When a Buddhist Scripture Meets an Art Exhibition: Semiotic Intertextuality in the Allegorical Meaning of Fire

This study examines the semiotic intertextuality between a religious text and a contemporary art exhibition. It explores how the parable of the Burning House from the Lotus Sutra, the seminal Buddhist scripture, has inspired the content and meaning of an exhibition. The parable tells the story of a wise elder who rescues children, oblivious to danger, from a burning house, conveying a clear and intuitive message about the Buddha's enlightenment. The exhibition "FFFFIRE" features works by ten artists, all of whom use fire as a central motif in their creations. These works evoke various meanings of fire transformed from the Burning House parable. Moreover, the arrangement of works within the exhibition space, a two-story symmetrical house structure, reinforces the allegorical significance of fire and expands the audience's imaginative potential.

This research employs Greimas' generative trajectory as a semiotic methodology to analyse the progressive construction of meaning throughout the curatorial process by examining the relationships among three texts: the inspiring narrative, the architectural space of the exhibition, and the final exhibition itself. Through this study, we investigate the dynamic interaction between religious teaching and contemporary artistic expression, exploring how the meanings associated with fire—such as humanity's greed, use of technology, and intellect—embedded in the religious text are intriguingly conveyed and interpreted in contemporary society.

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