United States taxpayers for the new American embassy being built in Islamabad, Pakistan.
The State Department outlined plans to buy the work鈥攁 life-size white fiberglass camel staring at a needle鈥攊n contracting records. Titled Camel Contemplating Needle, the sculpture was created by California artist . 聽 聽聽
Officials have justified the purchase on the grounds that the art is “uniquely qualified” to appear on the property of a U.S. government building in Pakistan.
“Public art which will be presented in the new embassy should reflect the values of a predominantly Islamist country,” according to a four-page document.
Both the Bible and the Quran use the metaphor of a camel passing through the eye of a needle. Baldessari’s work alludes to the biblical saying that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven. 聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