Indigenous Jesus

Art as Culture: An Introduction to the Anthropology of Art

2012-03-06T00:51:00.001-05:00

Since teaching for a week last September on analyzing visual arts at GIAL, I've wanted to find a book that describes the role of visual arts in indigenous cultures from an anthropological perspective. That is, a book that explains the purpose of visual artifacts in traditional/nonwestern cultures– why they were created at all and how such cultures "use" and perceive them. Ultimately, why these artifacts were created at all.

In addition, a book that also explains how to identify these artifacts (harder than it sounds– what is art, anyway?) and how to describe/analyze them.

I used a couple of books (here and here) in the class that offered collections of writings by various authors on one aspect of the topic or another, but none which gave a comprehensive understanding. I recently ordered a couple of similar texts (here and here), which I've just begun to peruse.

But I think I may have finally found the book that I've been looking for: Art as Culture: An Introduction to the Anthropology of Art by Evelyn Payne Hatcher. I hope this is the one, if for no other reason because it's becoming an expensive quest! Once I've read it I'll share my thoughts here. One reviewer writes,

Hatcher's background and research in both anthropology and art give her a command of a broad view nowhere else offered in the literature. Hers is the only book in the anthropology of art that covers all the major well-known tribal art styles, juxtaposes them with the arts of civilizations usually left to art historians, and introduces the reader to a full range of theoretical approaches to interpretation. While Hatcher's scholarly, thorough presentation of familiar styles provides many fresh insights, her theoretical stance is reassuringly familiar and solidly anthropological: the arts are understood comparatively, in context, and in all their complexity; in short, as culture.

It looks to be a good read, for someone like me at least!

A Brief History of Contextualization in India: Hindu Art

2012-03-03T23:46:00.001-05:00

Krishna Flirting with the Gopis, c. 1780–1820

As I stated in my last post in this series, both Hindu and Buddhist art in India grew indirectly out the Indus Valley/Harrapan civilization (3300–1300 BC), with each religion developing its own styles and subject matter. Buddhist art came to prominence first, around the first century BC, and continued to be prominent in India through the 16th century AD.

Krishna Killing the Horse Demon Keshi, c. 321–500 AD

During this same period, Hindu art began to take form as well. Hindu and Buddhist artists influenced one another over the centuries, with Hindu art reaching its peak during the Gupta period of approximately 320 to 550 AD.

William A. Dyrness writes that "the goal of life [in Hinduism and Buddhism] is to escape the world and have no involvement in it. Thus, Hindu and Buddhist art cannot celebrate objective reality as does western art," but rather seeks to stimulate the the viewer's quest for enlightenment (p. 14). In Hindu art, this stimulation is provided by evoking in the viewer “rasa” (“flavor,” or the act of relishing). This relishing is an expression of the inborn desire to unite with God. Rasa is the highly refined aesthetic enjoyment by which a properly prepared person will savor (“taste”) the religious moods of a particular play or artwork. It is evoked in a viewer not by portraying objective reality as in western art, but rather is conveyed by hand gestures and symbolic objects held in the hands of the Buddha or the gods. Dyrness continues, "As the goal of Indian religion is to be outside of oneself and to achieve a mystical union with the absolute, so art is a means of evoking the physical and spiritual appetites which represent the impulse of this quest. It is in this light that the approving eroticism and sensuality of Indian art is to be understood. These art objects are to awaken in us the wish for spiritual union with the absolute (Brahman)" (p. 14-15).

Traditionally, the Hindu artist was anonymous and motivated by a desire to point viewers to the eternal. He was viewed by others as having a calling which provided religious inspiration, as well as requiring sacrifice in the form of long meditation before beginning an artwork. Making art was an act of religious devotion. Havell explains,

It was only by meditating on the Ultimate Perfection that the artist’s mind could perceive some glimmer of the beauty of the Godhead. Mere bodily strength and mundane perfections of form are never glorified in Indian art. Indian art is essentially idealistic, mystic, symbolic, and transcendental. The artist is both priest and poet. In this respect Indian art is closely allied to the Gothic art of Europe – indeed, Gothic art is only the Eastern consciousness manifesting itself in a Western environment. But while the Christian art of the Middle Ages is always emotional, rendering literally the pain of the mortification of the flesh, the bodily sufferings of the Man of Sorrows, Indian art appeals more to the imagination and strives to realize the spirituality and abstraction of a supra-terrestrial sphere.

Bhadrakali, Revered by the Assembled Gods, Dances Ecstastically

As mentioned above, Hindu art seeks to illuminate the the spiritual realm. This contrasts with western art which focuses more on accurately producing images of the physical world, or at least an individual artist's personal view of the world. Again, Havell writes that

while modern European art hardly concerns itself with the Unseen, but limits its mental range to the realm of Nature and thus retains, even in its highest flights, the sense and form of its earthly environment, Indian art is always striving to realize something of the universal, the eternal, and the infinite.

European art, since the so-called Renaissance, has, as it were, its wings clipped: it knows only the beauty of earthy things. Indian art, soaring into the highest empyrean, is ever trying to bring down something of the beauty of the things above.

Shiva statue, 900-1300 AD

Due to its focus on spiritual concepts rather than literal realism, Hindu artists often portray their gods with multiple arms, heads, or other fantastic attributes. Such multiplicity of appendages indicates the deity's power, omnipresence or omnipotence. Such depictions may indicate other attributes of a deity as well. For example, "when the god Shiva is portrayed with a triple head, the central face indicates his essential character and the flanking faces depict his fierce and blissful aspects" (Vidya Dehejia).

The primary categories of Hindu art are: jewelry, stone sculpture (including stone architecture), bronze sculpture, fresco, miniature painting, tribal art, and contemporary art (which can take various forms). As far as Indian painting goes, here is one source which lists the various historic styles (both miniature and others).

In this post, I've focused primarily on Hindu art, while overlooking Mughal (Islamic) art, which is a huge part of Indian art history. I guess it will have to wait until another post!

My Guest Post at The Jesus Question

2012-03-02T11:17:00.002-05:00

In her current series titled "Jesus the Dancer," Victoria Jones at The Jesus Question has posted a couple of my paintings as a part of the series. One is an ancient Mayan-style image of the resurrection, and the other is an Hindu/Buddhist-inspired image of Jesus dancing on (crushing) the serpent's head. Please check out the post, as well as the rest of Victoria's blog!

The Art of Jyoti Sahi @ The Jesus Question

2012-02-21T23:44:00.000-05:00

Here's another great post by Victoria Jones over at The Jesus Question. In it she explores "how Hindus perceive Shiva as Lord of the Dance, and then [considers] how we might apply a similar characterization to Jesus, as does Indian Christian artist Jyoti Sahi in his woodcuts and paintings."

I learned a lot from the post and it made me want to pick up the two remaining unread books I own that are written by or about Jyoti Sahi. Victoria also plans an upcoming post in the same series on Nyoman Darsane, which I'm looking forward to with equal anticipation.

(Nearly) Free Download: Contextualization in the New Testament: Patterns for Theology and Mission

2012-02-13T21:39:00.000-05:00

Here's a link to a great free download, which I highly recommend: Contextualization in the New Testament: Patterns for Theology and Mission by Dean E. Flemming. It won the 2006 Christianity Today Book Award and was honored as one of the "Fifteen Outstanding Books of 2005 for Mission Studies" by International Bulletin of Missionary Research. From Amazon:

Few have considered in depth how the early church contextualized the gospel. And yet the New Testament provides numerous examples. As both a crosscultural missionary and a New Testament scholar, Dean Flemming is well equipped to examine how the early church contextualized the gospel and to draw out lessons for today. By carefully sifting the New Testament evidence, Flemming uncovers the patterns and parameters of a Paul or Mark or John as they spoke the Word on target, and he brings these to bear on our contemporary missiological task.

Although it doesn't deal with the arts specifically, it has a lot of good information on principals relating to contextualization in general. There were a few points (mainly in the last chapter) with which I disagreed, specifically whether or not there is a "supracultural" gospel that applies to all cultures at all times (Fleming seems to play both sides of the issue, or I'm misunderstand him). He also makes it clear on p. 108 that he is not reformed, for those of you who care about such things. Overall, definitely worth a read. It's been over two years since I read it.

Dean Flemming is professor of New Testament and Missions at MidAmerica Nazarene University, Olathe, KS. He served as a theological educator in Asia and Europe for more than 20 years. His research and writing specializes in Paul's letters, the New Testament and mission, and biblical precedents for contextualization. He also has a strong interest in the book of Revelation.

Right now, the website charges $1.95 "promotional membership" in order to download the book.

A Brief History of Contextualization in India: Part 1

2012-02-13T00:29:00.002-05:00

In today's post I am beginning a brief series on contextualized visual art in India. You might call it a collection of "highlights." A major source of information for the series is the new book Christian Themes in Indian Art from Mughal Times to the Present (I own a copy that I am practically drooling over).

However, we should begin at the beginning, with the Indus Valley Civilization. This was the first "great" civilization of India that built cities and left some form of material culture and art, though tantalizingly little. Its religious beliefs, though still largely unknown, appear to have had at least some influence on one of India's subsequent major religions, Hinduism.

Patheos.com writes that

relatively little is in fact known about the details of the religious world of the Indus Valley civilization. Based on archaeological remains, however, it seems that this was a religious world that was particularly focused on ritual bathing and animal sacrifice, elements that may be the source of later Hinduism's attention to the purifying qualities of water and the centrality of sacrifice. Furthermore, a great many female figurines have been discovered in the ruins of the cities that date to this period. These seem to have been goddesses, and may have been particularly associated with fertility rituals.

Scholars have speculated that these figures are origins of the many goddesses who populate the vast Hindu pantheon. Male figures have also been found on stone seals. Some of these seals depict a seated figure surrounded by a variety of animals, including bulls. These images lead some scholars to label these "proto-Shiva" figures, since the great god Shiva is generally associated with animals (he is sometimes called "Pashupati," the Lord of the animals) and more particularly linked with the bull, which later becomes his special "vehicle."

Buddhism, along with Hinduism, began to become prominent in Indian art in the last centuries BCE. For example, Buddhist stupas (memorials associated with places in Buddhist legends) were covered with stone carvings. One example is the Great Stupa at Sanchi. It is the location of several Buddhist monuments dating from the 3rd century BCE to the 12th century CE and is one of the important places of Buddhist pilgrimage.

Later Buddhist sculptures flourished during the Mathura period (2nd century BC) and those of Gandhara (2nd–6th centuries AD) – possibly the greatest school of Buddhist sculpture. The Gandhara sculptures show Greek influence and, along with the Buddhist religion, were exported to China, Korea, and Japan. The deep relief of the Mathura work was followed by the gentler sculptures of Gupta (about 5th century AD).

The most spectacular example of Gupta Buddhist art is the Ajanta cave paintings, near Mumbai (formerly Bombay). The caves were built in two phases starting around 200 BCE, with the second group of caves built around 600 CE. The architectural phases coincide "with the two schools of Buddhist thought: the older Hinayana school where Buddha was represented through symbols like the stupa, a set of footprints, or a throne. The later Mahayana sect, on the other hand, portrayed Buddha in human form."

The paintings and sculptures in the caves depict scenes from the Jataka Tales and numerous images of Buddha, Indian nymphs, and princesses. The caves appear to have been abandoned shortly after c. 480 CE, and gradually forgotten. During the intervening centuries, the jungle grew back and the caves were hidden, unvisited and undisturbed until 1819 when they were rediscovered by a British officer hunting tigers.

The Archaeological Survey of India states that

these caves are located in a horseshoe-shaped bend of rock nearly 76 meters in height overlooking a narrow stream known as Waghora. The location of this valley provided a calm and serene environment for the Buddhist monks who retreated at these secluded places during the rainy seasons. This retreat also provided them with enough time for furthering their religious pursuits through intellectual discourses for a considerably longer period.

The process for creating the walls paintings was very complicated. New World Encyclopedia writes that

the technique and process used to create the Ajanta cave paintings are unlike any other artwork found in the art history of other civilizations, and are unique within the history of South Asian art... The process of painting involved several stages... While the plaster was still wet, the drawings were outlined and the colors applied. The wet plaster had the capacity to soak up the color so that the color became a part of the surface and would not peel off or decay easily. The colors were referred to as 'earth colors' or 'vegetable colors.' Various kinds of stones, minerals, and plants were used in combinations to prepare different colors. The paint brushes used to create the artwork were made from animal hair and twigs.

The cave paintings of Ajanta were a major influence on the artwork of Christian artist Angelo da Fonseca, but more on him later.

EthnoArts & Media trip to the Solomon Islands

2012-02-07T23:13:00.002-05:00

This just in from International Council of Ethnodoxologists:

Once every four years, Pacific artists gather together to celebrate both their common heritage in the arts (visual, song, dance, theatre, etc.) as well as their cultural diversity. The Solomon Islands will host the 2012 FESTIVAL OF PACIFIC ARTS (FOPA), expected to draw 3000 participants from the region.

This summer a Wycliffe Discovery trip will offer a unique opportunity for ethnoarts, videography, and communications students (and professors) to participate in the festival through the following:

cultural, linguistic, medical, & team building orientation (Dallas - 1 week)
attending an “Arts in Mission” field training course (Dallas - 1 week) [based on the AiM training in England last fall – see the video here]
leading an “Arts in Mission” workshop in the Solomons before FOPA
facilitating short courses during FOPA
creating an audio-video documentation of the event to give to the Solomon Islands sponsors

To get prerequisites, application, and other details, see:

http://www.wycliffe.org/Go/ShortTerm/DiscoveryTrips/DiscoveryTrips.aspx
Contact: lee_montgomery@wycliffe.org for more information.

Note! Applications accepted until March 8.

Oldest Piece of Indigenous Christian Art of the New World to be Shown in Cuba

2012-01-28T00:28:00.000-05:00

Not sure how significant this is, but...

Cuba has borrowed from the Vatican's Missionary Ethnological Museum the oldest piece of indigenous Christian art of the New World to be exhibited for a year at the Museum of the City in Havana.

The piece, a wooden lectern or reading stand that dates back to the late 15th century, was brought to Cuba at the request of Havana's Historian Eusebio Leal Spengler to the director the Vatican Museums who obtained an exceptional permission from His Most Reverend Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Secretary of State.

The piece was carved by Cuban indigenous people in the shape of a shell and inlaid with fine strips of fishbone and tortoiseshell in the form of a fan, laid in way to create a chiaroscuro effect.

You can read the full article here.

A History of Christianity in Indonesia

2012-01-27T00:07:00.003-05:00

One book that I would love to own is A History of Christianity in Indonesia, edited by Jan S. Aritonang and Karel A. Steenbrink. However, at over $200 a copy, I won't soon be getting it, but Google Books has an abbreviated copy online for reading. This includes my specific area of interest: chapter twenty, "Christian Art in Indonesia" (at approximately 25 pages in length). The first part of the chapter seems to focus on European-commissioned contextualized art produced in the 20th century prior to 1940. The second part of the chapter focuses on individual Indonesian Christian artists of the last 30 years of the century.

I thought I would share a few examples. The first is Drawing of the Trinity by Raden Mas Poerwodiwirjo, made sometime between 1920-1924.

Apparently, he was a recent convert to Christianity when he made this drawing at his own initiative. Here's the description of the artwork's symbolism:

In the centre the Father is known from his beard, while the Son is known from the symbol of the cross in his right hand and a small beginning of a beard. The small circle in the left hand is the human nature of the Son, while the larger circle represents the divine nature. All three rest with a hand on this larger circle and are placed at the same height, strengthening their equal status and nature. The lines of communication and generation are like stalks of a flower, also a life-giving connection. The image owes much of its detail to the traditional imagery of the hermit Vyasa in the classical shadow play of the wayang.

It also looks like each figure arises out of a lotus blossom, which is a symbol of divine beauty and purity in both Hinduism and Buddhism. For more on Indonesian Christian shadow puppets, or wayang wahyu, read my post here.

Here's an interesting sculpture of the same theme:

It was carved from jati wood in 1924 by a West Javanese named Iko, who based it in part on the Trinity drawing above. The sculpture was commissioned by Joseph Schmutzer (a European) to be placed in a Catholic church on his sugar estate. The Father sits on the left, the Holy Spirit in the middle, and Jesus on the right. They all wear royal Javanese clothing. The cloth slung over the shoulders is the sign for deities, hermits and teachers. The Father holds a crown in his hands symbolizing supreme power. Each rests their feet on an open lotus. Surrounding the three figures (above the interlocking "stalks") is a circle of light, emblazoned with tongues of fire.

My impression of these two artworks is that I would prefer to see the Trinity depicted in a more singular way, rather than as three different figures. Of the two, I find the drawing more successful in this regard. It is also interesting that this image was not commissioned by a European. Schmutzer did commission Iko to carve other sculptures, including a single figure of Jesus. But I will save that for a future post!

Lastly, is a painting by contemporary Balinese artist Nyoman Darsane called Sermon at the Seaside.

Here we see Jesus wearing a white traditional sarong, a symbol of his heavenly origin. His right palm is extended skyward, while his left arm in bent with the palm pointing toward his upraised left foot. In traditional Balinese dance, this position symbolizes redemption. The surrounding Balinese people approach him in pairs and groups, joining in his dance, leaving no one alone.

My biggest complaint about the chapter (besides not being able to read all of it!) is that the artwork is reproduced in black and white instead of color (the color image above is from the cover). Beyond that, and a need for more art images, it was an interesting but incomplete read. Hopefully I'll be able to read the whole chapter one day. Until then, maybe you can find a library copy in your local area to peruse.

