Tim Keller on Contextualization

The other day I came across Tim Keller's book Center Church: Doing Balanced, Gospel-Centered Ministry in Your City, which features three chapters on contextualization.  Chapter 10 is called "Active Contextualization," and is essentially a printed version of Keller's lecture that I posted about here.   I haven't read the rest of the book, so I can't comment on the other two chapters about contextualization, but Chapter 10 is definitely worth a read.  In it Keller discusses how to practically approach the process of contextualizing the Gospel in any society, whether one's own birth culture, another society, or even a different generation.  Although Keller's ministry context is Manhattan, the points that he makes in this chapter could be applied to any place or culture, western or nonwestern.

The Christian Art Scene in Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Karel Steenbrink over at Relindonesia posted a story about a farewell lecture by Professor Volker Küster of The Theological College of Kampen in Denmark.  The lecture (and accompanying booklet), The Christian Art Scene in Yogyakarta, focuses on five Javanese Christian artists: Bagong Kussudiardjo, Hendarto, Hari Santosa, Dopo Yeihan and Wisnu Sasongko.  I hadn't heard of all of them, though I'd seen examples of some their work.

One whose work I'd never seen was Hendarto, and the examples that I've found so far, I really like.  He was born in 1951 and was a Muslim convert to Catholicism.  I really like his expressive lines and colors.  His work reminds me of a combination of Nyoman Darsane and Sawai Chinnawong.  

Adam and Eve

Nyoman Darsane at The Jesus Question

Be sure to check out Victoria Jones' new post at The Jesus Question about Balinese Christian artist Nyoman Darsane.  Darsane is an incredibly talented painter who masterfully combines the joy of the Gospel with his Balinese culture, and Victoria's post does him justice.  His motto is "Bali is my body; Christ is my life." I hope to meet him in person someday!

The Art of Jyoti Sahi @ The Jesus Question

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.

A History of Christianity in Indonesia

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.

Two Models of Visual Contextualization

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. 

Some thoughts on the role of the visual arts in indigenous cultures

As I continue to read various books and articles relating to indigenous visual arts (including my post about Balinese Christian artist Nyoman Darsane), a question has come to my mind, one that I'd really love to get some feedback about from indigenous Christian leaders.

Featured Artist: Nyoman Darsane

I recently posted about Balinese Christianity.  So in today's post, I'd like to feature one of Bali's best-known Christian artists, Nyoman Darsane. 


I've pulled the information below from a variety of web sources, plus the book The Christian Story: Five Asian Artists Today, an exhibition catalog from the Museum of Biblical Art in NYC (the book, btw, is a good introduction to indigenous contextualization of the visual arts, especially in Asia).