Damien Hirst's gigantic uteruses are a bold correction to shocking ignorance

THE GUARDIAN
By Hannah Clugston

The Miraculous Journey by artist Damien Hirst outside the Sidra Medical and Research Center in Doha. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

It doesn’t help that the most iconic pregnant woman is the Virgin Mary, and we very rarely get a glimpse of her with a rounded belly. Usually she is glistening atop an alter with a golden halo, arms encasing her newly birthed son of God.It’s with open arms that I welcome Damien Hirst’s The Miraculous Journey, 14 bronze sculptures that depict in vivid detail the gestation period, ending with a newborn. The structures, which range from five to 11 metres in height, document the fertilisation of an egg, a twin pregnancy, a breech birth and foetus. There are no hiding hands and blank faces here, the wonder of the creation of life is on display for all to see. Hirst told Doha News it is “the first naked sculpture in the Middle East … it’s very brave”. [More]