New Book: Christian Themes in Indian Art from Mughal Times to the Present

2012-01-17T22:17:00.002-05:00

While I'm working on a short history of contextualized Christian art in India, I came across this recently published book titled Christian Themes in Indian Art from Mughal Times to the Present. Sounds like a really comprehensive volume (428 pages), so I took the plunge and ordered a copy from India (see more on ordering info below-- you can get it cheaper than Amazon). Here are the highlights from the online description:

This book is a pioneering work, showcasing Christian themes in Indian art from the beginnings of Christianity in India till today. The authors have, in the main, death with paintings and sculptures, but have supplemented this with one chapter on architecture, particularly that of church buildings, and one on popular art, including stamps. Around 1,100 rare colored illustrations make this publication a unique reference book. It is the first complex treatment of the theme done in the last 25 years. Special emphasis is givin to artists who as Hindus, Muslims and Parsees have chosen to paint Biblical themes...

The authors always give a short biography and then highlight hi/her works connected with the theme... Christian artists include the late F.N. Souza, who simultaneously hated and loved his Christian childhood God, and artists like A.D. Thomas, Angela Trindade, A Fonseca, V. Masoji, F. Wesley, C.J. Anthony Doss, Alphonso Doss, S. Raj, and J. Sahi, all who stand for the attempt to incorporate the Christian gospel into the Indian culture. This original research includes many young talents. An extensive Bibliography, Glossary and Index make this book a real reference source for many years to come.

I would suggest ordering the book on bookfinder.com, rather than Amazon. However, beware that for copies shipping from India, the shipping charge may be revised upon ordering to approximately $45 due to the weight of the book, which you will be asked to approve first.

Lecture: Dimensions of Sacred Space: Mandalas in Early Tibetan Buddhist Art and Architecture

2012-01-15T22:05:00.000-05:00

Just saw this announcement about an upcoming lecture on Monday, Jan. 23, 7:30 p.m. at the Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University in Atlanta, in case any of you in that area would like to check it out. It's a part of the current exhibition titled "Mandala: Sacred Circle in Tibetan Buddhism".

"Christian Luczanits, Curator at the Rubin Museum of Art, will discuss Dimensions of Sacred Space: Mandalas in Early Tibetan Buddhist Art and Architecture. The monuments of the Western Himalayas dating from the 11th to the 13th century are rich in information on the mandala, its development and different forms of usage. Presenting a range of examples from these monuments—in murals, sculpture, and architecture—this lecture will introduce some of the key notions underlying the practice of the mandala in the Buddhist context. From the depiction of the ritual specialist using a mandala altar to the furnishing of architecture to transform it into a three-dimensional mandala the visitor enters by walking into the temple the western Himalayan monuments account for different dimensions of sacred space all of which are intimately connected with the mandala."

Preservation of the World’s Oldest Illustrated Christian Manuscript

2012-01-10T23:28:00.000-05:00

Here's an interesting story from last year, detailing the preservation in 2006 of two Ethiopian Orthodox manuscripts called The Garima Gospels. In 2010, the Gospels-- originally believed by western historians to have been created in the twelfth century-- were radiocarbon dated to between 330 and 650AD. This makes them the second oldest complete copy of the Gospels in the world, after "the Codex Sinaiticus, a copy of the Bible hand-written in Greek which dates back to the third century. Unlike the Garima Gospels, the Codex includes large chunks of the Old Testament, but the entire work is divided between museums and monasteries in Egypt, Britain, Russia and the USA" (The Independent). The Garima Gospels pre-date all other early Christian texts in sub-Saharan Africa by more than 500 years. In the second volume, another 14th century Gospels was also included.

The Gospels "are preserved in an isolated monastery in the Tigray region, set among mountains at 7,000 feet." Abba (Father) Garima, originally from Constantinople, established the monastery. "The monk is traditionally believed to have arrived in Ethiopia in 494. Legend has it that he copied the Gospels in a single day. To assist him in completing this lengthy task, God is said to have delayed the setting of the sun."

The Garima Gospels are bound in two volumes, Garima I & II. Garima I (348 pages) contains 11 illuminated pages, Garima II (322 pages) contains 17 pages of illuminations, including an unusual depiction called the Temple of the Jews. This building is shown "with a staircase in a form otherwise unknown in Christian iconography (the architecture is possibly based on a Persian Sassanid garden pavilion for exotic animals, representing paradise)."

The beautiful illuminations are all painted in the early Byzantine style, but it is unclear where they were painted, or by whom. Jacques Mercier, a French specialist in Ethiopian art, believes that the illustrations in Garima I were painted in Syria or around Jerusalem, while the those in Garima II "show some affinity with those of Coptic Egypt. It is also possible that the illuminations were done by a Middle Eastern artist working in Ethiopia or an Ethiopian in a Middle Eastern studio."

The volumes' text is written in Ge'eze, a language once spoken in the area of the monastery, but no longer in use. Tigrinya is the language currently spoken in the region. "The text itself was probably copied in Ethiopia (rather than by a Ge’ez scribe in the Middle East), since it appears to have been added after the illuminations had been completed."

For a more detailed description of the on-site preservation process, see this story. And here is an interesting essay about the pre-Christian vs. Christian uses of icons and other Christian objects in Ethiopia.

Lastly, I can't help but wonder... what would an evangelical, traditionally-based Ethiopian visual art form look like?

Christian Folk Art from India

2012-01-03T23:35:00.000-05:00

Here's a recent exhibition that I wish I could've seen-- "Christian Folk Art from India" at Augusta Savage Gallery at UMass from December 12 - 16, 2011, where

each piece in the collection is a painted cloth scroll depicting a Christian story or concept... the scrolls were used by Chitrakars, traveling painters/storytellers in the Bengal province of India, and the scrolls were used to help illustrate the stories that the Chitrakars shared with communities.

In the 20th century, they occasionally used their traditional motifs and techniques to portray Christian subjects. Also included in the show are works by Christian Indian artist Frank Wesley, as well as other Christian artworks and artifacts such as brass crucifixes, clay creches, posters, and other objects.

The works in the collection are owned by Georgana Falb Foster, 83, an independent scholar of South Asian studies and member of the American Council of Southern Asian Art. In the 1990s, she gave the collection to the Museum of Art at the University of Iowa as a research collection. She has given papers at the Conference of South Indian Religion and the Wisconsin South Asian conference and is a co-author of a chapter on the pilgrimage to the popular goddess Vaishno Devi in Jammu in "Sacred Geography of Goddesses in South Asia" Scholarly Books (2010).

Nativity and Christmas Images from Around the World

2011-12-24T14:49:00.000-05:00

Here are two sources for some beautiful nativity and Christmas images that showcase the artistry of nonwestern cultures:

The first was sent to me by my friend Paul Neeley. It features fourteen creches collected by Rev. Jerry Dvorak, a pastor at St. Peter's Church in Richfield, Minnesota.

The other is a wonderful website called World Nativity, which I highly recommend that you check out. The website is run by the Hydes, a Mormon family who "started buying Nativity scenes from artisans in poor or developing countries as a means of helping the artisans generate income in a way that preserved their dignity... the response has been so high that we have sold thousands of Nativities from more than 100 artisans since 2005. Profits are given 100 percent to charitable causes and micro-credit projects in Third World countries that benefit the poorest people on the planet." This sounds like a WONDERFUL way to help many in need around the world, in a way that helps them become more successful business people!

The website features nativities from the Hydes' personal collection (not for sale), as well as others which are available for purchase. Some of these for sale items include Christmas ornaments as well. You can see images of others from their collection on their Facebook page.

2011-12-19T22:37:00.000-05:00

As I continue to research on a post related to Ethiopian art, here's a lovely Christmas image from that country. I'll try to post some more nonwestern Christmas images before the big day arrives.

‘Jesus Mafa’ Paintings

2011-12-14T23:55:00.000-05:00

Earlier this month my friend (and ethnomusicologist) Paul Neeley posted on his blog about the 'Jesus Mafa' paintings. These paintings were produced in a collaboration between Mafa Christians in northern Cameroon and French missionaries. The paintings that resulted from this partnership were western in style, but depicted the Mafa and their environment accurately so that the Mafa could identify with the biblical stories being portrayed. Please check out Paul's post and see a wonderful example of one type of visual contextualization. The last paragraph is especially worth reading! And check out the Jesus Mafa website too.

Artist Profile: Safina Stewart

2011-11-27T17:34:00.000-05:00

Southern Cross Turtle by Safina Stewart

Safina Stewart is an Australian Indigenous Christian artist living in Melbourne, Australia. Born in Auckland, New Zealand, but raised in the highlands of Papua New Guinea, Safina grew up with many multicultural experiences where she learned to follow Jesus from her missionary parents. Her father is Australian with a Scottish heritage and her mother is a Torres Strait Islander and Queensland Aboriginal. At the age 13 Safina returned to live in mainland Australia.

Safina writes, “Art and a pride in my cultural heritage allow me the opportunity to showcase creative reflection - giving me a platform to honour the Creator as one made in His image." Safina also enjoys using her skills to work with children and youth, sharing cultural insights through school artist-in-residence programs. She seeks "to raise awareness of issues hindering mutual respect [and] acceptance between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians, given her belief in the dignity and equality of all people."

Safina is an enthusiastic participant in the Koorie Night Market, a regular arts, food, culture, and music market that debuted in 2008 in Melbourne. Since then it has developed significantly to become a community event that showcases indigenous culture. Part of the vision for the market is to "be a cultural showcase, meeting place, community builder and business incubator, giving aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people access to the resources they need, the space to promote their culture, and the opportunity to achieve their potential." Safina and other Aboriginal artists (both non-Christian and Christian) actively participated in the Koorie Night Market, which encourages them as they see their culture affirmed and celebrated.

Rainbow Serpent by Safina Stewart

Safina's form of ministry is at Koorie and other similar art markets and shows, where she is able to speak casually with people and hear their faith stories. She tells them about the stories depicted in her art, as well as her own personal testimony. Through these conversations, the Lord sometimes gives Safina opportunities to minister to these admirers of her art. Many of the people she speaks with are white Australians, who don't understand how an Indigenous Australian can also be a follower of Jesus, while embracing their native culture. These conversations help increase understanding between believers of both communities.

Strong Communities by Safina Stewart

In her paintings Safina explores her faith and ethnicity, seeking to understand how God has combined both in her as an indigenous follower of Jesus. Beginning with Aboriginal art styles and motifs, Safina infuses them with her own personal color palette. Next, she combines this imagery with biblical stories and themes, focusing especially on God's love and reconciliation.

Stingray by Safina Stewart

Safina says, "My acrylic paintings each carry a story about the relationships we hold with others and our Creator. I aim to share messages of hope through the vibrant tones and fluid line work that I use to tell the story behind each painting."

For example, many of her paintings feature native Australian animals. Not only are many of these animals Aboriginal totems, but they also display characteristics which remind us of God's character and love for all people, Safina says. She chooses each animal based on those unique characteristics which embody God's ways. As she listens to Aboriginal Dreamtime stories, Safina says she wears her "Gospel glasses" in order to interpret them from a Gospel perspective. She then visually transforms these impressions into colorful, vibrant paintings.

Intercessory Prayer by Safina Stewart

The painting "Intercessory Prayer" delivers a reminder to Christians about their essential calling to pray passionately for those who have not yet come to Christ. With Christ as our centre, Christians are to share the Good News of Jesus‘ grace and forgiveness. It is interesting to note that the central ring of U imprints is facing outwards. Usually in Indigenous art the campfire scene has U imprints turned in toward the centre of the campfire. However, in this scene the artist has deliberately painted them facing outwards to depict the message that the church is called to be outwardly focused.

Propa Good News, eh? by Safina Stewart

In "Propa Good News, eh?" Safina depicts the Gospel story through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. The large gold star-like rings overlaying the image represent the Southern Cross constellation, which reminds us of Jesus' wounds from his death on the cross. A cross-shaped blue river also runs vertically through the painting, representing both Jesus and the River of Life flowing from God's throne, inviting the viewer to come soak in him!

The story actually begins in the top left of the painting, showing the original dreaming of the triune God, where he is surrounded by the people He has created to sit around His campfire in a close relationship with Him. (for more about how God and people are visually represented in Aboriginal art, see my post here). Next we see God in the Garden of Eden speaking with Adam and Eve (in yellow), while Satan lurks behind them as a serpent. Next we see the pair choosing to follow Satan and his lies, as they exit the Garden.

Following the blue path to the upper right section of the painting, we see the Trinity once again, as Jesus is born to Mary and Joseph. Next are Jesus' baptism and temptation in the wilderness, followed by his teaching of the disciples. The cross now appears (minus Jesus himself), its base piercing the serpent. Afterward is the empty tomb and the resurrected Jesus appearing once again to his disciples.

In the lower left area, Jesus returns to heaven and then sends the Holy Spirit to his followers, who are sitting around a campfire. From this central gathering, the Good News of the Gospel goes out into other communities, to the ends of the earth.

Lastly in the bottom left corner, we see people making a choice to join God's family by entering the "narrow gate," or rejecting him by walking away. Those who choose God are ushered into eternal relationship with the Trinity, while those who reject God are cast away, along with Satan, their representative.

Safina plans to make prints of her paintings available for purchase through her website sometime in April 2012. Her work is culturally beautiful and spiritually rich, and would make a great addition to any home.

Seven Days of Creation by Safina Stewart

Safina finds a lot of fellowship and inspiration from Christian Artists' Factory, a non-profit network of Christian artists in Australia. CAF acts "as a connection point for Christian Artists’ in Australia, offering workshops, mentoring, advertising and gathering opportunities." A video on the organization's website features several of its members, including Safina at the beginning and end. Additional videos and resources are found on the website as well.

Tibetan Christian Thangka Ministry

2011-11-22T22:31:00.000-05:00

Jesus’ Life on Earth

One year ago I wrote a post about Tibetan thangkas and mentioned therein a Christian ministry that was selling Christian thangkas, though at the time I didn't know anything more about how they were being used. In today's post, I am excited to provide some more information about them.

Back in 2001, some expatriate workers in the Himalayas puzzled over the repeated lack of effectiveness of more common approaches to reach Tibetan Buddhists for Christ, so they began to seek alternative ways of presenting the Gospel that would connect more directly with Tibetan Buddhists. They formed a group called The Tibetan Storytelling Project (TSP) to address this concern. The group eventually decided to produce an evangelistic DVD which would utilize traditional Tibetan art, songs, choreography and rhythmic speech in presenting the Gospel.

Two years later the TSP discovered The Hope DVD, produced by Mars Hill Productions. Much of the dvd's content mirrored what the TSP had already decided to include in their own project, so they worked out an agreement with Mars Hill to use the Hope DVD material which would allow the addition of fresh footage shot on the Tibetan Plateau using Tibetan extras. These additional scenes portray a traveling Tibetan storyteller and his daughter, who use traditional Tibetan paintings called thangkas to illustrate stories from the Bible, as well as performances of Tibetan music and dance. The two-hour Tibetan Hope DVD was completed in 2007.

Some of the new scenes show the Tibetan storyteller, explaining biblical stories depicted on four traditional thangka paintings. The TSP writes that

the HOPE storyteller is NOT a traditional Buddhist storyteller (Lama Maniwa). Choemphel in the DVD shares certain of the same features, as he is a travelling storyteller, using thangka paintings, a pointing stick and selected rhythmic speech sections, but here the similarities cease. The HOPE storyteller has no altar with Buddhist offerings. Instead, he carries a Bible, wrapped in a cloth and relates his own experience as part of his story. By contrast, the role of the Buddhist maniwa, sometimes called lama maniwa, includes reciting the mani prayer correctly and relating well-known supernatural tales of Buddhist origin. Most maniwa were lay people who wore distinctive dress, including maroon robes similar to monastic clothing. Choemphel does none of these things.

Final Judgement

A thangka is a traditional, stylized Tibetan form of painting that is painted or embroidered on silk, and is often mounted on a silk frame. The thangkas portrayed in the DVD demonstrate a style used in story-based teaching, which was traditionally used to teach Buddhist doctrine and moral truth. This style of thangka shows several scenes in a story, all in the same painting. The modern biblical thangkas produced by the TSP are printed posters and are intended to be used alongside the Hope DVD, or by themselves, by a trained presenter. The TSP has produced an excellent 14 page manual to explain the background of the biblical thangkas and how to use them correctly to explain the Gospel. The manual not only explains the meanings of thangkas, but, along with the DVD, provides powerful ways of communicating the Gospel that will help to avoid misconceptions common to people raised in Tibetan Buddhism and open their eyes to the wonderful saving grace of Jesus.

I was provided with some accounts of the use of this series of thangkas among various ethnic groups in various parts of Asia. Here are those stories:

[A believer in SW China] shared the Thangkas with a group of Tibetans in a village for a couple of hours. One guy in the back was talking and smoking a lot and not paying too much attention, but later he started to listen to the stories more and became very interested. Eventually he believed and learned to tell the stories on the Thangkas himself.

Creation and the Fall of Man

Juha shares from Thailand:

"We are actually going to a village tonight where we have shared the Gospel now two times using these posters. They are very useful and the pastor who is sharing the story said that these can be used both to proclaim the Gospel and also to teach believers. We have done one poster /evening so we will most probably have two more times there and then we see what happens after that. I am using these posters with a young family where the father is a believer and the mother most probably believes in her heart but has not clearly professed faith in Jesus."

Rinchen shares from India:

"I have (used them to teach), and people are very responsive. They enjoy listening to the Bible passage story in conjunction with pointing to the Thangkas, and accept it readily as "This is Tibetan‚" together with a clear message that is Christian. This in and of itself is a key step forward. Suffice it to say that I have seen the effect be to link the sense "this is Tibetan‚" with "This is Christian‚" in a way that surprises them, but in a positive way."

Here is another story from a Christmas celebration in a really Tibetan area in which these thangkas were used. The writer is not a mother tongue English speaker– she is southeast Asian. She cannot be more explicit about places because of restrictions–

God and Man Before Jesus Christ

ML writes:

"I have experienced sharing using thanka, when I newly stayed in [a remote, high altitude, regional town]. It was on Christmas celebration.

[A] few weeks before the party, we [prayed] seriously, even fasting! Because we got limit[ed] permission to stay in [this town]. To our surprise, a local family open[ed] their house for the celebration. There were adults too (the owner of the house, and a [local] teacher).

