Cherokee Dance Group to Perform March 25 at UNC Asheville

Please Note: All posts on this blog are intended for informational purposes only, not as an evaluation or endorsement of any artist, art form or organization.  If you have concerns about the accuracy of any information presented please contact the author at hmsarthistorian@gmail.com.

The Warriors of AniKituhwa

If you are in the Asheville, NC area Tuesday, March 25 and can make it, don't miss this performance by the Warriors of AniKituhwa!

From the UNC-Asheville website:

The Warriors of AniKituhwa, Cherokee dance group and official cultural ambassadors for the Tribal Council of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, will perform at 12:30 Tuesday, March 25 at UNC Asheville’s Main Quad. Their performance is free and open to the public. 

The Warriors of AniKituhwa educate audiences about Cherokee history and culture by performing Cherokee dances such as the Eagle Tail Dance, Beaver Hunting Dance and Friendship Dance, based on traditions that date back generations. They also perform a re-creation of the War Dance, using descriptions from the memoirs of Lt. Henry Timberlake, a colonial journalist who witnessed the dances, as well as music from songs recorded on wax cylinders by Cherokee tribal councilman Will West Long and anthropologist Frank Speck in the 1920s.

For additional information click here.

Aboriginal Christian Painting of the Trinity and the People of God

Please Note: All posts on this blog are intended for informational purposes only, not as an evaluation or endorsement of any artist, art form or organization.  If you have concerns about the accuracy of any information presented please contact the author at hmsarthistorian@gmail.com.

Here's a beautiful Australian Aboriginal painting called "Wapirra Trinity" by Clarise Nampijinpa Poulson, posted at Matt Stone's blog, Curious Christian (an excellent blog with great posts and art– check it out!).  For a description of the painting and it's meaning, click on the image.  The link features an article called "The Impact of Christianity on Australian Indigenous Art" and includes artwork by other Australian Aboriginal artists as well.  The article begins by posing several questions, which then are addressed as the article continues:

"What enables Indigenous artists to create paintings with Christian themes, even though one of the primary characteristics of Indigenous art lies in the narrative connection to the artist's country in its special Indigenous sense? What enables Indigenous people, who in their own views of religion include neither guilt nor original sin, to become involved with Christianity? What understanding or interpretation do the artists have of the Christian elements in their paintings?"

Mongolian Warrior Paintings #8-10

Please Note: All posts on this blog are intended for informational purposes only, not as an evaluation or endorsement of any artist, art form or organization.  If you have concerns about the accuracy of any information presented please contact the author at hmsarthistorian@gmail.com.

Today we finish with the last three paintings by Mongolian Christian artist Tumur-Ochir Gombojav.  To read more about the entire group of these paintings and their cultural background, please click here.

The Shield of Faith to Extinguish All the Flaming Arrows
of the Evil One

Mongol shield, 13th century.
Genghis Khan: The Exhibit.

Mongol shield, 13th century.
Genghis Khan: The Exhibit.

The Helmet of Salvation

Mongolian helmet, date unknown.

To see a licensed image of a modern reenactor at the Naadam Festival in Mongolia wearing a cross-emblazoned helmet similar to the one in the painting above, click here.

And lastly...

The Sword of the Spirit, Which is the Word of God
(the Mongolian sword is not double-edged, so the warrior
 wields two swords: the Old and the New Testaments)

Mongol Cavalry Saber, 13th-14th century, Genghis Khan: The Exhibit.

Mongol Cavalry Saber, 13th-14th century, Mongolian Military Museum.

Mongolian Warrior Paintings #6-7

Please Note: All posts on this blog are intended for informational purposes only, not as an evaluation or endorsement of any artist, art form or organization.  If you have concerns about the accuracy of any information presented please contact the author at hmsarthistorian@gmail.com.

Here are the sixth and seventh paintings by Mongolian Christian artist Tumur-Ochir Gombojav.  To read about the entire group of these paintings and their cultural background, please click here.

The Breastplate of Righteousness

Reproduction Mongolian Warrior Armor,
c. 1200-1300 A.D.

Feet Fitted With the Readiness That Comes From
the Gospel of Peace (trampling the "Toad of Greed";
note metal plates[?] on boots)

Mongolian plated boots, c. 15th-16th Century A.D.

Mongolian Warrior Paintings #4-5

Please Note: All posts on this blog are intended for informational purposes only, not as an evaluation or endorsement of any artist, art form or organization.  If you have concerns about the accuracy of any information presented please contact the author at hmsarthistorian@gmail.com.

The fourth and fifth paintings by Mongolian Christian artist Tumur-Ochir Gombojav.  To read more about the entire group of these paintings and their cultural background, please click here.

Our Struggle is Not Against Flesh and Blood, But Against the Powers
of This Dark World and Against the Spiritual Forces of Evil, #2

Mongol heavy cavalryman, 13th century.
Genghis Khan: The Exhibit.

The Belt of Truth

Mongolian belt with brasswork

Mongolian Warrior Paintings #2-3

Please Note: All posts on this blog are intended for informational purposes only, not as an evaluation or endorsement of any artist, art form or organization.  If you have concerns about the accuracy of any information presented please contact the author at hmsarthistorian@gmail.com.

Today we continue with the second and third of paintings by Mongolian Christian artist Tumur-Ochir Gombojav.  To read more about the entire group of these paintings and their cultural background, please click here.

Put On the Full Armor of God.

Our Struggle is Not Against Flesh and Blood, But Against the Powers
of This Dark World and Against the Spiritual Forces of Evil, #1

Corresponding art from historical sources:

A Timurid depiction of an Mongol archer, early 15th century.

One of Khubilai Khan's Mongol bodyguards, late 12th century

Mongolian Warrior Paintings Depict the Armor of God from Ephesians 6:10-20

Please Note: All posts on this blog are intended for informational purposes only, not as an evaluation or endorsement of any artist, art form or organization.  If you have concerns about the accuracy of any information presented please contact the author at hmsarthistorian@gmail.com.

My friend, Ariunaa, a Southeast Asian living in Mongolia, previously worked with me in order to facilitate the creation of a contextualized worship banner based on one of my bowl paintings (here and here).  She recently emailed me about a Mongolian Christian artist that had completed a series of contextualized paintings based on Ephesians 6:10-20, where Paul describes the whole armor of God.  Each picture includes a Bible verse in Mongol bichig (traditional Mongolian script).

The 57 year-old artist, Tumur-Ochir Gombojav, attends church at Itgeliin Bambai (Shield of Faith) in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.  Three years ago a friend of Tumur-Ochir's brought him to Itgeliin Bambai where he became a Christian, and as a result he now seeks to glorify God with his art.  Previously he attended art school in Mongolia from 1971-1975, and later after graduation attended the School of Fine Arts Academy in Saint Petersburg, Russia 1979-1986.