An Invitation to Lee Mingwei's Pantheon Project

Do you enjoy community-based work? Can you take some time in January to come to Baltimore, Maryland? If you can say yes to both questions and would like to be part of an art project, too, please read on.

Lee Mingwei, born in Taiwan and now living in New York City and Berkeley, California, is a conceptual artist whose medium is people. He creates installations that frequently depend on shared experiences and engagement with the public. His latest collaboration is the Pantheon Project, which is inspired by traditional devotional practices, and early next year he's bringing the project to Baltimore's Contemporary Museum.

Using generic wooden boxes transformed into secular shrines, the project will invite Mingwei's collaborators to represent themselves to one another through a structured public ritual orchestrated by the artist. It also will encourage visitors to the museum to enter into a "dialogue" with participants by leaving their own devotional materials at the shrines' site for the run of the exhibition. Mingwei's intention is for the project to "paint a telling portrait of community values".

Mingwei will select just 20 collaborators to create a shrine to honor a person or institution of deep personal importance. If you submit an idea for a shrine and are chosen, you will be contacted in mid-December and asked to come to the Contemporary Museum the weekend of January 9-10, at which time you will attend a group workshop culminating in the installation of your and others' shrines.

If you are interested in participating in the Pantheon Project, please send by December 4 a letter describing in detail your proposed shrine. Don't forget to include your phone number, e-mail address, and other contact information. You may use snail mail or e-mail to submit a proposal.

Mail your proposal to:

Lee Minwei
c/o Contemporary Museum
100 W. Centre St.
Baltimore, MD 21210

E-mail your proposal to jriverarodrigquez@contemporary.org. Include in the subject line the words Pantheon Project.

The Pantheon Project is open to all ages. No artistic experience is required.

Good luck! I'll look forward to seeing your work at the Contemporary Museum in the New Year.

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For information on Mingwei's various projects around the world, see the sidebar on this page.