When I started telling the story, showing the thangkas (Genesis to Revelation), the [local] teacher stood up helping translating into [the regional] dialect!!! We really felt FATHER's presence!

The thangkas were shown around. As they wanted to look at it again and again. We also shown a bit of [Jesus] movie, when [Jesus] was on the cross! Before we left, the owner of the house asked us whether we have extra thangkas. We were sorry we didn't have extras. Anyway, we gave them some copies of J movies."

In addition to the use of the Christian thangkas for evangelism, the ministry website offers other resources for Tibetans, such as Tibetan Christian music, testimonies, the Bible in Tibetan, and live chat and email follow up for believers or seekers who have further questions or need prayer.

Church and Art - Word and Image Bible Studies

2011-11-13T22:07:00.001-05:00

I encourage you to check out this bible study based on Matthew 2:13-23 and The Flight to Egypt by Chinese Christian painter He Qi [pronounced Huh Chee]. It's found at Artway.eu, a Christian website that "seeks to open up the world of the visual arts to the interested lay man and woman." The website is chock full of information about artists, galleries, churches, art, etc. (primarily European), so please take a look.

The He Qi study is a part of their series called "Church and Art - Word and Image Bible Studies," and the goal of this individual study is "to find a new way into the biblical text by means of He Qi’s work... He Qi’s painting can help us explore the text, find new significance and make connections between this - seemingly insignificant - story and the larger narrative of God." The study was written by Cisca Ireland-Verwoerd, a lecturer and writer based in Boston.

The study does a nice job of examining the painting itself, by exploring some of its visual elements. I wouldn't call it an in-depth study, but I think that it could be an interesting addition to a deeper examination of the passage. In any case, it's a good use of visual art to enhance a textual study and inject greater interest in the subject matter by associating a visual image with the passage.

Be sure to sign up for Artway's free weekly Visual Meditation email here.

Artist's Frame in Visual Arts

2011-11-07T22:50:00.001-05:00

While waiting for approval on a couple of posts I've already written, I thought I would briefly discuss a topic from the class module I taught in September at GIAL: in visual arts, the concept known as frame.

Frame is the purpose or intention of the artist in communicating a message in a visual artwork. When using visual arts to communicate a message, frame becomes very important. In order to interpret the message in a visual artwork correctly, the audience needs to understand the intention of the artist. Otherwise, the message is likely to be misinterpreted or ignored completely by the audience.

There are three kinds of frames:

Background Knowledge Frame
Story Frame
Time-Travel / Interpretive Frame

The background knowledge frame is an illustration which is supposed to help explain a reference in a biblical text. A common Horace Knowles Bible illustration, for example, shows a bit in the mouth of a horse, designed to clarify James 3:3, “When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal.” This illustration provides background information for cultures unfamiliar with bits and horses. The audience will interpret the illustration’s meaning wrongly if they interpret the artist’s intention as telling a story; most people who flip through a book are looking for a story frame rather than a background knowledge frame, and so they may wonder what this story is about a horse’s head shown without a body. The audience needs to know that the frame is background knowledge.

Navaho Christ by
Fr. John Giuliani

The story frame is the most versatile, but the most controversial, frame. A depiction of Jesus as a Native American or the Jesus Mafa Association’s pictures of Jesus drawn in an African context have a story frame. They are not meant to tell the audience that Jesus was Native American or African, because the frame is not to provide background knowledge, but rather to communicate that Jesus came for Indians and African people, too. This frame is sometimes controversial because some believers feel that depictions of Jesus or anyone from the Bible need to be historically accurate...

... which leads us to the third frame, the "time-travel" interpretive frame. In this frame, artists conduct historical research and try to make their drawings resemble as closely as possible how historical events might have actually looked. It seems to have originated at about the same time as films that used huge budgets to recreate events with historical accuracy. However, we do not know how tall or short Jesus was or if He had a particular hairstyle, let alone what his exact skin color was.

As noted above, some people say that the story frame is an inappropriate approach to biblical art because the first priority should be to make it as historically accurate as possible. But for many cultures, their first question is not whether this is actually what these people looked like, but rather, “Is this story for us, or for some other culture? If it is for some other culture, we may look at it to learn about you, but we won’t think it has anything to do with us. Stories for us must be drawn from our world just as they must be told in our language.”

Indonesian Shadow Puppet Exhibit

2011-10-24T09:32:00.001-04:00

The Angel Gabriel

I recently came across this art show video (see below) of Christian Indonesian shadow puppets, or Wayang Wahyu. The puppets were created by Indonesian businessman and graduate student Baroto Murti Anindito and was first shown at Anindito's school, the University of Santo Tomas in Manilla, Philippines, from August 16 to September 21. The show is currently on display at the GSIS Museo ng Sining (Museum of Art) in Pasay City, Philippines through October 29th. The multimedia exhibition features some of the original shadow puppets done by Baroto, photographs and an audio-visual presentation that shows how the intricate puppets are made and how they are actually handled during an actual Wayang performance.

Wayang is an Indonesian form of shadow puppet theater that dates back to sometime during the first millenium A.D. Wayang Wahyu is a Catholic form of shadow theatre created in 1960 in central Java by Brother Timotheus L. Wignyosoebroto as a way to communicate the stories and ideas in the Bible. You can read more about Wayang Wahyu in a previous post of mine.

Photographs of some of the exhibit's 40 puppets can be seen here and here.

Arts in Mission 2011 Conference Video

2011-10-21T22:49:00.000-04:00

Last month I traveled to Hertfordshire, U.K., to attend the Arts in Mission 2011: Training for Cross-Cultural Ministry conference at All Nations Christian College (see my post here). Since that post, both a three-minute and six-minute video synopsis of the conference was posted online. Please check out the longer video below in order to get a better understanding of the conference's purpose, and an overview of the manual which we explored while there (it's due to be published in the fall of 2012).

Mongolian Christian Celebration Uses Visual Art

2011-10-20T19:51:00.000-04:00

Back in June, Ariunaa, a Southeast Asian living in Mongolia, contacted me about an upcoming worship celebration in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia that took place in September (2011). Ariunaa had found some of my artwork online through the ICE website, specifically this ceramic bowl called Risen Lord of Heaven and Earth. She explained that the celebration in Ulaanbaatar was commemorating 20 years of the Gospel in Mongolia, and that people from all over Mongolia would be attending. The event's worship leader had asked her to train a group of believers in using flags for worship; nine banners would be used during the celebration, and she wanted to know if they could adapt my bowl image for one of them. Of course, I quickly agreed!

Here is the banner that was created, based on my bowl design. As you can see, the figure of Jesus was replaced with a cross. Mongolian Christian leaders with whom Ariunaa consulted suggested it would be more suitable.

The nine banners were used in a segment of the celebration called "Jesus, Hope of the Nations," where each banner-bearer was dressed in the national costume of a different country. The banners are all approximately 2 x 1.4 meters in size (6.5' x 4.6'). The text on each banner is written twice, first in Mongolian cyrillic, and then again in Mongol bichig (traditional Mongolian calligraphy). My banner was titled "Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life" and was based on John 14:6.

After meeting an associate of ICE in Mongolia and seeing the ICE website, Ariunaa says she "was really touched to see how God is releasing people to worship in ways that they find culturally relevant, rather than by aping some other culture. In Mongolia I've felt there's often overuse of translated American and Australian songs, and too much... Korean-style praise and worship, when there is already a rich tradition of magtaal (praise) and honor in the 800+ years of Mongolian culture and local Christians have composed many lovely worship songs." Many of the songs sung at the Praise and Worship Naadam were composed by Mongolians, accompanied by Mongolian dance.

I also wanted to include a few of the other banner designs, and the explanations for the symbols used on them.

"The person who trusts in the Lord is blessed" (Psalm 34:8). The image is an ulzii hee-- the eternal knot, a traditional symbol of blessing/ good luck, intertwined with a khadag, or scarf-- a symbol of honor, on a platform of a lotus, which is a symbol of purity.

"My Cup Runs Over" (Psalm 23:5-- "my cup is richly full"). The image is a ceremonial silver cup full of milk (which is a symbol of holiness and provision), and the spout of a dombo, a traditional Mongolian pitcher.

"Jesus Be Glorified in Mongolia" (John 12:28). The image is the horse/yak-tail banners of Mongolia, the symbols of authority and power. Black is for war, white for peace. Ariunaa was asked to show three banners (an odd number to mean joy, instead of sadness, which is an even number). The third banner is yellow, to symbolize all peoples (black, white, and yellow-- which includes the brown-skinned peoples) glorifying God under the authority of Jesus.

Lastly, Ariunaa writes that she and other local Christians are trying to raise funds for one of the pastors involved in the event, Pastor Purevsed, who played the morin huur at the 20th anniversary celebrations. He is dire need of a kidney transplant, and Ariunaa is trying to sell the banners to contribute to the remaining funds needed to pay for an operation in South Korea. $23,000 US will have to be raised if Purevsed is to have the transplant. You can find out more about him and make contributions through this Facebook page, and see a video of him playing the morin huur here (in the grey-and-white sweater). They are trying to raise the remaining money by the end of October 2011.

Henna Art in Africa

2011-10-11T18:13:00.000-04:00

I recently met Kristin Glaze at the the Arts in Mission 2011: Training for Cross-Cultural Ministry conference in the U.K. She is currently about half way through a two-year assignment in southern Africa, and has a BA and a MFA in art. Kristin's team has two branches: one is media-focused, reporting on missions stories for Christians mostly in the U.S.; the other does consulting regarding the use of oral communications and creative arts for field use.

Her first year has been a struggle at times to find her place as an artist on the team, because they didn't have a clearly-defined role for her when she came. Most of her assignments were for the media team, to illustrate stories they were reporting on when photos could not be used due to conditions on the ground.

Cowboy of Sudan by Kristin Glaze

But more recently, her new director has encouraged her to begin using her art to support her fellow missionaries who are doing pre-church planting work rather than media work. Recently she has been able to do just that with evangelistic henna and henna-inspired paintings.

The team members had recently started working among a target community, and were having a hard time initiating relationships. So they decided to try using henna parties as a way to meet and get to know the women of the community. These parties have allowed them to meet new people and begin forming relationships, becoming more involved in the women's lives.

These relationships have also opened up doors for them to speak about Jesus, and not only to other women: one team worker who volunteers at a local school was asked by young students about the henna designs on her hands, and later the students began sharing the stories with their friends.

Passover by Kristin Glaze

Kristin learned to draw henna designs that were originally created for evangelistic henna parties in South Asia by other Christian workers, like Mina Rowland. She also created a few new designs for missing stories. Kristin's team has done one party in their area so far. A short term team joined them for the party to explain the designs to the women who attended.

Since the party, she and team members have followed up with some of the women, asking henna-related questions and forming friendships. In addition, the team members have begun asking Kristin to create paintings as gifts for some of the party attendees, as well as for a male store owner who helped them mix the henna paste.

She has done four paintings so far, but continues to create them as outreach gifts for weddings, baby showers, etc. She may eventually make prints of the paintings to sell as a fundraising tool.

Manyika of Mozambique by Kristin Glaze

In her henna paintings, Kristin chose different decorative elements for men and women. She also wanted to incorporate color into the designs, like those she sees in local shops and on clothing. Finally, she wanted to paint something that the recipients would want to display in their homes.

Her process for creating the paintings began with choosing and studying a bible passage. She then picks out motifs from the story that would translate well as henna art, sketching them on paper and playing with arrangement of the main symbols, later adding details. The story influences the overall look of the design in the paintings.

Let's take a look at some of her paintings, all of which are created using acrylic paint and Sharpie pens:

The Woman at the Well by Kristin Glaze

The first is "The Woman at the Well" (John 4). The heart with the cross in it at the bottom right corner represents Jesus, and the flower above the heart represents the woman. In the middle, there is a circle with other circles surrounding it, which represents the well. There are two jars on either side of the well. The jar turned upside down represents the jar the woman was using to draw water. The six hearts inside that jar represent the six men in her life: her five husbands, plus the man she was currently with who was not her husband. The white jar represents Jesus and the life-giving water he offers.

The sun above the white jar represents the Light of Christ that exposes our sin. The rays arch over to the right and hit the woman's jar to show that Jesus not only exposed her sin, but also freed her after it was brought to the light.

The blue swirls throughout represent water that Jesus gives, which is a spring welling up to eternal life. Lastly, the little stars at the top represent all the people who believed in Jesus because of the woman's testimony.

Elijah and the Still, Small Voice by Kristin Glaze

The next painting is "Elijah and the Still, Small Voice," inspired by 1 Kings 19. The golden star in the top left represents Elijah. The green leaves above it symbolize the wilderness where he was when t his story took place. Kristin incorporated the symbol of the leaves from a chart of evangelistic henna symbols that were developed previously; later, she revamped some of those). The swirls across the top of the image represent the wind; The orange forms on bottom left are the flames of fire; the cracks and jumbled box shapes in the center and right side represent the earthquake. In this image, God and his voice is represented abstractly by the checkered wave form in the lower right corner (the checkered pattern is also from the chart). The rest of the design is decorative.

Abraham and Isaac by Kristin Glaze

The next image is called "Abraham and Isaac," from Genesis 22, when God tested Abraham's faith by asking him to sacrifice his son. The image begins in the lower left corner with the two stars, representing Abraham and Isaac. To their right are small hills with a red path leading up to a star; this is the path they traveled to the place where Abraham built the sacrificial altar. Scripture says they carried fire, wood and a knife with them up to the place of sacrifice, so Kristin depicts the flams of the fire to the right of the star, and the wood and knife are underneath

To the right of the fire is the powerful angel who appeared at the last second to stop Abraham from killing his son. To the lower right of the angel are the horns of the ram caught in a thicket, through which God provided a substitute. Afterward, God renewed His covenant with Abraham.

Mary and Martha by Kristin Glaze

And lastly is "Mary and Martha." And since I didn't get a detailed explanation of this one, I'll let you have fun figuring it out on your own!

A Busy September!

2011-10-03T23:27:00.001-04:00

I've been back at home for about a week, after having been out out of town for two weeks in September. I wanted to give a report on what I've been doing, since all of it related to arts and missions.

I spent Sept. 6-10 in the U.K. at the Arts in Mission 2011: Training for Cross-Cultural Ministry conference at All Nations Christian College (I arrived a day late). The conference was sponsored by All Nations, the International Council of Ethnodoxologists (ICE), SIL International, and the Mission Commission of the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA). Approximately 60 arts advocates and practitioners from more than 20 nations attended. The main goal of the conference was to receive training through (and provide feedback on) an EthnoArts Field Manual (the curriculum for AiM 2011). This manual will serve as a practical guide for arts workers, church planters, and other missionaries as they help communities draw on their artistic resources to respond to spiritual, social, and physical needs.

It was great being around so many different kinds of artists (visual, musicians, drama, etc.), all of whom are currently using the arts in some aspect within missions, whether far or near. During the conference each day we worked through the contents of the manual and applied it to the arts and culture of the Sakha people of Siberia, where AiM leaders Bill and Robin Harris had worked from 1994 to 2004. The focus of these explorations was to examine Ohuokhai (round dance) of the Sakha people, and how this cultural expression could be used both in the life of the local church, as well as helping to preserve for all Sakha people. We even broke into groups and wrote lyrics for our own Ohuokhai.

Later in the conference we again broke into small groups and focused on one specific art form, and tried to apply the steps from the manual for examining that art form. I, of course, was in the visual arts group, where we looked at henna as an art form and an expression of the Gospel. You can see some of the results of that session here, here and here.

Then from Sept. 19-24 I got to teach at the Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics in Dallas, TX. I taught a one-week visual arts "module" for a course called Expressive Form Analysis. The course essentially teaches the EthnoArts Field Manual, and is divided into various 1-2 week modules, each of which focuses on one art form and how to analyze it in another culture. I thoroughly loved teaching this module, as I got to talk a lot about nonwestern visual art. And, of course, there was henna again!

Australian Aboriginal Artist Greg Weatherby

2011-09-04T19:54:00.002-04:00

I came across this review of Christian "related" art in Australia and thought I would pass it on, especially regarding Aboriginal artist Greg Weatherby. I put related in quotes above because as the author notes, it's not entirely clear what the belief systems of the artists actually are. I've come across information on a handful of Aboriginal Christian/Christian-related artists lately, but didn't want to post all them in a row. So, since I am in the process of traveling as I write this post, I will go ahead and publish this one.

Weatherby states that “my work covers mimi spirits, the Dreamtime, Christian themes of the birth, crucifixion and Last Supper,” he said. “But most of the art is about saving the environment, about looking after the environment and not screwing it up.” He is inspired by dreams and visions, and his art first began in part as an attempt to process his "many years in boys homes after traumatic family break-down." Many of his images aren't specifically Christian in theme, but rather are drawn from "Indigenous animal stories, religious themes and incarnations of Mimi spirits" (you can see some of these themes here and here). Weatherby's Aboriginal heritage is Walbanga from the far south coast of New South Wales, and his tribal totem is the shark.

In Weatherby's "Dreamtime Birth," we see the nativity. I find it interesting that among other things, this image portrays "the Great Ancestor’s omnipresent hands... presenting the divine gift to Aboriginal Spirit parents near legendary Uluru.” Although my depth of knowledge of this artist and aboriginal art in general is shallow, I wonder if the description of Mary and Joseph as "Aboriginal Spirit parents" represents an attempt to place the incarnation into the framework of the Aboriginal Dreamtime, the "everywhen" time of "formative creation and perpetual creating... an embodiment of Creation, which gives meaning to everything" (Wikipedia).

In "The Last Supper" (see image at beginning of post), Weatherby has again depicted “tall and elegant Mimi spirits [who] take the places of Jesus and his disciples at the most famous meal in religious history. Under vast Dreamtime skies this story is dramatically re-interpreted by an artistic culture much, much older." And, again I wonder if this is done to compare these events in importance to the dreamtime, or to outright reinterpret them as such, on equal ground with other dreamtime stories. Or do the biblical stories reinterpret the dreamtime myths as distant but God-given echoes of his work in our world?

