By Michelle Bethell

Auckland artist Ruth Sumner has been invited to exhibit an installation at the fifth International Biennale of Contemporary Art to be held at the Fortezza da Basso in Florence, Italy in December.

She says to be invited to enter this exhibition is a huge honour. "It is very exciting, I didn't believe it at first and when I got the letter I thought, 'I'm reading this wrong'.

"For at least six weeks I would wake up and think I had had the most wonderful dream and I would have to get the letter out."

Image: Ruth Sumner with Icon of the 21st Century- The Gospel According to Ruth

By Michelle Bethell

Auckland artist Ruth Sumner has been invited to exhibit an installation at the fifth International Biennale of Contemporary Art to be held at the Fortezza da Basso in Florence, Italy in December.

She says to be invited to enter this exhibition is a huge honour. "It is very exciting, I didn't believe it at first and when I got the letter I thought, 'I'm reading this wrong'.

"For at least six weeks I would wake up and think I had had the most wonderful dream and I would have to get the letter out."

Image: Ruth Sumner with Icon of the 21st Century- The Gospel According to Ruth

She says it wasn't until she took the letter to her art supervisor at the Auckland University of Technology that she actually believed it was real.

"She got really excited, then I knew it was an honour and I had really been invited."

The piece she is making is inspired by an installment called Witness Marks she previously made consisting of four light boxes joined by a cross of power cords.

In Witness Marks the viewing surface of each box was etched with an identical doily pattern, suggesting an edition, and within each light box was a rack containing 9 'slides' that could be viewed in the rack or on the surface of the box.

"I am a feminist and that comes through in my work. I etched the doily on the glass because some lovely woman has spent hours making it, and it echoes what happens in a lot of spiritual places where an icon is placed on top of a doily.

"I wanted people to look closer at this."

The installation she has designed for the biennale is called The Gospel According to Ruth and she thinks of it as a travelling icon.

"I wanted to make a work that will go out into the world and be a modern icon for the 21st century."

It will be made from a large pearl white plastic cylindrical light box with a glass top. What she describes as a "clear plastic toast rack" will sit on top of the light box with the glass slides slotted into the rack.

Each slide is made of two squares of clear glass sandwiched together with paint. She then does intricate etching on the glass.

She says the piece is spiritual.

"It is asking what peoples beliefs about spirituality are. It's looking at our differences and our similarities in spiritual terms."

The 'toast rack' is in the shape of an equal arm cross, so no denomination is suggested.

"The circle encompasses everything and the cross symbolises the whole world, the universe."

The Florence Biennale is an official participant in the United Nations Dialogue among Civilizations program.

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan says that art has an important role to play in international relations.

"Artists have a special role to play in the global struggle for peace. At their best, artists speak not only to people; they speak for them. Art is a weapon against ignorance and hatred and an agent of public awareness. Art opens new doors for learning, understanding, and peace among people and nations.

"I believe that the dialogue is an opportunity for people of different cultures and traditions to know each other better, whether they live on opposite sides of the world or in the same street."

The Florence Biennial was founded in 1997 in order to promote dialogue and diversity.

Instead of featuring a single curatorial vision, artists working in any style, from traditional to digital, and any genre, from conceptual to portraiture, are eligible for nomination by a standing committee of more than thirty critics of international experience.

The last biennale was held in 2003 and featured the work of 891 artists from 72 countries. For more information go to www.florencebiennale.org.

Ruth Sumner's previous work can be viewed at http://www.thebigidea.co.nz/user.php?op=userinfo&uname=ruths.