The Rimini Meeting for Friendship Among Peoples is an annual gathering in Italy that draws thousands of people from all over the world to examine issues of peace, religion, faith, and art, among others.  I had not heard of this gathering until very recently.  A good introduction to its history and mission can be found here.

At the 2012 meeting, which will be Aug 19-25 this year, John Waters, an Irish journalist and music critic, will be curating an exhibition called “Three Chords and the Desire for Truth: Rock and Roll as a Search for the Infinite”.  In an interview in Zenit, Waters states, “Rock ‘n’ Roll remains the most potent artistic medium in modern culture for engaging with reality in its totality”–this is quite an endorsement!  The interview can be read here.

Waters’ exhibition features a wide array of rock artists, including U2, Patti Smith, the Velvet Underground, Coldplay and Mumford and Sons.

If any R&T readers make their way over to northern Italy and check it out please let us know!

Dave Nantais, Detroit, MI

2 Comments »

1. 

   Dave, I wish I could be there! Thanks for letting us know about The Rimini Meeting. That quotation from Waters is of course music to our ears at R&T, and while it is impossible to verify, on the global level I think there is substantial truth in the claim — both in terms of the ubiquity of rock and roll (in its countless “inculturated” forms), and in the ways that this music is a primary art form for coming to terms with reality for so many. Perhaps the session will be made available at least in the form of a recording later on.
   tb

   Comment by Tommy Beaudoin — July 29, 2012 @ 8:55 pm

2. 

   Thank you Dave – I am in Ireland at the moment, and therefore was not able to go, but maybe next time. Waters is an exceptional journalist, who writes the most incisive, thought provoking and prophetic articles on faith in Ireland at the moment (his articles on the International Eucharistic conference were refreshing in their clarity and depth-even within a very difficult situation). I am happy to see he is working in this area… and will keep tuned to see where he goes with it. Maeve

   Comment by Maeve Heaney — August 25, 2012 @ 2:39 pm

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