And lastly is "Crucifixion." Weatherby poignantly reminds us that "the Aboriginal and Christian stories are linked because Aboriginal peoples were also crucified on their journeys. Yet in the heavenly blue Dreamtime, destiny patiently waits." I'm not sure what the pole-like structures represent, but would love to know.

Festival of Native Peoples

2011-08-26T21:54:00.003-04:00

If you live anywhere near Western NC, please go to the 6th Annual Festival of Native Peoples in Cherokee, NC this weekend:

Indigenous tribes from across the Americas gather for the sixth Annual Festival of Native Peoples this August at the Cherokee Indian Fair Grounds in Cherokee, N.C. Considered the finest showcase of native dance, song and art in the southeast, the event honors the collective history, customs and wisdom of some of the oldest documented tribes.

Adult admission $10. I've been two or three times in years past, and it's wonderful. Last year's art on display (and for sale) by native artists was of great quality and diversity. I highly recommend it!

Indian Artist Frank Wesley

2011-08-25T00:55:00.004-04:00

I wanted to provide some information about a great 20th century Indian Christian artist named Frank Wesley (1923-2002). The following five paragraphs are directly quoted from the Kerrmuller Collection Art Gallery:

Forgiving Father

Wesley was a 5th generation Christian (Methodist). He was an Indian artist, expressing the Christian story and its meaning within a framework of an Indian setting, with an Indian imagination, and starting from the painting styles and techniques of his indigenous culture, particularly the Lucknow watercolour school technique and the Bengal Renaissance style. This was expanded through other Asian and western influences from several years of study also in Japan and the USA. Although his Christianity was formed in the Methodist tradition, his choice of religious themes was not confined to that of Protestant art (Rembrandt was an important artist for him), and he drew upon the visual traditions of Catholicism in European art and sought to re-interpret Indian religious iconography with Christian reference. Wesley often spoke of his rejection for Asia of the “fair-haired, blue-eyed Jesus” image, which so often appeared in the publications brought by the missionaries.

Frank Wesley would often say that he was not interested in illustrating the biblical stories. He understood illustration to be the depiction of a scene as it may be observed with detachment. He set out to search for and express meanings, using both traditional and personal symbolism and all the possibilities offered by the techniques he used. He saw himself as not an artist with one technique and style, but as one who chose a style to be a fitting component of the depiction of the subject matter or theme.

Although his Christianity was formed in the Methodist tradition, his choice of religious themes was not confined to that of Protestant art (Rembrandt was an important artist for him), and he drew upon the visual traditions of Catholicism in European art and sought to re-interpret Indian religious iconography with Christian reference.

Mary Goes to Visit Elizabeth

The work Mary Goes to Visit Elizabeth (No. 24, Wray, p.173) is a good starting place because Wesley has written notes about the symbolism on the back. This serves as a guide to many other works also. The figure of Mary is in the centre of an almost circular shape of bright, flat vermilion colour, symbolising the creation, pregnant with the creator. The peacock behind her represents the glory of Christ. Mary is clothed in the events of the future. The design on her skirt shows angels, kings and shepherds. Her apron has a phoenix design, suggesting resurrection. The thatched home tells of humble origins, the golden sky of happiness in heaven. The trees, the banana and the mango, are symbols of fruitfulness, touched in gold to indicate God's presence. Each bird bears a meaning: the crane denotes asceticism, the jacana happiness, the parakeets joy and the doves holiness. The waves in the pond are formed to suggest a multitude of fish, an early Christian sign.

Perhaps the most controversial of Wesley's efforts at expressing the Christian faith in the Indian visual cultural traditions is Before Abraham was I am (No. 10, Wray, p.113), painted in 1949. At first glance it appears to be either Hindu or Buddhist iconography, the depicting of transcendent deity in a female form. “She is the perfection of inactive deity,” says Wray. “In her right hand is a delicate lotus bud, indicating that the deity is not yet in human form.” (Wray, p.112) Here the artist is starting from within the Indian tradition and placing within it the newness of the Christ, rather than asking those who are formed in the Indian religious imagination to accept the full importation of a European imagery for the Christian story. Wesley often spoke of his rejection for Asia of the “fair-haired, blue-eyed Jesus” image, which so often appeared in the publications brought by the missionaries. (There is a parallel in what some Australian indigenous Christians are attempting today when they draw on the rainbow serpent image as a Holy Spirit image, representing the presence of God in this land before the coming of the Gospel of Christ.)

* * *

Another example of Wesley's work that shows a Japanese influence is "Home in Nazareth."

Home at Nazareth

The perspective is Japanese, based on a print by Japanese graphic artist Hiroshige (Wesley lived for five years in Japan, studying art). Apparently this is one of the few times that a direct Japanese influence can be attributed to one of Wesley's paintings.

The 53 Stations of the Tokaido Road by Hiroshige

The holy family and various elements in the painting set it in India. And, of course, Jesus is blue, like Krishna, who is often portrayed in his child form.

Jan Peter Schouten writes, “When viewing this painting, a Hindu would without doubt think immediately of Krishna... the little, playful Krishna is a very specific figure within Hindu spirituality.” In this sense, Schouten writes, Wesley is portraying Jesus as an avatar like Krishna. An avatar is the Indian concept of the incarnation, when a god deliberately descends from higher spiritual realms to lower realms of existence for special purposes. However, there are differences between this and the biblical idea of incarnation, though I don't know them just yet! But by portraying Jesus as blue, as Schouten writes, “Wesley's Jesus is completely God from the very first moment of his life, just like Krishna.”

Jesus' forehead is shown in gold, with the knowledge of God's will. This is an interesting motif in many of Wesley's paintings of Christ (and his first use of it in this painting), which I think is a wonderful symbolic representation of his Godhood.

To read more about Wesley and to see the most exhaustive collection of his work and life, please purchase Frank Wesley: Exploring Faith With A Brush by Naomi Wray. (If you're seriously interested in getting a copy cheaper than those listed here, contact me and I'll see if the author still lives here in Asheville, NC, and has copies available). You can also view some small thumbnails of his work here and here.

2011-08-09T20:27:00.000-04:00

I continue to be bogged down by other responsibilities, while I try to prepare more blog posts. In the meantime: though not indigenous-made, I thought this was an interesting "Raven Cross" that references a contextualization of a Tlingit myth.

Here is a Northwest Coast version of the same Raven, by First Nation artist Todd Baker, which is accompanied by a description of the story:

2011-08-02T21:49:00.000-04:00

I've been a bit busy lately, hence the low post rate. I just finished a painstakingly short missions article called “Contextualizing Visual Arts in Communities Around the World" which, at 1,000 words, doesn't scratch the surface (or at least doesn't give adequate depth to the limited number of examples I found). In any case, I used some information from this blog, and some new research and contacts to write about three examples of contextualized nonwestern Christian art. I'll soon be posting about all three of them, one of which will be an update to a previous post. In addition, I plan to post a book review about an Australian indigenous artist. So stay tuned!

In the meantime, enjoy this close-up of the Maori face of Christ from a church altar that I used previously in this post.

The Lost World of Genesis

2011-07-18T19:55:00.003-04:00

Here's a link to the second part of an interesting interview with John Walton, professor of Old Testament at Wheaton College. In the interview, Walton discusses his book, The Lost World of Genesis One: Ancient Cosmology and the Origins Debate, and his idea that the the creation of the universe and the Garden of Eden were closely related to Solomon's Temple, in the sense that the Temple was a model of the cosmos. He posits that the creation account in Genesis 1 is a description of function (in terms of temple use) rather than a description of the material universe, i.e., the young earth creationist viewpoint. He relates this idea of creation and the cosmic temple to the other ancient cultures of the Bible, in how their temples were set up and used, as well as their shared symbolism.

I wrote a series of four posts that explored both the shared and contrasting symbolism in the temples of the Ancient Near East (including ancient Israel) as examples of God's use of contextualization in the Bible. God took the existing temple structure of Israel's pagan neighbors, incorporated that symbolism which was "true" of himself-- the real Creator of the cosmos-- and combined it with new elements that contrasted who he was with pagan gods.

In my posts, however, I did not explore the cosmic symbolism of Solomon's temple, which Walton's book seems to explore at length. My post on the Edenic symbolism of Solomon's temple was based in large part on The Temple and the Church's Mission by G. K. Beale. Beale also explores this cosmic symbolism and discusses its relation to Solomon's temple and the temples of Israel's pagan neighbors (the entire book does not focus on this, however). I did not include this cosmic angle in my series due to length and time, but it's well worth your time.

Since I haven't actually read Walton's book, I can't comment on it directly. I have, however, read parts of a commentary that he contributed to called The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testatment, which I own and have enjoyed. Walton states that we as present day followers of God must remember that the Bible was "written for us, but not to us," and therefore we must understand the context in which its various books were written in order to properly understand their meaning. I would agree, but with a caveat at least when it comes to the creation account in Genesis 1: many passages in the Bible have both a present application for the initial hearers, as well as a future (and different) application to those who will come later, such as Isaiah 7:14 (although the creation account in Genesis 1 is not a prophetic text per se).

I agree with Walton that we should understand Genesis' creation account in the light of ancient Near Eastern cultures, but I don't think that this primary understanding negates a secondary purpose that seeks to summarize the material origins of the universe. I reject the idea that the creation account in Genesis should only be taken metaphorically and not literally. I believe it should be taken both ways, not one over the other (click here for a review that better summarizes my point). I understand that Genesis 1 was not meant to be a technical manual on how the universe was created, but it documents it nevertheless. This gives scientists a starting point for further research. Symbolically (like Revelation), it also gives the rest of us (and scientists too) a foundation for understanding who God is, and who we are meant to be in light of that wonderful understanding. Lastly, as this blog seeks to investigate, it gives us further examples of how we might use biblical truths found in indigenous cultures to explain the Truth of who God is and what he has done for all of us through Jesus.

Maori Baptismal Font

2011-07-13T22:09:00.000-04:00

I just came across this article about an interesting Maori-carved baptismal font in an Anglican Church in New Zealand. Although it was created for a western-style church, the meaning of the carvings is an interesting attempt to use Maori spiritual motifs for a Christian context. I'm not sure if it is a successful example of contextualized art or not. I'd be inclined to say not, because it wasn't created for a Maori Christian context and seams to be more syncretistic than contextualized. But it looks really cool, and I think it was a noble attempt. Take a look and let me know what you think!

Book Review: Aboriginal Church Paintings

2011-06-20T15:05:00.004-04:00

I recently came across a couple of articles on the web (here and here) that mentioned a new book called Aboriginal Church Art: Reflecting on Our Faith by Eugene Stockton and Terence O'Donnell. So, of course, I immediately emailed the publisher (no online ordering site) and ordered a copy by check. The publisher's representative was very helpful and sent a copy from Australia straight away.

The book is a paperback of only 45 pages in length, but has scores of color reproductions of paintings in various Aboriginal Catholic churches around Australia (on the cover is a painting by Richard Campbell). Most of the reproductions are clear, though no sizes are given. The primary author/editor, Eugene Stockton, is a Catholic priest who holds a degree in sacred scriptures, as well as having extensively studied archaeology, anthropology and social issues. He believes that the heart of Australian spirituality lies in Aboriginal spirituality, particularly in the form of Aboriginal meditation called "dadirri." Dadirri is "a form of contemplation, conducted in a bush setting, around the campfire or at ceremony. It combines ‘inner deep listening, quiet, still awareness…and waiting'." Stockton suggests that "the word ‘wonder’ is the single English word which most closely approximates to ‘dadirri’. Wonder recaptures the sense, long suppressed and long forgotten, of the wild-eyed child who once explored his/her new world." I wonder (no pun intended) what this would look like if combined with the biblical concept of meditation on Scripture.

Aboriginal Church Art has nine chapters, plus an introduction by Stockton in which he describes the basic components of Aboriginal art, as well as a helpful categorization of religious art into four categories based on the intended purpose of the artist(s). I thought it was interesting to learn that the artwork in the book

came about as local initiatives for the local community. They were not the initiative of non-indigenous minsters (missionary priests or nuns), nor were they meant to impress non-indigenous visitors... They fit in to the category of proclamation, to educate or edify the congregation (p. 8).

In addition, the individuals and groups of artists who created these paintings

have shown in painting, rather than in words, how they have thought [their beliefs] out for themselves, linking ideas in new connections that could not have come from a non-indigenous minister nor from Western culture in general. This was effected by the daring and novel juxtaposition of significant symbols (p. 9).

Whenever possible, the descriptions of the art's meaning and inconography are taken directly from the artists themselves.

The author indicates that a common theme in both traditional Aboriginal art and the Christian examples in the book is timelessness, as found in Orthodox icons, which have been "described as 'windows on eternity'" (p. 9). Likewise, Stockton writes that "when an old [Aboriginal] man paints his dreaming... although there is a linear movement in the story, the action is out of time, in an 'everywhen' as Stanner phrased it" (p. 9). Stockton goes on to write that "these tableaux biblical types... are juxtaposed by apparently linear, story-like development, but stand back with a static, timeless quality. They are true, not just then, but always to the gaze of the contemplator" (p. 10). He seems to be saying that this idea of timelessness does not deny, but transcends, the historicity of the biblical narrative, bringing the eternal truths found in the historical accounts into the present life of the viewer.

For non-aboriginals Christians like me, a comment quoted in the book that I found informative was by Sister Alice Dempsey, who said

'I, as a white viewer, see the painting as dead; but for them it is alive.' She agreed that the difference is like viewing a map, which on the one hand for most people is in two dimensions, whereas for the bushwalker it is in three: he, consulting the contours of the map, is already feeling the topography of the terrain he is about to encounter.

Chapters one through seven each describe artwork at a different Aboriginal Catholic church. Chapter eight discusses an example of historic Aboriginal rock art and the Christian-based religious movement that inspired it, which began in the 19th century and resulted in a syncretistic movement that lasted into the late 20th century, if not till the present. Chapter nine describes the history of Rainbow Spirit theology, a more recent Aboriginal expression of biblical theology, which was first articulated in the book Rainbow Spirit Theology, and visualized in The Rainbow Spirit in Creation (see my blog post about both books here). Opposite from the table of contents is a map of Australia showing the locations mentioned in each chapter. There is also a list of references at the end of the book.

I think the church whose artwork most impressed me was that of Kutjungka, Balgo. Much of the artwork here was painted on banners in the 1970's and 80's by a group of artists who were led by their Christian aboriginal elders (one of these elders produced a series of his own paintings in his personal style, which combined both traditional motifs with more modern aesthetics).

The Last Journey of Jesus

Unfortunately, I was unable to obtain permission to show the two paintings from this church that were my favorites, "Christmas" and "Exodus." However, there is another that I found online entitled "The Last Journey of Jesus" (p. 21). This painting has a lot of the same elements as the other two, though it also incorporates non-Aboriginal church symbols such as a chalice, thorns, nails and crosses. So, it's a bit more of a hybrid style, though beautiful nonetheless. The painting shows Jesus' journey from the Last Supper (lower left corner) to Golgotha and then resurrection from the tomb (lower middle edge). The authors describe this image as "a remarkable internalisation of the Paschal Mystery in the traditional guise of the Rainbow Serpent" (p. 21). In the book's introduction, Stockton writes that he suspects "that the Christian artists see in the Rainbow Serpent the traditional counterpart to the Christian Paschal Mystery, the journey through death to life, which Jesus the archetypal pathfinder set for all who would follow him" (p. 11).

The Creed

Another church image which grabbed my attention is at Nauiyu, Daly River, N.T. The church of St. Francis Xavier has been administered by the Indigenous Nauiyu Council since 1975. All of the paintings in the church are by Aboriginal elder and church member Miriam-Rose Ungunmerr-Baumann. She created a series of paintings illustrating the stations of the cross in her own personal figurative style. But the painting that really drew my gaze is "The Creed," a painting which is displayed on the front of the pulpit in the church (p. 25). It visually connects "the Creed with the ministry of the Word as in the Catholic liturgy." The painting is a visually dynamic image with multiple layers of meaning, shapes, line and color. For a complete explanation of all the visual elements, see p. 27 (or p. 35 of Dadirri: The Spring Within by Eileen Farrelly). I'll briefly share a couple of them here. The hand in the upper middle of the image is the hand of Christ, with a circle in the palm representing both the nail wound and the Eucharistic host. The central finger extends downward toward an oval shape that represents "a unity of God here among men... a small and fragile unity in the human sphere." I understand this to mean the unity of Christ's followers in the world (John 17:20-23), which additionally reflects the unity of the Trinity represented in the triangle shape at the bottom. Also, the cross-shaped dove at the top from which the hand emerges represents the Holy Spirit, and his sending of the the four Gospels (represented by the remaining four fingers of the hand) to all peoples throughout the world.

Top to Bottom: Calvary,
Resurrection, Pentecost

Lastly, I was intrigued by the "primal" paintings of Ellen Draper in the St. Pius Chapel, Moree (pp. 35-37). Apparently Draper is not a Christian, but created the paintings "with the knowledge of your [Christians'] version of God... with the love and understanding of our God Baiami... a lesson in mutual respect of our different beliefs" (p. 37). Stockton comments that

far from being naturalistic portrayals of historic persons, 'the inhabitants of Ellen Draper's paintings are in fact spirit-people. They belong to the Dreaming which is very real and which non-Aboriginal Christians might refer to as the Kingdom of God' (with which Ellen concurred) (p. 35).

Knowing this important background information, I have to say she did a great job in depicting various scenes from the Gospels. What all of this brings to my mind is how cultural imagery can mean different things to different viewers, depending on their background and identity. Having said this, I don't know if Draper is a member of the community of faith at St. Pius or elsewhere. Either way, I wonder how the community members who use the chapel interpret her paintings, and if they see clear reflections of the God of the Bible in them. I can only assume that they do, unless there is conflicting Aboriginal symbolism present in the paintings which I am not registering. If there isn't any sycretistic conflict in them (in the minds of believers), then I think they are artistically and culturally wonderful aids to celebrating God's love for the people of St. Pius, through both the depiction of the story of the Gospel, and through the blessing of cultural art forms for the use of glorifying God's work among them.

