A Justice Site
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California State University, Dominguez Hills
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Created: April 2, 2005
Latest Update: April 2, 2005
jeannecurran@habermas.org
takata@uwp.edu
Religious Art as a Present Social IssueJust started lecture related to Wearing Their Beliefs on Their Chests By Ruth La Ferla. Published in the N Y Times: March 29, 2005, at p.A 16. Backup
Denise Truscello/Wireimage.com
Ashton Kutcher in a Jesus-themed T-shirt.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
A Derek Lam blanket wrap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A necklace with ChaiThe Derek Lam blanket actually bothered me a little because it felt like a formal religious vestment, so that wearing it was like usurping the role of the one who carries the formal authority to wear it. I m not comfortable with censorship, but neither am I comfortable with the usurpation of another's rightful authority. Then, of course, we have to talk about the meaning of rightful, especially in the visual. What about you? Remember when there was such a hue and cry about the use of the American flag as wearable art? Now it's kind of ordinary.What about the indigenous peoples who find "white folks" painting tents and indian maidens in Yosemite art classes? jeanne
We live in fascinating times, when, as in all other ages, tradition is challenged, but also when cultures, local and nation-state, ethnic and global are finding themselves like that passel of cats, all thrown together in some of the present social issues. Two articles in the main section of the NY Times on Tuesday found the visual images of what we believe, the values we hold, the gods we worsip or reject as newswrothy. I'm used to dealing with Russian religious icons, with Christian iconology, with Islamic art and its wonderful calligraphy. But I'm not used to finding these issues all around me.
It is good, I think, that we begin to heighten our awareness of the deep roles religion plays in multiple aspects of our lives.
