"Art is a wound that becomes light," said Cocteau. And sacred art radicalizes this perception of the loving depth of reality with its original aesthetic expression. Beyond the discussion about the boundaries between religious and sacred art, the postmodern aesthetic of the sacred seeks to express, amidst the stripping away of representation, those subjectivities that manage to glimpse a glimmer of dignity and hope amidst the horror of global violence.

The work of Paulo Medina presented here is part of a dialogue between the academic world and that of contemporary artists: both are narratives of meaning amidst meaninglessness, of hope in the heart of the absurd, of dignity amidst the servitude of hegemonic societies.

This exhibition, entitled "From Babel to Pentecost," thus emerges as a splendid visual narrative by a contemporary Mexican painter who, from his experience of faith, reveals his interpretation of the redemption that occurs in the fissures of the human. That contradiction that stems from the confusion of languages ​​and points to the ever-delayed symphony of harmonious recognition of human diversity where the divine is revealed.

The catalog presented here is a counterpoint to the 7th International Colloquium "Archaeology of Violence: New Paradigms in Thought and Language for Nonviolent Praxis," organized by the "History, Violence, and Redemption" Research Project of the Department of Religious Sciences at the Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City.

We thank Paulo Medina for his talent, which he generously shares with the academic world to help us unravel the loving mystery of reality as a path to overcoming violence.

Carlos Mendoza-Álvarez