Overall, I found Aboriginal Church Art to be a very exciting collection of Christian Aboriginal art. I would love to know if there is anything comparable being done by Protestant Aboriginal artists, besides the examples in Ivan Jordan's book Their Way: Towards an Indigenous Walpiri Christianity (see one of the book's images in this post), which were created at the direction of white missionaries. Because of my lack of knowledge about Aboriginal art and culture (both traditional and Christian), it is hard for me to judge the level of "success" in combining the Gospel with Aboriginal art and culture represented in Aboriginal Church Art. However, many of them appear to me to be very biblically-based.

What also inspires me is that these images have been produced by Aboriginals themselves as expressions of their faith and understanding of God's Word. And regardless of how their faith and understanding may differ from mine, it is good to see them "owning" their faith and being able to relate to Christ in ways which glorify Him through heartfelt expressions of cultural praise.

Aboriginal Church Paintings: Reflecting on Our Faith is $20 per copy (incl postage and handling) and is available by writing to:

Blue Mountain Education and Research Trust

254 Great Western Highway

Lawson NSW 2783
Ph 02 4759 1034
Fx 02 4759 3654
E olon@tpg.com.au

The Tree of Life

2011-06-14T21:20:00.003-04:00

I'm working on a review of a book on Aboriginal church art, and am trying to get images from the book to include in the review. In my search I came across this image, which can be found here (scroll to the bottom of the page). I think it's a great painting with some wonderful Gospel symbolism. Here's the description:

This painting in the Cathedral is by Miriam-Rose Ungunmerr-Bauman. She was asked to paint a picture to go with her talk called 'Dadirri', meaning silence or stillness. It was the time when the saltwater crocodiles lay their eggs in the mounds they have prepared along the river banks or in the swamps amongst the cane grass.

The painting is in three parts. The upper part depicts nature, which is our calendar. It tells us when to hunt for fruits, yams, animals, reptiles, fish or birds. By looking at certain flowers that are blossoming, or which way the wind is blowing, we know what to look for and gather.

The bottom of the painting is ourselves. The circles and lines mean that we have been washed with Jesus' blood coming from the paperbark chalice. The yam under the cross is Jesus' body. The cross means that Jesus died for our sins and rose to life again. At the top of the cross there are flames coming from fire sticks. Jesus is the light of the world.

The tree in the middle represents the Aboriginal people. Pope John Paul II said to them: 'You are like a tree standing in the middle of a bushfire sweeping through the timber. The leaves are scorched and the tough bark is scarred and burned, but inside the tree the sap is still flowing and under the ground the roots are still strong.' When the wet season sets in and the rain comes, the tree grows and blossoms. The storm winds come too. The white lines on each side of the tree are the water and wind representing the Holy Spirit.

God as Artist: Expressions of Goodness « Cross-Cultural Impact for the 21st Century

2011-05-31T21:49:00.000-04:00

Here is an interesting blog post from Mark Naylor at Cross Cultural Impact in the 21st Century, on the topic of God as artist. I think the last paragraph has some subtle implications for contextualization of the arts (as well as for us as we represent Jesus to everyone we meet). I like the paraphrase of John 1:14 that he includes from The Message towards the end of the post: "The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood." With that in mind, here's something for visual artists to think about vis a vis the contextualization of the Gospel in indigenous art forms: what would it look like if, when the Word moves into a neighborhood (within the heart of you or me), he/she is an artist instead of a carpenter? What it look like to "speak" through the artistic language of the people there? How would Jesus do it? Food for thought.

The Son and the Crescent

2011-05-23T18:35:00.001-04:00

While I work on future blog posts, take a look at this interesting article in Christianity Today. It explores the debate over whether or not to use the phrase "Son of God" in Bible translations for followers/potential followers of Jesus among Muslim populations:

The Son and the Crescent | Christianity Today | A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction

And along those lines, in June the Presbyterian Church of America (one of which I attend) is going to be discussing/debating this very topic, within the larger subject of "insider movements" and contextualization in missions:

http://jonesiv.com/2011/05/17/contextualization-in-foreign-missions/

This blog post also contains links to pro and con views of insider movements.

Indonesian Christian Shadow Puppets

2011-05-17T22:53:00.004-04:00

Today I'd like to discuss the Indonesian art form of Wayang, or shadow puppetry, and its use by Christians to express the Gospel. Much of my information for this post came from an article by Marzanna Poplawska for the Asian Theatre Journal. In order to download a copy of the article, I signed up for a free trial account on Questia, downloaded the article, and then cancelled the subscription. It's well worth a read.

First of all, I was surprised to learn that there are several variations of these puppets, which can be read about here and here. Wayang kulit, the most common form, is prevalent in Java and Bali. "Kulit" means "skin," ("wayang" = "shadow") and refers to the leather from which the puppets are constructed. Wayang puppetry seems to be no older than the arrival of Hinduism in Indonesia during the first century A.D., though there may have been a form of oral drama present before that. The first inscription mentioning wayang dates from 930 A.D. Most wayang stories are based on the Hindu epics Ramayana and Mahabarata. As time went on, wandering puppeteers (dalang) traveled from village to village to give performances, and to tell of news from the outside world. The dalangs were (and still are) held in high esteem by Indonesians. Most performances are spoken in classical Javanese and last a whole night or longer! Today, wayang performances are less frequent but are still an integral part of many Indonesian weddings and other traditional functions. They can also be seen at cultural centers, festivals and special performances for tourists.

As mentioned above, the wayang stories last for several hours and are performed at night from behind a sheet illuminated by a light. The shadows of the puppets are projected onto the sheet, and the audience watches from the other side. The dalang

plays the most important role in the performance as he operates all the puppets, performs all the narration and dialogue, sings the songs, and directs the musicians. He must be highly skilled to manipulate, direct, sing and story-tell; for example, if he is using both hands to hold puppets, he would use his foot to cue the signals to the musicians. [Batik ‘n Craft]

The performances are accompanied by a live Indonesian orchestra called a Gamelan, which accompanies dance and puppet performances, rituals or ceremonies.

A Catholic form of shadow theatre in central Java called wayang wahyu was created in 1960 by Brother Timotheus L. Wignyosoebroto as a way to communicate the stories and ideas in the Bible. His idea for creating wayang wahyu came after he saw "a performance of shadow theatre by M. M. Atmowijoyo, who presented a story taken from the Old Testament ("Dawud Mendapat Wahyu Kraton" [David receives divine revelation]), using ordinary wayang puppets. The story was in fact a modification of a story from the Mahabharata: 'Wahyu Cakraningrat.'" (Poplawska, p. 2). Brother Timotheus's use of wayang for the purpose of communicating stories and information fit into the historical tradition of the art form, because it had been used for centuries

first by sultans and later by the Indonesian government to spread their policies. Traditional wayang was also meant to provide ethical and moral education based on different religions and philosophies. However, this was always done in a nondogmatic and nontheoretic, often humorous way, that is, calling for an individual meditative approach, making choices for oneself, and looking for the best way of living life. The Christian Church adapted this philosophical and spiritual approach quite successfully. In this light, the special role undertaken by wayang wahyu to strengthen and broaden Catholic spirituality is quite understandable (Poplawska, p. 2).

Wayang wahyu performances tend to emphasize Old Testament stories, because they often involve more action than New Testament stories, though there are performances which portray the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.

The wayang wahyu performances are usually reserved for special occasions, such as Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost, or anniversaries of particular churches, Catholic schools, or universities. The local Catholic Church and/or individual Catholic sponsor the performances. Poplawska writes that "the performances of wayang wahyu are on the whole quite expensive, [and] therefore [are] not very often held. Their rarity is also caused by difficulty in gathering performers. There are only a few wayang wahyu dhalang, who are often busy with other activities" (Poplawska, p. 4).

Apparently the golden period of wayang wahyu was 1970-1990. After 1990, support for the art form began to decline among Catholics, and today "is known only in rather small Christian circles" (Poplawska, p. 5). But in the last few years the practitioners of wayang wahyu have redoubled their efforts to revive it from its decline. Their current organization is a foundation called Paguyuban Wayang Wahyu. A review of one of their performances can be found here, and a short video of another performance can be seen here:

Regarding wayang wahyu's future, Poplawska writes that it

seems to depend on the efforts of particular individuals: priests who are interested in traditional arts, artists who are Christian, and those interested in experimenting in diverse areas. It unquestionably constitutes one of the domains of creativity for Javanese artists of Christian and also non-Christian background. Wayang wahyu... is an example of the vitality of the traditional arts in Java, which unceasingly find new forms to manifest themselves. They are still developing, perhaps in directions unexpected and unforeseen by some of the early twentieth-century anthropologists, who lamented the annihilation of traditional cultures that was inevitable with the entry of Western religions and missionaries (Poplawska, p. 4-5).

Lastly, Poplawska mentions a Protestant form of wayang called wayang prajanjian. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any additional information about it online, but I did email Poplawska for information on obtaining a copy of her PhD dissertation, as well as any references about wayang prajanjian that she was aware of. Hopefully I'll get a response from her.

There is a Facebook page for wayang wahyu here, which has several photos of the puppets and performers.

UPDATE: Dr. Poplawska emailed me back and said her dissertation ("Christian music and inculturation in Indonesia") could be ordered at this site. Just copy and paste her last name into the author search field, and it will pull it up.

Sorry for the delay...

2011-05-10T22:06:00.001-04:00

I haven't been very a very productive blogger for the last couple of weeks! Unfortunately, I've had to postpone a couple of potential topics for various reasons, which has left me empty-handed for today's post. Not to mention that I've had spring fever since my last post and have been spending a lot of time working on the shade garden! I will try to redouble my efforts in the coming week and hopefully generate a new post in about a week.

In the meantime, here's a great audio link from the Anglican1000 website that was sent to me by my friend Marcia. It's a lecture by Tim Keller on contextualization, where he discusses why contextualization (of preaching, in his case) is necessary in expressing the Gospel and reaching those who need to hear it. Although he doesn't deal specifically with the arts, what he discusses would apply to them also. So I hope you will enjoy listening to it while I'm working on another post!

Here's the link: http://anglicanconnection.net/a1k/04_2011_A1K_Keller_P3.mp3
To download the mp3, right-click on the player itself and select "Save video as...".

A follow-up Q&A to the above lecture is here: http://anglicanconnection.net/a1k/05_2011_A1K_Keller_P3_QA.mp3
To download the mp3, right-click on the player itself and select "Save video as...".

Mehndi Gospel Art

2011-04-22T23:19:00.006-04:00

God's Promise to Abraham.
Mehandi and acrylic on canvas. 2010

On this Easter weekend, I hope you are well and will have a chance to reflect on God' passion, mercy and love for you. The resurrection is the event around which all of history and the universe revolves. It is our reason for hope and joy in a world deeply scarred and broken: "Behold, I make all things new" (Rev. 21:5). So with a heart full of gladness, I wanted to celebrate Easter with a post about an example of artistic contextualization that portrays the story of mankind's fall and God's desire to save and redeem us (see my previous post about contextualized henna here).

Today's post is an interview with Kimberly M. Stephens who recently returned from an assignment in South Asia. As her time there drew to a close, she created a public art exhibit entitled "A True Story." It was an exhibit of 19 paintings, acrylic and mehndi on canvas. Each painting tells a story from God's Word.

How did you get started overseas and how long have you been in your current location? What is the assignment of your team and what is your individual role on the team?
I have been on [various] trips since I was in middle school. However, my first international trip was in college to Tokyo, Japan. This trip solidified my calling overseas. My [most recent] term ended November 2010 and I was there for almost two years... We [worked in] slums, along with trainings among [locals].

What role (if any) did the arts play in your desire to serve overseas, or did the decision to utilize visual arts come to you after entering the field?
I went to the field under a creative arts assignment. Upon arriving, that did change, but my team was very creative arts minded, so we tried to incorporate the arts whenever we could.

What attracted you to mehndi? Are there other cultural art forms that you find intriguing?
Mehndi is such a unique and beautiful art form. I love its detail and intricacy.

Why did you decide to have an art show as a form of outreach, as opposed to another approach-- e.g., music, medicine, teaching, friendships, business, etc. (or are any of these part of your service already)? How did the opportunity come about to have the show?
Our main form of outreach was through relationships. A lot of our [activities] involved lower caste peoples and so we wanted to have [interaction] with high caste, as well, and our team really felt that the arts is a way to reach high caste people groups. Basically the art show was an experiment to see if this type of outreach would be effective.

Creation. 12x16
Mehandi and acrylic on canvas. 2010

How did you decide on a theme, number of paintings, subject matter and technique? Did you obtain art supplies locally, or elsewhere?
I picked stories, 18 total,... that could give an adequate survey of God’s Word. The exhibit began with Creation, followed by 5 stories from the Old Testament, 9 stories from the New Testament, 1 Psalm, and then one painting that conveyed Creation to Christ. I obtained all of my art supplies from a local art supply store.

In general, what was your process for creating the individual designs and layout for each painting? What factors determined whether or not to use scripture in a painting?
A fellow worker had worked with some nationals on creating a Mehndi storying book that would be used to actually draw on hands. Some of my designs were inspired by these designs, and some just came to me. The use of scripture in a painting was really just a style element. However, [regarding] the scripture that was used in certain paintings, I made sure that it told of God’s character and an important aspect of the particular story.

Birth of Jesus. Mehandi and acrylic on canvas. 2010

Most of the paintings are pretty abstract. Since the Incarnation is such a wild concept, I'd love to hear more about the imagery for “The Birth of Jesus.”
“Birth of Jesus” is probably the most abstract. Throughout the entire collection, if a sun-looking symbol is present, that is representative of God/Jesus. So, at the bottom you have Jesus (the sun) being born, the two peacocks facing each other represent that God and man can have a right relationship. The three symbols above the peacocks are the three gifts from the wise men. Then, the last symbol is the Star that pointed to Christ and that Jesus is the Light. There are a few words written that say “Light, Savior, Promise, and Know God.”

What was the response to your art show, both from believers and nonbelievers? Did nationals seem to accept the way you manipulated and reinterpreted the use of mehndi designs?
The art show was very well received. Most could not believe 1- that is was actually mehndi and 2- that a foreigner created it. Many people said they had never seen anything like this before. Many felt proud that a foreigner would take the time to learn their art and develop it in such a way.

What is your opinion about the use of contextualized visual arts among nonwestern believers-- e.g., in worship, personal devotion, individual artistic expression, etc.? Do you see it as dangerous (possibly leading to syncretism), or as a positive way for them to express themselves and their love for God? Have you run into any of these issues during your time in south Asia?
I think contextualization, as long as it does not cross any biblical lines, is key... I think it’s important for people to keep their culture when possible, because it can bring more people to the Truth.

Bleeding Woman (detail).
Mehandi and acrylic on canvas. 2010

If you had to do the mehndi art show all over again, would you have done anything differently? In your experiences so far of using art in overseas, what practices or attitudes have you changed along the way?
I would like to have a better method of follow-up. Maybe even have a time where people could ask questions and have discussion.

Do you have any other plans or dreams for using contextualized arts?
I am currently praying about and working towards developing an organization that creates jobs and provides adequate wages for slum people. I am currently working on a line of mehndi products (paintings, clocks, lamps, stationery, journals, jewelry). Many Indians already know the art of mehndi, because it is so prevalent in their culture. Even if they don’t know or want to do the mehndi aspect, they could work on the product side. My vision is to have an organization that provides outreach, discipleship, and fair trade.


A True Story. Mehandi and acrylic on canvas. 2010

Artist Profile: Watanabe Sadao

2011-04-04T17:31:00.013-04:00

The Prodigal Son

Japanese Christian artist Watanabe Sadao (1913–1996) was a textile artist who worked in the katazome technique of stenciling and dyeing, which he learned while studying under master artist Serizawa Keisuke (1895-1984). Keisuke had originally been trained in graphic design, but later became very involved in the mingei movement, which sought to recognize the beauty and significance of Japanese folk art of various media. Keisuke studied under Yanagi Soetsu (1889-1961), the founder of the mingei movement. Soetsu and his associates had scoured Japan for the finest examples of Japanese folk art of various media and in 1936 created the Japan Folk Craft Museum in Tokyo in which to display them. Anne H. H. Pyle writes that Soetsu's

concept of mingei folk art consisted of objects made by hand from natural materials in sufficient number to serve or to be used by the masses of people daily, and he argued that “it was because they were used that they were beautiful” (p. 21).

Watanabe Sadao entered the museum in 1937 to see an exhibition of Keisuke's prints. At age 17 Sadao had become a Christian and was baptized. Prior this event, his life had been a sad one because his father had died when he was ten. Then he had to quit school after his father's death to help support his mother. After a bout with tuberculosis in his teens, he was apprenticed to a dyer's shop, where he began to learn the technique of designing and dyeing patterns for kimonos and obis. He also loved to study and draw traditional Japanese and Okinawan designs in his spare time.

Watanabe Sadao (left) with his teacher
Serizawa Keisuke taken in front of
The Story of Ruth (1947), at the
Japan Folk Art Museum.

But as Sadao's life continued, he moved aimlessly from one dreary, low-paying job to another, continuing to work mostly in dyer shops. It wasn't until he saw the exhibition of Keisuke's prints that he finally found his professional calling in life. He soon joined a study group of like-minded individuals led by Keisuke and began to learn the katazome technique of stenciling and dyeing. This technique was very similar to the professional training he had already gained in his dyeing work. Pyle writes that Sadao's

study with Serizawa presented a way to merge his faith with his artistic talent using the direct and simple folk art approach, which he believed came closest to the heart of his people. As Watanabe himself recalled, the mingei philosophy with its “artistic sense of the common people that puts aside display and ostentation, is simple in its tastes, and concentrates on what is really useful in the work and lives of people,” made a deep impression on him... Watanabe interpreted Yanagi’s [Buddhist] philosophy in the light of his own faith. He believed that if his work resulted in beauty and usefulness, it was because of the grace of God shining through the natural materials he used. Through this succession of events, Watanabe’s artistic career came to be a unique combination of Japanese folk art and Christian affirmation (p. 22-23).

