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Category Archives: Non-Western Art
Maria von Trapp, plus seven artists, on Jesus the refugee
Many of you know Maria von Trapp as the singing nun-turned-governess in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The Sound of Music. Julie Andrews immortalized the character in the 1965 film adaptation. Though the musical contains fictionalized details, Maria von Trapp (née Kutschera) … Continue reading
Adoration of the Magi bark painting from Papua New Guinea
The organization Wycliffe Bible Translators is committed to translating the Bible not only into all the world’s written languages but into its visual languages as well. In 2011 Wycliffe missionary Peter Brook commissioned artist Nanias Maira, who belongs to the … Continue reading
Posted in Non-Western Art
Tagged christianity in papua new guinea, kwoma christian art, nanias maira, peter brook
6 Comments
More Nativity Paintings from around the World
Four years ago on Christmas Day I posted a selection of nativity paintings originating mainly in non-Western cultures. Each year since then that post has ranked as one of the five most-read posts on this site, with over twelve thousand views to … Continue reading
Maranatha! (Our Lord, Come!)
This Sunday marks the first day of Advent, a season in which, in addition to commemorating the birth of Christ in the flesh and in our own hearts, we look forward to his second coming. In 2011 musicians from the … Continue reading
Hehu Karaiti: Jesus Christ of the Māori
Last week we looked at the subject of the Madonna and Child translated into a Māori idiom. Today we’ll look at artistic depictions of Jesus as a full-grown adult Māori. Head of Christ Māori Jesus by Sofia Minson—a New Zealand … Continue reading
Māori depictions of the Madonna and Child
The Madonna and Child—Virgin Mary holding her infant son, Jesus—is a subject as old as the second-century Catacomb of Priscilla in Rome. The Byzantine Church, for whom this subject held central importance, developed a standardized iconography for it, and it … Continue reading
Posted in Non-Western Art
Tagged Catholic missions in New Zealand, korowai, maori christian art, Maori Jesus, pounamu, tangiwai, tekoteko
5 Comments
Sewing seeds of hope in South Africa
This article was originally published in a shorter form on ArtWay.eu. All photos are courtesy of the Keiskamma Trust; click to enlarge. Created by about 130 Xhosa—mainly women—living along the Keiskamma River in South Africa’s Eastern Cape [1], the monumental … Continue reading
A Prayer for Migrants
The Rev. Dr. Sam Wells, vicar of St. Martin-in-the-Fields in the heart of London, issued a statement yesterday on the migrant crisis, concluding with the following prayer: Wilderness God, your Son was a displaced person in Bethlehem, a refugee in … Continue reading
Posted in Current Events, Non-Western Art
Tagged isaac fanous, jesus as refugee, migrant crisis
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Niño Jesus
From the Smithsonian’s website: “Devotional figures of the infant Jesus became popular in Puerto Rico during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. . . . An unknown craftsman carved this small figure in the act of benediction, or blessing, with an … Continue reading
Rowan Williams talks Jesus art
In 2004 Dr. Rowan Williams, then archbishop of Canterbury, wrote an introduction to the exhibition catalog for “Presence: Images of Christ for the Third Millennium,” reflecting on the challenges inherent to the task of representing Jesus in art and how … Continue reading
The Jesus Question 