of how the Old impinges on the New, we are led to the basic question: Who are we anyway and how do we define ourselves in relation to what is now past? What is old? When is old old?

Only through a proceess of knowledge and overcoming, only by touching and making the past our topic can we develop, make progress. It is by enquiring after our origins that we are also asking about our destiny.