The Story of Ruth

Sadao entered The Story of Abraham in a Tokyo exhibition in 1943. As the final round of judging approached, his mentor Seriwaza told him to withdraw it because it seemed to him "imcomplete." Sadao did so, trusting his teacher's instincts. Later, in 1947 Sadao entered The Story of Ruth in a national exhibition of folk art at the first Folk Art Museum, where it won the museum's first ever prize. Serizawa was pleased. A year later the same print received the prestigious Kokugakai award from the Japanese Print Association.

Despite his talent and skill, the growth of Sadao's reputation was a slow one. After World War II, a debate began among the arts community of Japan as to what constituted “fine art” and “applied art” or craft (due to the growing influence of western art criticism). Because Sadao's work straddled the division between the two, he had some difficulty getting his work into subsequent shows that showcased one category or the other. After 1956 he never again received and award for his art in Japan.

The Bronze Serpent

Listening

Nevertheless, in 1958 his international recognition increased when he received first prize for The Bronze Serpent at New York City's Modern Japanese Print Exhibition. This print showed the stylistic influence of another major mingei artist and leader, Zen
Buddhist wood-cut artist Munakata Shiko. Then in 1962 author James Michener included Sadao's Listening (Kiku) in his book The Modern Japanese Print, Michener's tribute to the Japanese art form. Sadao said that Listening was his first print where he used color successfully!

Sadao's deepest desire was to reach his fellow Japanese with the message of the Gospel, in a form that was fully Japanese. This was one of the primary reasons he chose the art form he did, as well as for depicting the biblical subject matter in fully Japanese cultural settings. As his life progressed, the process of creating his art became a form of worship, inspired by his daily study of the Bible. He continued to fuse the influences of Keisuke and Shiko into his own style.

In spite of becoming one of Japan's greatest national artists, he received very little recognition from his countrymen or fellow Christians, who have never comprised more than 1% of the modern population. Pyle concludes that "it is ironic that from one of Japan’s most deeply rooted indigenous art forms came the work of its greatest Christian artist" (p. 29). Perhaps one day, the artistic and spiritual seeds that God planted through Watanabe Sadao will grow and bear fruit in the hearts of the Japanese people.

Lamentation Over the Body of Christ

For more on this great artist, please read the full text of Anne H. H. Pyle's informative article, which includes more about the man, his technique, and descriptions of the prints listed here (as well as others). To see images of his work, check out the following websites:

SadaoHanga Catalogue
Scriptum Modern Japanese Prints
Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Idols

2011-03-21T17:24:00.009-04:00

Last week I was reading Isaiah 46:1-7 where God is speaking about the idols of Babylon and how powerless they are. Along with the passage, I was also reading John N. Oswalt's commentary The Book of Isaiah. His note on verses 5-7 caught my eye:

...Isaiah is not denying that the deity could be more than the idol. He is simply saying that once a deity is associated with an idol, then it is impossible for that deity to be genuinely independent of creation. The continuity with creation defines the deity's identity and forges its limitations. It cannot be independent from history and cannot, therefore, deliver from history (p. 231).

I found this interesting because I've read that pagan idols are not considered to be gods themselves, but rather a "dwelling place" for the spirit of the god. Therefore, the Bible seems to be missing that point when it speaks against idol worship by focusing on the idols themselves. Here Oswalt contends that God (through Isaiah) not only recognizes this fact but in so doing implies another reason to turn away from idols: if the god that indwells them must rely on human beings to create a dwelling place for them, then they are ultimately powerless anyway. I had never thought about idols in this way before. Perhaps that is why in other passages God questions the whole idea of erecting a temple for him, such as in Isaiah 66:1-3 where he tells us that “ 'Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house you will build for me? Where will my resting place be? Has not my hand made all these things, and so they came into being?' declares the LORD."

In the Incarnation, God did appear among us in physical form, by creating a body for himself without the help of human artists. In doing so, he offers yet another proof that he stands outside of human limitations and is limitless in power. In terms of contextualizing visual arts, then, one must be careful when it comes to the idea of creating 2D or 3D representations of the Godhead (Father, Son, Spirit) for use in worship. I don't know enough about the use of divine images in the worship practices of other religions, but my initial thoughts would be that any visual representations of God should be reserved for teaching purposes or discipleship, not as an object of worship. This is in contrast to the use of icons in Orthodox and Catholic churches, where icons (in the Orthodox church, I've read) are anointed with oil and then the Holy Spirit is asked to "descend" upon the icon so that God is literally present with the worshiper. Inside the Tabernacle and Temple, multiple images of both plants and cherubim were used extensively, but nothing was used to represent God himself-- only his throne, the Ark of the Covenant.

The Last Supper

2011-03-12T23:15:00.001-05:00

Here's a great image that combines both Persian and Thai art styles, by Thai artist Thammasak Aueragsakul, aka *Tigermyuou. Unfortunately, his English description of the painting is a bit hard to understand, but you can download the image for your desktop (by clicking the image above or here). His other work consists of both realistic and anime images, all of which is also excellent. You can also find the artist's email contact on his profile page.

In the painting you can see Judas to the right of Jesus, with money bag in hand (foreshadowing) as he leaves to betray Him. On the far left is a beautiful peacock, and a horned animal. In the lower front left are two men carrying a Passover lamb. The detail in the arches, carpet and clothing is spectacular.

So, do you consider this image an example of the Accomodation/Kernel and Husk method, or the Inculturation/Onion method of visual contextualization (or a combination of both)?

Enjoy!

Elmer Yazzie, Navaho Artist

2011-03-05T17:48:00.004-05:00

Elmer Yazzie is a Navaho Christian who has been painting and teaching about art and faith for 35 years. The son of a reformed minister, he was born on the Navaho reservation in Shiprock, New Mexico, and is a member of the "Where Two Waters Meet" clan. Yazzie's sixth grade teacher at Rehoboth Christian School recognized his artistic abilities and gave him some art supplies to begin him on his journey as an artist.

Throughout his school years, Yazzie continued to paint and gave away some of his work as gifts. After high school, he attended Calvin College in Michigan where he obtained a B.A. in Art Education. Upon graduation in 1976, he returned to Rehoboth Christian School where he began his teaching career.

Yazzie's art combines the spirituality of the Diné, or Navaho, with his Christian faith ("Diné" means "The People'). In light of this, he says that there is no word in the Diné language for "artist." Rather, art and Diné culture are so enmeshed that to separate art, artists or spirituality from the rest of life is absurd to him. Yazzie simply defines art as "the way to live," which must be done so as to please God.

The Teacher

In his art work, Yazzie paints with handmade brushes fashioned from the yucca plant, much as native artists have done for centuries in the southwest. "I use the male yucca to do watercolors," he says. "I think maybe I'm the only one who uses these brushes professionally." A Navaho Neighbors magazine article says that Yazzie

reflects on his Navajo heritage and the things he learned about the traditional elements of his culture. “The hogan, the cradle board, the loom, and the basket all have stories and meaning for life. It’s a combination of that influence along with the scripture and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that leads me as I paint."

S-U-C-C-E-S-S

Yazzie considers his artistic talents and interests to be a calling from God: "To be blessed with talent is one thing; to use that talent to express the inspirations of God is another thing. To understand how to explain these inspirations through word and visual imagery is humbling. It is special to be chosen to be an artist." Yazzie continues, "What the artist is or does has to do with spiritual work. Artists are more like healers—our work can be therapy for ourselves and for others."

Active Body

But for many years, Yazzie didn't understand what it meant to be called by God to make art. "I had the skill, and I had the understanding, but I didn't have a real experience with the inspiration," he says. "I think that's the critical part. I didn't totally understand what it meant to be 'chosen.' " In 1981, while working on the first of many mural projects over his career, he began to understand: "[I was] doing it for the love of the whole project, and [I] knew Who it was for." He continues: "You've got to recognize that when you've experienced inspiration, your work is worship. Sometimes when I paint I start making up my own songs, and I'll start to pray and talk about how I see God in the painting. I'll tell God out loud why I'm going to do this or that. This is so the Evil One can hear... I want to make him jealous."

Yazzie bases the divine calling to artists on the example of Bezalel in Exodus 31:1-11. Bezalel was named by God to create the furnishings for the Tabernacle. As a sign of this calling, Bezalel was described by God as being filled with the Spirit, having understanding and skill in all kinds of crafts. Yazzie writes that "Bezalel was inspired by God to create unique works so that the people could have visual reminders of God and God's work. Inspiration took place, creativity followed, and uniqueness was the result."

Yazzie carries this concept even further with his students:

“I encourage my students to look at the characteristics of God and try to understand who He is as an artist. In Ephesians 2:10 we read that, ‘We are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works that He has prepared in advance for us.’ “Then I read the creation story and realize that everything was created with His voice except human life. It says God formed human life out of the dust of the earth. He took His hands and created us. We are His masterpiece. Each one of us is unique, one of a kind. Whether we like it or not we all have artistic characteristics within us and God wants us to contribute to the world just as Jesus Christ did. As God’s masterpiece, we too, can contribute uniquely to our world."

Yazzie's paintings range in style from "sky-scapes" of contextualized Diné elements, to more realistic images of landscapes or people. Unfortunately, I found few in-depth explanations of his work (an exception is "Success" shown above), but there are some short descriptions offered along with this selection of his images. You can see some of his other work here and here. Thanks to Paul Neeley for the heads up on Elmer Yazzie!

Mandana Painting in India

2011-02-24T16:10:00.001-05:00

I've been on a bit of a hiatus lately while working on some artwork on a deadline. So today's post is a bit short, but about an interesting art form nonetheless.

Kim McManis, a member of my church told me about this art form, so I thought I would look it up and see what I could find out. She spent several years as a missionary in India and Bangladesh, and saw this form of painting while she was there. It's called Mandana painting, a type of wall and floor painting by the women of the Meena, one of the oldest tribal communities residing in eastern Rajasthan and parts of Madhya Pradesh in India (for more cultural background on the Meena, click here). The tradition is passed down generationally from mother to daughter. When asked why they make these paintings, the women reply, "It feels good to make them." The paintings are usually made as an expression of joy in conjunction with various festivals and seasons of the year.

The walls or floors are first covered with a mixture of red clay and cow dung. Then the images are painted on with white chalk, sometimes along with red ochre, using brushes made from local bamboo. Most of the subject matter consists of geometric shapes and designs, plants, flowers and animals (both real and imaginary), and sometimes religious imagery (I couldn't find anything specific on that, except for this image that appears to be Ganesha). Some of the animals are actual species from the past that no longer live in the surrounding area. The most popular motif is the peacock. In some cases, colored glass, beads, mirrors and stones are also used to decorate these paintings.

In 2009 a book about Mandana painting was published, called Nurturing Walls. The book includes photos of the artists, as well as some of the designs reproduced on a handmade paper that resembles the color of Meena buildings. The book "focuses on a favorite theme of the female artists: animals and their young. Women teach their daughters to paint the mud walls of their homes, keeping time to festivals and changing seasons... Full-color photographs capture the richness of the artists’ lives, making the form of this book as unusual as the art it re-creates." You can find a good review of the book here.

For additional images of mandana paintings, click here.

Interview with Contextualizaton Pastor Cody C. Lorance

2011-02-08T21:34:00.002-05:00

This week I'm featuring an interview with Cody C. Lorance, the Senior Pastor and Church Planting Leader for Trinity International Baptist Mission, currently serving in the Chicago metro area among immigrant peoples (Chicago Metro Baptist Association). Cody is an eloquent and enthusiastic supporter of contextualized ministry among nonwestern cultures, and the author of Ethnographic Chicago: Considering College Students And Ethiopian & Tamilian Immigrants Missiologically. He has a very informative blog, The Ramblings, in which he covers many topics, including contextualization in his ministry and beyond. I recommend that you check it out. In the meantime, here is an interview I conducted with Cody via email:

How long have you been involved in missions, and how did you get involved?
I’ve been involved in full-time Christian ministry since 1997, but my involvement in missions began before that – in high school. As a new Christian, I attended a small church that offered a mission education program for the youth girls. At some point, the leader of this group actually invited me to be a part of it. I resisted because I didn’t want to be the only boy in the group, but she insisted that it was okay and that it would be good for me.

The next few years, I became immersed in stories of missionaries serving around the world, memorizing Scripture related to missions, and reading biographies. On the monthly basis, we would participate in “mission actions” – small, local service projects designed to meet needs and glorify Christ.

Over time, the Lord used this to bend my heart towards service and missions. Then at a national convention for the “all girls except me” missions education organization, I sensed a definite call from God to cross-cultural missions. I didn’t at all know what it would look like, but I surrendered to the calling and began to pursue obedience to it. My first international excursions were several month-long trips to France working among North African Muslims. Met my wife on the first of these. Gradually, missions became a greater and greater emphasis for me and my professional ministry started shifting more and more that direction. From youth ministry to international college pastor to church planter among diaspora peoples.

Who is the primary focus of your mission efforts?
I lead a mission team and network of ministries that are all more or less focused on reaching out to diaspora peoples. The work has begun in the Chicago area (USA) but is venturing out more and more as we follow the natural networks of the diaspora communities with which we work. Trinity International Baptist Mission is the name of our organization. We often describe it as part-church, part-church planting mission agency. But we are fully committed to reaching all nations with the hope and wholeness of Jesus Christ. Personally, I have a huge heart for Hindu peoples living in diaspora and have fallen deeply in love with Nepalis especially. My personal, day-to-day field work is among them.

What style of contextualized worship services do you lead in your ministry, and what are the fundamental differences between this format and typical American Protestant worship services?

I pastor a Nepali-language church in the Chicago area in which we pursue contextualization. I also help to lead a Hindi-speaking worship service that is quite similar. In terms of fundamental differences, the most obvious between our Nepali church and the English-speaking one that meets down the hall in the same building is our intentional engagement of all the senses in worship.

Generally speaking, a typical American protestant church seeks to engage the sense of hearing (through preaching, singing, readings, and prayers) and taste (through the Lord’s supper). Sight also is engaged but this is often less intentional (a cross at the front, a few flowers or fake trees, perhaps a slide show). We’ve taken sight further in creating a number of important visual elements intended to promote reflection, meditation, and worship. Also, we engage the sense of smell through the use of incense. In terms of touch, we seek to often engage people in full, physical response during the bible teaching times. Very often, our congregants are intentionally caught up into the story. They put on make-shift costumes, hold props, and act out the story.

American visitors tend to also quickly notice the use of Sanskrit Mantras in our worship. The chanting catches them off guard and sometimes offends them. However, all of the mantras have been carefully conceived so that they faithfully express a Biblical worldview while also capturing the beauty of the art form.

What type of visual symbols or objects do you use in worship? How are these related to the worshipers' home cultures or religious background, and how are they new or different? What are their roles in worship?
There really are a lot, and we’re not where I want us to be yet. My hope is that one day, a person could simply sit in our worship room and be discipled – just by looking around. I draw some of this inspiration from visiting Roman Catholic cathedrals. I love the way stain glass, paintings, and more were used to communicate stories and theology to people. Hindu temples seek to do this as well. It makes sense.

For us, we are limited by budget and space. Still there are a lot of things we do and we try to be intentional with as much as possible. Colors are not only chosen for aesthetic value, but also because of what they communicate. The room is yellow, a color associated with sacredness in Nepal and often with Heaven among Christians. Garlands of colorful flowers and green leaves speak of life, holiness, blessings. In the front is an altar and is carefully designed. Crosses, candles, and incense sticks are numbered in threes to speak of the Trinity. Candles speak of the light of Christ and illumination of the Spirit. Incense points to the prayers of the saints. We change out the colors used for the altar covering at different points of the year. Greens, browns, earth tones to signify the life of Christ, deep purple as we move into Lent and Easter mourning and repenting, gold after the resurrection, orange as we move towards Diwali to symbolize the victory of holiness over evil and light over darkness, and red during Christmas – a color of auspiciousness for Nepalis to mark the festive season. Taken together, the intention is to create a sense of sacred space.

There are also examples of special occasions in which different kinds of visual symbols/objects are used. At Dashain, we distribute backed of rice grains dyed red. During the week of the festival, our people will mix the rice with water or yogurt to create a paste that they will apply to younger family members’ foreheads as a symbol of blessing. The symbol has been used in Nepal for a long time, but we have reinterpreted it in a Christocentric way. The red represents the blood of Christ and the rice grains the seed of our faith in Christ. When applying the “tikka” to someone, we have created a Sanskrit mantra version of the Fruit of the Spirit. Basically, praying that through faith in Christ, the fruit of the Spirit will grow in the life of the person. There is more to it, but perhaps you get the general idea.

Life-cycle events are also very important to Nepalis, so we’re in the process of designing ceremonies to use during births, marriages, deaths, etc that point people to Christ. Recently, I performed by first Christocentric Namkaran. This is a baby-naming ceremony. I will not get into all the details, but want to share just one. I began the ceremony by creating a kind of “rangoli” or “yantra” on the floor where the ceremony was to take place. This is a geometric design made with rice flour. I basically drop the flour from my hand in intersecting lines to create a large image. The image itself points north, south, east, west, nw, sw, ne, se (“every direction”). At the end of each line another design is created of either a purna kalash (full water pot) or a flower. Actual water pots and plates of rice are then placed on each line end. As I create the design, I explain that God is omnipresent. That the Bible teaches that we cannot go anywhere where He is not. I explain that the water pots, flowers, and rice remind us that God desires to bless those who trust in him. Now, this message is especially powerful to diaspora peoples who feel scattered and alone.

