Christian Art In Asia

"This book is published in conjunction with the exhibition, Christianity in Asia: sacred art and visual splendour, presented at the Asian Civilisations Museum, Singapore, from 27 May to 11 September 2016"--Title page verso.

This colourful catalogue features paintings and statements by five leading contemporary Asian artists, Sawai Chinnawong (Thailand), He Qi (China), Nalini Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka), Nyoman Darsane (Bali) and Wisnu Sasongko (Thailand), which highlight the very different ways artists of diverse cultures today perceive Biblical tales. Over 40 new paintings are explored showing how the Judeo-Christian narrative has been adapted for both western and indigenous audiences. Though greatly influenced by regional and cultural traditions, many of these artists have also been exposed to western Judeo-Christian teachings, and it is this mixture of influences which is so striking in their work. The book considers the importance of these works to the development and exportation of Asian Biblical Art to the West and its reception, audience and patronage.

Excerpt from Each With His Own Brush: Contemporary Christian Art in Asia and Africa Just before Epiphany, or Good Friday, or in connection with some parable, we might turn to relevant pictures and let them make our thought of the Christ more universal. Or, imagining we are in the position of consultants in any given country, we may attempt to decide which pictures, if any, we would dis courage as missing a true Christian interpretation; which we would justify as being distinctly edifying or didactic, possibly as a Biblia Pauperum for the unlearned such as Christian artists began to paint in the fifth and sixth centuries; and which we would approve mainly because of the sheer artistic satisfaction they give. In order to grasp the ultimate burden of a given picture, rather than merely to like or to dislike it, we shall doubtless wish to learn whether these artists of various lands are thinking the same thoughts, merely expressing them in their own ways; or whether they represent diverse interpretations of the Christian faith. In our aspiration to develop an ecumenical Christian conscious ness, we may not be able to visit in person the various areas of our world Christian community; but we can through art expand our imaginations and increase the flexibility of our minds, so that we can pass without a jar and with genuine appreciation from one regional artistic expression to another. One of the obvious gains for the younger churches from indigenous Chris tian art is that it helps to remove the foreign aspect of Christianity. It helps to dissipate the deadly prejudice which regards the church as an alien cult. In these days of excessive nationalism the more our universal faith can be freed from its distinctively Western accessories the less likely is it to be boycotted in some anti-western trend. That there are Western accessories is manifest when an African priest can say that for the Bantu to be a Christian was to behave like a white man, or when we are told that a Madonna of the Italian type, holding her baby in a way unknown to an African mother, remains an alien. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Through a sweeping look at Jesuit activities in Japan, China, Mughul India, and Paraguay, Bailey finds evidence of artistic hybridization as a means of communication and argues in favour of a paradigm of artistic exchange.

"This Handbook explores the world of Asian Christianity and its manifold expressions such as worship, theology, spirituality, inter-religious relations, interventions in society, and mission"--

How are Chinese Catholic identities expressed through images? In this cross-disciplinary study which engages with history, theology and art, Fr. Jeremy Clarke explores paintings and sculptures of the Virgin Mary and the communities that produced them over several centuries. He argues for the emergence of distinctly Chinese Catholic identities as artistic representations of the Virgin Mary sometime absorbed representations of such Chinese figures as Guanyin while at other times were diluted by Western influences following the influx of European missionaries. The book offers a new view of Cathol.