Religious identity is one of the most sensitive issues raised by “living together” in the Mediterranean. Seen in this light, this inland sea seems to be an area of separation and conflict. 

To each their own God, their scriptures, their saints. At worst, exchanges result in religious wars and the clash of civilisations- at best, in scholarly debates, laborious and often sterile. A religious phenomenon, little known to the general public, but very present in the Mediterranean, will be brought to the attention of MuCEM visitors: the sacred places shared by the followers of different religions.

The fruit of several years of scientific research conducted by CNRS and Aix-Marseille University, this exhibition takes a fresh look at the religious behaviour of Mediterranean populations and highlights some of the most interesting (and most overlooked) phenomena in the region, namely the sharing and exchange between religious communities. The exhibition focuses its attention on contact situations where sites and figures of sanctity place distinct traditions in communication.

Without falling into the hollow rhetoric of “a dialogue of cultures and religions”, it seems vital, amid debates about the clash of civilisations, to demonstrate that alienation and abhorrence of the other are not the required modalities of interaction between the religions of Mediterranean. The principal objective of the exhibition is to inform a wide audience about these surprising phenomena that concern, today as in the past, millions of people around the Mediterranean.

By introducing the places, figures and practices, the exhibition is designed as an invitation to explore this little known Mediterranean. In the face of rising fundamentalism and exclusivist theologies, new keys are needed for a deeper understanding of the complexity of exchanges between Mediterranean religions. This is precisely what the exhibition aims to offer its visitors.