Do you see contextualized visual art of any kind as having a role in the life, worship and faith of nonwestern believers? If so, how?

Absolutely. See above. Let me add that particularly among oral learners, the visual arts are critical means of communicating our faith. Westerners have traditionally been pretty unintentional about things happening visually in worship. Often these unintentional forms are communicated to non-Western believers who are used to such things having a rather significant meaning even if they don’t know what the meaning is. Spiritual significance is sometimes assumed in the wearing of a tie by the pastor, in printing Bibles with black leather covers, in the shape, size and placement of the pulpit, and more. We should be very careful in cross-cultural mission about what our faith LOOKS like. Christ didn’t look foreign in Galilee. We should imitate him.

In your opinion, can contextualization of visual art, music, etc., lead to a fragmentation within the body of Christ? Why or why not?
I want to put it differently. I don’t believe that contextualization leads to fragmentation. I think poor theology and weak Biblical understanding does. I think the division happens when Christians fail to recognize that unity in Christ doesn’t require external conformity. A certain level of theological conformity is needed, yes. At TIBM, we hold up the Lausanne Covenant as a sufficient ground for unifying and partnering in the body of Christ. However, to demand that we all dress the same, eat the same, listen to the same music, pray in the same way, etc – this goes well beyond the Scripture. I suppose that there are those who are into contextualization who are unapologetically and intentionally very divisive, but I don’t know any of them. My experience has always been in the opposite direction. None of the believers in my contextualized fellowship have any trouble calling our “non-contextualized” counterparts fellow Christ-followers. Going the other direction, however, is a very different story.

Do you see contextualized visual arts being utilized currently among missionaries, or by indigenous believers anywhere worldwide? What is your opinion of what you've heard or seen?
Yes, but much more must be done. Historically, we’ve encouraged Christian musicians and speakers, but not visual artists. This must be done more. Creativity is a gift from our Creator and we must fan it into flame in the Church. I think we also have to be careful to pursue contextualization in this. I have a book on my shelf that supposedly presents a visual life of Christ contextualized for a Hindu audience. However, the artist was clearly trained in the West and influenced by Picasso. I had the opportunity to meet one of the cross-cultural workers who put the book together who confirmed these suspicions. Consequently, the imagery doesn’t really resonate with South Asians.

Thanks Cody!

Two Models of Visual Contextualization

2011-02-01T17:07:00.009-05:00

I recently came across a new book called That Man Who Came to Us by Sawai Chinnawong and Paul DeNeui. From the back cover:

That Man Who Came to Us tells the story of the life of Jesus Christ through traditional Thai art. Featuring black and white line drawings inspired by an art form born in northern and central Thailand, That Man tells the story of Christ as fully God, yet fully human. Artist Sawai Chinnawong employs the regions’ popular distinctive artistic style originally used to depict Buddhist moral principles and other religious themes.

That Man includes a very short sentence describing each of the 45 drawings, plus a Bible passage reference, in both English and Thai. In the back of the book are thumbnails of each drawing with a short description, including (in some cases) descriptions of cultural references in the artwork, which I found very interesting. For fans of Chinnawong's art, I'd also recommend The Christian Story: Five Asian Artists Today and Christ on the Bangkok Road: The Art of Sawai Chinnawong.

Sawai Chinnawong is a member of the faculty of Payap University at Chaing Mai, Thailand, and is a minister of the United Church of Christ in Thailand. He was born in Burma and moved to Thailand with his family as a young man. Formerly Buddhist, at age 23 he became a Christian while studying art in a vocational school in Bangkok.

Chinnawong's love for art began when he was a child in Thailand when he saw some old men painting on a Buddhist temple wall. He says he would watch them for hours each day. His interest in art persisted into adulthood and after entering seminary at Payap University, he began creating liturgical art and designed the artwork for the chapel there. His work has been exhibited in Asia, Sweden and the United States, and he was one of five artists chosen for the Summer of 2007 exhibition "The Christian Story: Five Asian Artists Today," held at the Museum of Biblical Art (MOBIA) in New York City in 2007.

This brings up an interesting discussion about the contextualization of visual art. According to Volker Küster in The Christian Story: Five Asian Artists Today, there are two basic forms of visual contextualization: the Accommodation Model and the Inculturation Model. The Accommodation Model employs a static concept of gospel and culture, and their relationship with one another. Another name for it is the “Kernel and Husk” model. What it means is that the Gospel is the kernel, which is then covered by different cultural "husks"-- i.e., the cultural form and Christian content remain clearly separated. Take the following examples:

In these two examples, the top one is Gentile da Fabriano's "Adoration of the Magi" altarpiece from 1423, and the bottom one is "The Nativity" by Chinnawong. Notice how both share a similar composition, and how Chinnawong's painting is essentially the same image, only with Thai elements. In depicting a biblical narrative, the Accomodation/Kernel and Husk model often transposes it to an indigenous setting, but still utilizes European compositions. A western Christian could look at Chinnawong's painting and be able to tell what story it is depicting, but not necessarily so for a Thai Buddhist.

With the Inculturation Model, there is a more dynamic view of Gospel and culture. Also called the Onion Model, it represents a fusing of form and content, where the Gospel infuses the culture and can't be peeled away. Küster cites Nyoman Darsane's paintings as an example of this model of art; he is a Balinese artist that I featured in one of my earlier posts. Many of the concepts/images in his work would be familiar and recognizable to a Balinese, but probably not a western Christian. Küster mentions one of Darsane's paintings from that post as an example of this model:

I find that these two models are very helpful when looking at indigenous Christian art, because they can help the viewer understand the level or degree of contextualization that has occurred (depending on how familiar she is with both western art and the particular indigenous art form and culture). Küster seems to imply that the Inculturation model is superior to the Accomodation model because it represents a truer fusion of culture and Christianity, and therefore is to be preferred. Generally, I agree with that assessment. One point at which I would disagree is when it comes to some indigenous art forms, particular narrative figural art forms, such as Chinnawong's. That is because I suspect that Küster may find narrative art to be somewhat "western" and therefore he rejects it in part or whole as a legitimate vehicle for depicting biblical stories among nonwestern cultures. I would caution that such forms should not be rejected as foreign/western simply because they are narrative, if that art form previously existed in the culture prior to western or Christian influence from the west. On the other hand, as Küster points out, such art forms do lend themselves more easily to "accomodating" western influences, which can in some cases lend a foreign flavor to them and the Christians who embrace them. If western influences are a stumbling block to the Gospel, then they shouldn't be used.

And yet, in much of nonwestern Christian art, there is a continuum from accommodation to inculturation, and many artists move freely between the two as needed or as inspired. Both Chinnawong and Darsane are artists who do this (regarding Darsane's use of accommodation, see The Christian Story: Five Asian Artists Today, p.61). In fact, I would guess that most Christian artists with ties to nonwestern cultures probably borrow and mix forms and techniques from both east and west. For example, Japanese American artist Makoto Fujimura combines the ancient Japanese Nihonga tradition with his own personal abstract expressionistic style, while seeking to explore a biblical world view in the process.

What is God's View of Culture? Part 2

2011-01-27T00:55:00.007-05:00

Welcome to Part 2 of the series "What is God's View of Culture?". To prepare for this post, I read a couple of chapters in Paul G. Hiebert's Anthropological Insights for Missionaries, and re-read portions of Gerald R. McDermott's Can Evangelicals Learn From World Religions: Jesus, Revelation and Religious Traditions. Both are fascinating books, especially McDermott's (he is also the author of God's Rivals: Why Has God Allowed Different Religions?- which is also a great book I've read- and Jonathan Edwards Confronts the Gods: Christian Theology, Enlightenment Religion, and Non-Christian Faiths). Other helpful resources are One Church, Many Tribes and Culture, Christ, & Kingdom Study Guide, both by Richard Twiss.

In my last post I discussed how human culture is a general expression of God's image in humanity, and how God influenced all cultures by giving them languages and assigning geographical locations for each one. Today, I want to examine how followers of Christ should regard the ideas and beliefs expressed in the arts of other religions (I'm not going to get into a discussion about the art forms themselves, rather only the ideas and beliefs expressed through them). In discussing indigenous art, the real topic is always theology and belief, rather than the art forms themselves, because the art forms are merely expressions of a culture's beliefs. So that's a point to keep in mind as we continue.

Continuing deeper from last week's post, we should next look at the idea of "truth," also called "redemptive analogies" in other religions. A redemptive analogy is a practice or understanding embedded in a culture which can be used to demonstrate the Gospel, explain who God is, etc., in whole or part. It was first defined by Don Richardson in Eternity in Their Hearts. Many missionaries advocate the use of these analogies as ways to contextualize the Gospel so that a particular culture can better understand it by comparing it to something with which they are already familiar.

So where do these analogies come from, and should we really use them to help communicate the Gospel (it's one thing to say that culture is generally a reflection of God's image in us, but aren't most non-Christian beliefs and practices basically evil?). Are redemptive analogies: (1) simply creations of human beings who are unconsciously expressing fragments of God's truth from general revelation? (2) "memories” of direct or indirect contact between God and their ancestors via dreams/visions/revelations/etc.? (3) are they due to previous contact with Christians or Jews, forgotten to history? I supposed any of these are possible, and probably have happened at one time or another (e.g., for #2 see Eternity in Their Hearts; Spirit of the Rainforest by Mark Andrew Ritchie, p. 24-25; One Church Many Tribes, p. 141-157).

Gerald R. McDermott posits that regardless of how a culture might have encountered some degree of (non-saving) knowledge about God, "this does not mean that there is direct continuity from the religions to Christ, but it does mean that the religions may be used by God to prepare their devotees to understand and receive Christ" (p. 103). He believes that such limited knowledge is ultimately due to the sovereign, intentional will of God, in part based on verses like John 1: 3-4, 9 (apparently he fleshes out this idea more in chapter 6 of Jonathan Edwards Confronts the Gods). I know that there are plenty of opinions about God's will regarding truths found in other religions, but I won't digress about that here. McDermott asserts that these redemptive analogies, or "revealed types," are "akin to the types that Jonathan Edwards found in many world religions and the 'good dreams' and 'great stories' that C.S. Lewis saw scattered throughout the myths of the world" (p. 113). Types fall somewhere between general revelation and special revelation, but "will not tell us new truths that subvert what God has revealed in Christ" (p. 117).

One quote of McDermott's (based on the writings of Gavin D'Costa) that I really liked regarding redemptive analogies is that "they may give us hints of hidden riches within the Trinity that we had not previously seen, but such insight will be the unveiling of what is already lying within the revelation we possess, not a new revelation coming from outside of what God disclosed of Himself through Israel and Jesus" (p. 71-72). I think this goes along with the idea that the parts of the body of Christ build up one another, as I mentioned previously in this post. Believers who come out of nonwestern religious backgrounds have much to teach us in the west about God.

Based on the points above, my conclusion on the use of redemptive analogies from other religions in contextualized art is that it is fine to do so, but preferably by a missionary who has lived among the culture long enough to understand them reasonably well ("Critical Incarnational Living"). Even better is when such contextualization can be agreed upon by a unified group (church) of native believers (whether the artist is native or not). Hiebert calls this process critical contextualization (a pdf article on the subject by Hiebert can be downloaded here, once you register for free). It consists of native believers analyzing native practices or products (e.g., visual art) along with corresponding biblical passages, and reaching a prayerful decision about what to use and how. Hiebert wisely notes: "To involve the people in evaluating their own culture draws upon their strength. They know their own culture better than the missionary and are in a better position to critique it, once they have biblical instruction. Moreover, they will grow spiritually by learning to apply scriptural teaching to their own lives" (Anthropological Insights for Missionaries, p. 187).

What is God's view of culture?

2011-01-20T17:08:00.001-05:00

Today I'd like to begin a series of posts on the biblical view of culture and indigenous arts. I've referenced this topic partially in my series on biblical examples of contextualization, which focused on examples of God using contextualization in the Bible. In this series, I want to focus on how we as Christ's ambassadors should regard cultural expressions in the form of visual arts-- i.e., whether as basically good, sinful, or neutral.

First of all, what exactly is “culture,” as I am referring to it here? There have probably been hundreds of definitions, so I found one one that works pretty well for me: culture is “the integrated system of learned patterns of ideas, values, behavior, products and institutions characteristic of a society” (Hiebert via Van Rheenen, 1996, p. 81). Notice that this definition covers everything about a society from ideas to "products," i.e., material culture that includes visual art.

Now on to what the Bible says about culture. In Genesis 1:27, we read that "God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." God also said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth" (1:28). We see that humanity is created in the image of God, and being human includes several distinctive faculties: creative, rational, moral, social, linguistic and spiritual faculties. We also see that God gave humanity three divine commands: procreate, fill the earth and subdue it. These commands (along with language) are the origin of culture. So, although God doesn't create individual cultures, he imprints upon all of us the human capacity to corporately form a worldview, social hierarchy and material expressions of what we believe about the world and ourselves.

The more I've read, the more evident it becomes to me that our cultural and/or ethnic background forms a significant part of our core identity, i.e., how we see and express ourselves. Since most nonwestern cultures are more collectively-minded than those of us in the west, I think it is of utmost importance in missions to recognize cultural identity and expression as a God-given trait (though it is still subject to His commands for submission and obedience).

Another passage which relates to God's role in cultural identity is found in Acts 17:26-27, where Paul tells the Areopagus in Athens that "from one man [God] made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us." This shows that another factor in shaping culture-- geography and environment-- was chosen by God for each ethnic group on earth. The major impetus to this geographical distribution was the dividing of languages and dispersal from the Tower of Babel, again by the hand of God. So in summary, both language and geography are major contributing factors to the formation of human culture.

In my next post, I plan to plan to explore the implications of these biblical insights when we're confronted by individuals and cultures who have been shaped by other religions.

Storyboard Carvings of Palau

2011-01-11T00:15:00.007-05:00

I decided to do some research into Oceanic art, and came across a contemporary art form called storyboards, from the island nation of Palau. Palau is located in the Pacific Ocean, 500 miles east of the Philippines. The population is approximately 21,000, and 70% is made up of native Palauans. In recent centuries, Palau was ruled by Spain, Germany, Japan, and the U.S. since World War II, but more became an independent republic in 1981. Missionaries have been active in Palau since the early nineteenth century, when Jesuit missionaries reached the islands. The listing of religious affiliation from Wikipedia is a bit confusing. According to one report, 49.4% of the population are Roman Catholics, while in another report, the figure given is 65%. The remaining population is made up of 21.3% Protestants (2000 individuals?), 8.7% Modekngei and 5.3% Seventh-day Adventists. Modekngei is a hybrid religion that combines ancient Palauan beliefs with Christianity, and is mostly confined to one village. This religion could be the topic of an entirely separate post.

The traditional religion of Palau was expressed visually in the local architecture, especially on the meeting houses, or bai:

The end gables of these houses and the interior beams were made of wood and decorated with low-relief painted carvings, depicting each village's history and its relationships with other villages, as well as mythological stories. Palauan society was and still is based on clan lineage, though in recent years it has become more based on education and economic status. In former times, each village was founded by a group of clans. The leaders of these clans would meet in the bai, which also served as a community center.

The idea of of the portable storyboard art form was introduced in 1935 by Japanese art teacher Hisakatsu Hijikata in order to revive the traditional bai art form of painted wood carvings. It was adopted by his students and others, and has become a favorite art form to sell to tourists (many of whom come to Palau to scuba dive). Although made from various island trees, the preferred choice is ironwood.

The completed boards are either painted in various hues (more traditional)...

or are simply stained with a combination of black and brown shoe polish.

There appear to be two main sources for storyboards on Palau. One is at the local prison, where they are made by prisoners for profit. Alternatively, there is the Tabang Woodcarving Shop, run by master carver Ling Inabo. He learned to carve as an apprentice to another Palauan master carver. Inabo was apparently the one who introduced the practice of polishing the wood rather than painting it in varioius colors.

Most of the Inabo's storyboards depict Palauan legends and mythology. He creates his designs by producing drawings first, which are then used as guides to make the carvings. He trains multiple apprentices simultaneously to make most of the carvings for sale (Inabo himself now focuses on larger commission projects and individual orders from collectors). Many of his apprentices go on to work independently and sell their own storyboards.

I have a few concluding points/thoughts:

(1) The creation of storyboards is an example of a new art form based directly on a previous indigenous form (bai meeting house carvings), which utilizes the same essential element: relief wood carving. Like examples from other parts of the world, it was developed for the purpose of generating income from the tourist industry. And yet, it does not entirely abandon previous indigenous forms, but rather is a continuation of these forms. This continuity enables the local population to take pride in the new art form because it is based on their artistic heritage, not on a foreign models (although ironically, the original bai carvings may have been influenced by outside sources).

(2) This process also shows that the same thing can be done for the indigenous Christian community, i.e., believing artists can, at the direction of a group of local believers, either utilize traditional art forms and/or adapt others for use by the Christian community in church architecture, liturgical art or personal devotional objects.

(3) Regarding church architecture, why hasn't the bai meeting house been adapted as a form of church architecture? Once again, this was most likely due to the attitudes of the missionaries (both Catholic and Protestant). Perhaps one reason for their aversion to the pai was due to one of their uses: as "school" for the initiation of boys in hunting, fishing, woodworking and... sex. Girls were brought in from other villages and paid for their services. The gables on a few of the bai were even painted with images of women spreading their legs to leave no doubt about what was going on inside (some of these are still around today).

However, this was only one of the uses for the building, and overall it sounds like the pai was the closest equivalent to a church building in Palauan society. Unfortunately, the knowledge needed to construct these buildings is fading, but not completely gone. I suppose it's possible that a future church could incorporate at least the idea of painted gables, since it is now widely used on the island on a variety of business buildings throughout Palau.

