MILAN: Venice officials have ordered the closure of a working mosque in an ex-church, set up as Iceland’s exhibit for the Venice Biennale contemporary art fair.

The Icelandic pavilion was closed on Friday after Venice city officials withdrew authorisation for the installation citing violations of the initial agreement, including using the pavilion as a place of worship. The Venice Biennale said in a statement that it hoped a solution could be found so the pavilion could reopen.

Swiss-Icelandic artist Christoph Buechl’s exhibit created the first mosque ever in the historic centre of Venice, which for centuries served as a crossroads between East and West and is infused with Middle Eastern architectural influences. The project envisioned a working mosque for the seven months of the Biennale, which opened on May 8.

Published in Dawn, May 23rd, 2015

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