ROSARIO (AFP).- Behold Barbie and Ken: she is all lovely and smiling, and he is a trim, tanned stud if ever there was one. They are the cult doll duo of the last half-century. 

But how about dressing them up as figures of actual worship -- Catholic saints or Hindu deities? That's what a pair of artists in Argentina have done, infuriating Catholics in the country, the homeland of Pope Francis.

Their exhibit featuring the dolls dressed as various gods and saints -- "Barbie, the Plastic Religion" -- opens this week to the public.

"If there is a babysitter Barbie, and a lion tamer and even an astronaut, why can't there be Virgin Mary Barbie?" asked Marianela Perelli, one of the artists, in her studio in Rosario, 300 kilometers (180 miles) north of Buenos Aires.

More than a year ago, Perelli had announced the show was about to open. But a torrent of angry emails and letters from church-goers prompted her to cancel it.

Now the show is back on. It will open on Saturday in the same Buenos Aires gallery where it was to have been on exhibit in the first place.

"We have not changed anything. In fact, we still have Crucified Ken," she said, noting that this representation was among those that had irked people the most.

This time, too, people are complaining but not as much as they did a year ago.

"We insist on presenting our exhibit because it is art. These are 33 unique pieces, fashioned meticulously, as are all works of art," Perelli said in her workshop.

Perelli and her partner Emiliano Paolini came up with the idea after a trip to Mexico that coincided with the Day of the Dead. They were fascinated by the mix of sacred and pagan rites that flourish side by side in that country. 

Altars and dolls 
The couple lives and works in an apartment-workshop that is half toy store, half sanctuary. It is a colorful place with pagan altars, holy cards with pictures of saints, dolls hanging from the ceiling, large paintings and all kinds of statues.

And there, ready for exhibition, are 10 Barbies dressed up as patron saints of South American countries including Argentina, 15 Kens meant to show "15 ways of looking at Christ" and 10 small illuminated chapels.

"Religion and Barbie dolls are two popular and universal ideas. We wanted to do a fusion of these two traditions out of love and faith, without hostility or offending any religion," Perelli said.

The couple is still surprised by all the fuss their idea has kicked up. They defend their work, and fail to understand why so many people condemn it.

"We are religious and spiritual people, and we did this work out of love and respect," said Paolini. 

Some of the Barbies and Kens rendered as saints and such are repackaged in their original boxes, bearing their new names. 

They are lined up in a brightly lit room that serves as a workshop by night, which is when these artists say they find their greatest inspiration.

Orthodox treatment for Barbie 
OK, it may be just Barbie but the doll looks like a representation of any of the many versions of the Virgin Mary that exist in Roman Catholicism because these, like those, are done with great care, in plaster.

"You can tell in the aesthetics that we gave them, that it is totally orthodox," said Perelli.

The outfits and colors of the dolls are done in line with those of truly sacred statuettes.

"Barbie represents a standard of contemporary beauty. Virgins have been fuller or thinner, depending on the period. In this era, that standard of feminine beauty could well be that of Barbie," said Paolini. 


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