Stars in Symmetry

2011-01-04T14:33:00.000-05:00

Belated Merry Christmas, and Happy 2011! I've been on a bit of a hiatus lately, and am trying to begin work on a new post. In the meantime, check out this AWESOME blog about Islamic art: Stars in Symmetry. This guy describes himself as "obsessed [with] the repeating tessellations of the tiles that adorn Islamic, religious or secular, buildings... The blog is a tribute to it." He posts lots of great resources on Islamic art, architecture, and, of course, zillij. Enjoy!

The Indian Christian Artists Forum

2010-12-15T00:59:00.007-05:00

I recently came across a news story about a group of Catholic Christians in India who are getting serious about deepening the connection between their faith and the visual arts. The story describes the formation of the Indian Christian Artists Forum, which seeks to "promote study and appreciation of Christian art among various sections of the people- clergy, religious and laity in the church, and the wider society in India, and to encourage a deeper understanding, appreciation and application of Indian Christian art in theology, liturgy and architecture in the Church in India." The forum was convened by artist/priest Dr. Paul Kattukaran, and consists of fifteen renowned artists from various parts of India. At their inaugural meeting in August, the group appointed Kattukaran as the national coordinator for the forum.

One of the participants, Executive Secretary of CBCI Commission for Social Communications Fr. George Plathottam, made an interesting comment that relates directly to the contextualization of the visual arts: “Communication is becoming more and more visual and we are moving away from a literate to [an] image-based culture. Promotion of Christian art in India is essential if we are to effectively communicate the message of the gospel to the people of the country... We need an artistic expression that is indigenous, rooted in the native symbols and ethos of our country as we cannot live for long on borrowed images and imagery.” This initiative seeks to respond to the lack of indigenous church art and theology in India, which I referenced in a previous post in which I quoted and discussed the comments of one of the Forum's artists, Jyoti Sahi.

It is exciting to see a group of Indian artists and followers of Jesus who are beginning to organize for the purpose of moving beyond “borrowed images,” so that a new visual language can be created for the expression and understanding of who Jesus is and what it means to follow him, as Indians. Many great Christian Indian artists from the past were named as inspirations for the group's work, including Angelo da Fonseca, Frank Wesley, Alfred Thomas, Jose Pereira, Sr. Genevieve, and Sr. Claire-- most of whom I hope to eventually discuss individually in this blog.

Since the original story ran, the Forum's coordinator, Father Kattukaran, has stated that “the Church could effectively use Christian visual art in spiritual formation, pastoral care and other works.” Kattukaran (who has a doctorate in Christian art!), seems to be in line with A. H. Mathias Zahniser in his book Symbol and Ceremony: Making Disciples Across Cultures, where Zahniser promotes the use of symbols and ceremonies for bonding religious meaning to personal faith in indigenous cultures, and warns of the danger of not utilizing these artistic resources (i.e., "split-level Christianity"). I find this whole topic extremely interesting, and I'm looking forward to reading more about Kattukaran's efforts to combine these ideas with contextualized visual art.

The Forum plans to meet again in February 2011 to further organize and plan future activities, as well as host an art exhibition on Mother Teresa by the participants.

Contextualized Henna Art

2010-12-07T11:34:00.006-05:00

In today's post I'm happy to present the contextualized artwork of a missionary recently in the field. Mina Rowland (name changed for security purposes) has been a Southern Baptist missionary in East Africa and South Asia. In her work, she chose to explore the use of henna storying for evangelism. Henna (also known as mehndi in Hindi) is a plant that grows in regions of Africa, southern Asia, Australia and Oceania. Among other things, it's used as a form of body decoration in the form of temporary tattoos, most often by new brides. Henna has been used to decorate women's bodies since the Bronze Age in the Mediterranean area (3000-600 B.C.), and today is used widely by Muslims, Hindus, Jews, Christians and Zoroastrians. Henna is even mentioned in the Bible in Song of Solomon 1:14 and 4:13,14.

Before reading the interview below with Mina, please check out the story and video slide show about her use of henna at the AfricaStories website. At the end of the interview, look for additional links and downloadable resources, as well as a related link about a henna art show.

Here is my interview with Mina:

How long have you been involved in missions and how did you get started?

I felt called to missions when I was 13 years old and committed my life to missions at that time. Throughout high school and college I was really involved in mission projects with my church. Some of these projects were in the United States and others were not in the US.

Were you an artist before you started experimenting with henna?

No, I did not have an art background when I started doing henna. I know that the Lord gifted me for the specific purpose of illustrating Bible stories with henna.

Was art (henna or otherwise) on your mind when you became involved in missions, or did you discover it along the way?

I had heard that some other missionaries wanted to use henna as a storying tool a few months before my team mate and I moved overseas in 2006, but we had not planned on doing anything with it. In fact our job was to do something completely different.

What are the purposes and symbolism of henna designs in the culture, and how do the biblical stories and concepts that you use compliment them, and how do they differ? Are indigenous designs also typically accompanied by stories or meanings?

The purpose of the henna designs in the South Asian culture is just decoration. Women use it to decorate their hands and feet for special occasions, such as weddings. One Muslim friend of mine told me, "We wear it when we are happy." When I worked on the current set of story drawings, I wanted to put symbols in the drawings that would be easy for an oral learner to grasp, but they also had to look like a henna drawing. So, for example in the feeding of the 5000 story, I used two fish and then five flowers as a reminder of the five loaves Jesus fed the people with. Indigenous designs do not typically have stories with them.

Why do you think that using henna as an evangelistic tool is a good approach?

Henna is a great evangelistic approach for several reasons. The first one is that it is a great entry strategy and bridge builder. Henna is also a great way to tell stories in a high security situation. It is also a great way for oral women to have a picture to remember the story by and as others ask them about the henna on their hand they can then share the story with the person who is asking. Henna storying is also something that can be easily reproduced in the culture by new believers as they go out and share Christ with others.

What is your process for coming up with the designs? Are the motifs taken from existing patterns, or do you create entirely new ones (or both)?

When I am working on a design I spend time reading the portion of scripture I want to draw and look for a word picture in the story. A part of the story that can be put in the henna design so the hearer can remember it easily. One example of this is in the story about Noah. At the end of the story God promises to never destroy the whole earth with a flood again, and the sign of his promise was the rainbow. A rainbow was easy to draw in the design. Also from the same story when Noah sends a dove out and the dove comes back with an olive branch, again that can also be easily represented in the drawing. Culturally, henna art will often have peacocks/birds in the designs, so this was easy to illustrate. Also, from the story about Adam and Eve, I drew a small picture of a fruit in the hand which is also an easy way for women to remember that story. Once I figure out what symbols to use its easy to put them in a henna design.

The pdf design for the Creation to Christ story looks a little different from the one you create in the video. Do you continue to tweek and alter the designs after you first create them?

I do sometimes tweak the designs, but I do not make huge changes. It may be just something small I may choose to draw differently or I may change the filling in a design.

Do you have any other plans or dreams for using contextualized arts in missions?

I have wanted to start painting with henna on canvas. I have seen that done before and it is really beautiful, but I have not had time to try that.

I don't think that I would change anything mostly because over the last few years when I have seen an area in which the project needed to change, I worked on changing it and tested it with nationals. What we did the first two years had to be improved so I worked on changing it and tested it. Things can always be improved upon and I feel like I am always learning. So I guess to answer your question, I am not sure I would change anything.

Do you have any thoughts or suggestions for other missionaries and/or artists who would like to explore using cultural art forms for missions?

If there is someone who would like to use art in missions then I would say try it out. Look at what the culture sees as art and use it as a way to share the Gospel. Work with nationals on the project, that is really important. The more you work with nationals the more you will have opportunity to share Christ and the more opportunity you will have to learn what the most effective entry strategy is. I would also encourage those who are interested in this to be a learner in the culture you are working in.

********************** End of Interview ***********************

Concluding Thoughts ~

I think this use of henna to tell the story of the Gospel is a great way to explore an existing cultural art form, while also transforming it (by using it to tell a story, which isn't typically done in with henna). For more info on the work started by Mina and her colleagues, including downloadable resources on the Gospel henna designs and party ideas, click here. Printed copies of one of the booklets can be ordered for free here.

There is a lot of innovation going on right now in henna designs worldwide, so to add a narrative quality to the mix is in keeping with this new evolution of the art form (see examples of color henna designs here and here, and even jewel-encrusted wedding henna designs here).

I found a great website that describes all manner of information about henna- it's history, cultural significance, and regional differences. It mentions that although the cultural significance varies from culture to culture, henna is typically used to celebrate major milestones such as marriages, or as a good luck charm, or simply for female comradere. Wikipedia mentions that henna was regarded as “having 'Barakah,' blessings, and was applied for luck as well as joy and beauty.”

Regarding using henna for brides, I wonder whether there are any Christian wedding traditions in the Islamic world or South Asia that incorporate cultural practices such as henna. What it would look like to use henna to celebrate various Christian holidays or festivals, such as Christmas or Easter? I think by incorporating a practice like henna into their faith, Christians all over the world could affirm their cultural identity and use these traditions to glorify the Lord as well, even if it meant transforming them into something both old and new...

Lastly, in the interview above, Mina mentions wanting to eventually paint henna designs on canvas. One missionary has explored this idea, even putting the paintings into a gallery show as an outreach in India. Each painting depicts a story from God’s Word and includes the story written in English and Hindi. To read more about this art show and the artist, please see my blog post here.

The Need for Contextualized Theology and Evangelism

2010-11-25T23:15:00.001-05:00

Here's a great blog post by Allen Yeh on the need for nonwestern theology in the body of Christ, by way of Matt Stone at Glocal Christianity. I encourage you to read it because it explains why we in the West need to hear the perspectives of our nonwestern brothers and sisters in Christ. I think it is a great parallel to 1 Corinthians 12:12-26, where Paul explains how indispensable each part of Christ's body (the church) is to the others.

Another post in a similar vein is Contextualization and the Essence of the Gospel by Mark Naylor, who discusses the need for contextualized evangelism. Be sure to also read his previous post, Shaping the Gospel message so that it Resonates. Both posts echo Yeh's post in that they advocate the idea that there are several biblical layers/facets to the Gospel as a whole, and most people and cultures naturally relate to some of these layers more than others. Therefore, the missionary/evangelist needs to contextualize his presentation of the Gospel to enhance the understanding of the particular audience.

So what does all of this have to do with contextualized art? In presenting the Gospel visually, we must first understand the hearts and minds of the intended audience. Ultimately, it would be most preferable to have a native theologian/artist presenting any visual theology, since they would understand their own culture best. But if the task falls to a nonwesterner, then understanding on our part is indispensable.

It also means that nonwestern theologians and artists have much to teach us in the West about Christ and his kingdom, just as we have much to teach them. By doing so with an attitude of mutual respect and humility, we will all grow closer to each other while growing closer to Chirst.

An Early Contextualization in China, Part 2

2010-11-15T12:13:00.006-05:00

I am continuing my post from last week regrading the Nestorian/Sianfu Stele in China. The monument is 10' high by 3'4" wide, just under one foot thick and weighs two tons. It is made of a black, sub-granular oolitic limestone. The figure-head decoration of the tablet consists of an immense pearl held between two dragon-like creatures called "Lungs.” The lung is a Chinese symbol that has taken on different shades of meaning over the many centuries of China’s cultural history and continues to be a subject of much debate by scholars.

To the Chinese, lungs are exclusively benevolent; they were seen signs of auspicious good omen for the community, as well as symbols for vitality and creativity. The lung is also a form of totem that came to be regarded as a symbol of the Chinese people themselves, including the emperor, who was regarded as a son of the lung. In addition to these associations, the lung has become an object of worship for some Chinese communities.

Just below the pearl and above the Chinese characters at the top, stands a Syrian cross on a lotus blossom. The lotus is a symbol of purity: though rooted in mud it blossoms into a beautiful flower. The flower is claimed as an important symbol by Buddhism, Hinduism and Taoism, with various philosophical and/or divine associations within each movement/religion. In this example the cross, standing on the lotus blossom, is symbolically elevated by the flower. The clouds are Taoist symbols of heaven, as well as associated with Islam in China. Rather than symbolizing the suffering and death Jesus, the cross is understood as a cosmic symbol of resurrection into life.

So, what to make of the Sianfu Stele's attempt at contextualizing Christianity in China? Although I haven't done an exhaustive study on the symbolism of the lung, I am beginning to see the deep differences between the positive image it has in Chinese society, versus the negative connotations in Western culture, connotations which are based on biblical references to Satan as a dragon (see Revelation 12 and 13). I think (as author Lau Hua Teck asserts on p. 6/90 of his article) that we must regard them as two completely different creatures. However, this does not settle the issue of whether the lung is a good symbol to redefine in order to help express the Gospel. Many of the symbols and ideas embraced by the Nestorians in China may have had as much to do with political acceptance from the government as with clearly presenting the Gospel. But I think that lungs probably could be used in such a context, if the native Chinese in a given community of believers decided this was acceptable. My initial thought would be to compare it to the use of cherubim throughout the art and architecture of the ancient Near East by both Israel and her pagan neighbors (see my post on cherubim in ancient Israeli and pagan temple architecture). In addition, there is the dual idea of Jesus as the Lion of Judah in the New Testament, while simultaneously, the devil is called a lion as well (1 Peter 5:8). And, like cherubim, many Old Testament-era pagan cultures incorporated lions into their art and architecture as well. I also like the symbolism of the two lungs on this monument holding up a pearl, which reminds me of the pearl of great price, i.e., the Gospel (although the pearl also has other associations in Chinese culture).

Teck has proposed that the unique portrayal of the cross and lotus designed by the Nestorians was not meant to denote that the three religions (Buddhism, Hinduism and Christianity) are one, but rather to propagate the unique message of the cross of the Messiah. Interestingly, he notes that a Buddhist monk of the time did indeed see Nestorian Christianity as a different religion:

It is evident that the Scholars in T’ang society knew clearly that the Nestorians were preaching a new message, as the eminent monk Yuanchao of the Tsi-ming Temple commented: “…. A Buddhist monastery and a temple of Ta-ch’in differ in customs and in their religious practices, Ching-ching should preach the teaching of the Messiah and the Buddhist monk must make known the message of Buddhist Sutra….. Truth and error are not the same, just like the Ching River and the Wei River are not alike….” Yuan-chao saw clearly the uniqueness of the Nestorian message and the Ching-ching missionary position (p. 11/95).

One further example of cross and lung sculpture is the Yuan Dynasty Stele, which commemorates the founding of a Nestorian monastery in 1383 in Da Qin, China. At the top is a carved Syrian cross, held by four lungs, with no lotus or clouds.

Some might say that because of contextualization in these cases (or syncretism, if it applies), that Christianity did not make a lasting impact in China. Although I am no scholar on the subject, from what I've read, there are/were a lot of factors involved, including internal church divisions and too close of a relationship with various Chinese dynasties that did not last. In any case, here are a few additional sources on the subject:

The Cross and the Lotus by Lau Hua Teck

Four Historical Stages of the Indigenization of Chinese Christian Art by Christian artist He Qi

Assyrian Christian Missions in China 635 - 1550 AD by Esha Emmanuel Tamras

Christ on the Silk Road: The Evidences of Nestorian Christianity in Ancient China

The Story of a Stele: China's Nestorian Monument and Its Reception in the West, 1625-1916 by Michael Keevak

FREE performance in WNC

2010-11-08T19:52:00.003-05:00

For those of you in the Western North Carolina area, here's a FREE performance you might like to check out: an Indonesian Gamelan Concert at Western Carolina University on Thursday, Nov. 18th. I'm not sure if I'll be able to make it due to my work schedule, but will go if I can. Click the link above for more info.

An Early Contextualization in China, Part 1

2010-11-08T19:15:00.002-05:00

Today I want to begin to examine a historical attempt at visual contextualization. The example is found in China and is called the Sianfu Stele (or Nestorian Stele). It was erected in 781 A.D. by Nestorian Christians in or around Hsian-Fu, was buried in 845 due to persecution, and rediscovered in 1625. The text on the monument is written in Chinese and Syriac, and chronicles the diffusion of Nestorianism in China, including the initial declaration of the “Law of the Messiah” to the Tang Emperor Taizong around 635.

The large Chinese characters at the top of the monument proclaim it as the “Chinese Monument of the History of the Luminous Religion of Daqin” (the church in China referred to itself as "The Luminous Religion of Daqin", Daqin being the Chinese language term for the Roman Empire in the first and second centuries A.D., and in later eras was also used to refer to the Syriac Christian churches).

An important aspect of the monument's attempt at contextualization is related to the theology of the Nestorian Church (known today as the Assyrian Church of the East): Nestorianism was a doctrine advanced by Nestorius, Patriarch of Constantinople from 428–431. The doctrine emphasizes the disunion between the human and divine natures of Jesus. Nestorius developed his Christological views as an attempt to rationally explain and understand the incarnation of the divine Logos in Jesus of Nazareth. His teachings became the root of controversy when he publicly challenged usage of the long-used title Theotokos (Mother of God) for the Virgin Mary. He suggested that the title denied Christ's full humanity, arguing instead that Jesus had two loosely joined natures, the divine Logos and the human Jesus. As such he proposed Christotokos (Mother of Christ) as a more suitable title for Mary.

Nestorius himself always insisted that his views were orthodox, though they were deemed heretical at the First Council of Ephesus in 431, leading to the Nestorian Schism, when churches supportive of Nestorius broke away from the rest of the Christian Church. A more elaborate Nestorian theology developed from there, which came to see Christ as having two loosely joined but distinct natures, or hypostases, the divine Logos and the human Christ. So, a brief definition of Nestorian Christology can be given as: "Jesus Christ, who is not identical with the Son but personally united with the Son, who lives in him, is one hypostasis and one nature: human." Not all churches affiliated with the Church of the East appear to have followed Nestorian Christology, however: the modern Assyrian Church of the East, which reveres Nestorius, is an example (I haven't researched where they differ in their beliefs). It is hard to say on what part of this continuum of belief that the creators of the Sianfu Stele fall.

With all of that introduction in place, I will continue next week with an examination of the motifs and symbols of the monument itself.