KELVINGROVE: MR SINGH'S INDIA

This is a painting in the style of a collage by the Singh twins. Commissioned by Glasgow Museums, it represents shared Indian and Scottish culture. Mr Singh's India is virtually the first picture you see on entering a display entitled "Scottish Identity in Art".


There's a page devoted to Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum on the website of the Anglo Sikh Heritage Trail.

KELVINGROVE: MIXED MEDIA BOXES ABOUT THE HOLOCAUST

This is part of an extensive exhibit about Jews who arrived in Glasgow in the early and mid-twentieth century, fleeing persecution of different forms in different parts of Europe. The exhibit is contained in a section on the upper floor entitled "Conflict and Consequence".

Asked in 1990 by a distant relative to help compile a family tree, I found the task impossible, as so many family members had disappeared in the Holocaust.

Instead, I spent the next five years researching and making Holocaust artworks in memory of the millions who perished.

Testimony by Myer Lacome, artist 

Arbeit Macht Frei (1996)

Myer Lacome, Mixed media box

“Arbeit Macht Frei” – work leads to freedom – were the deceptive words on the main gate at Auschwitz Camp. Auschwitz, near Krakow in Poland, was the largest concentration camp and killing complex. 

The Burning of the Books, Germany, 10 May 1933 (1999)

Myer Lacome, Mixed media box

In 1933 the Nazis publicly burnt books by those Jewish and non-Jewish authors they disapproved of. Jews were forced out of their jobs. Some academics, artists and writers were able to flee. 

Kristallnacht, Germany, 9 November 1938 (1998)

Myer Lacome, Mixed media box

The night of broken glass – Kristallnacht. During this terrifying Nazi anti-Jewish pogrom – organised massacre – 267 synagogues, 1,000 prayer halls and 7,500 businesses were destroyed. Ninety-one Jews were killed and 26,000 arrested.

KELVINGROVE: LAFARUK MADONNA

This exhibit in Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum reminded me of the story of the Italian Chapel on Lamb Holm in the Orkney Islands (which is still standing, a little closer to home and which I've had the pleasure of visiting on two occasions, more than 20 years apart - first time for a few blessed hours entirely on my own on a wet and blustery day in the autumn of 1984, the second time as part of a hot and harassed coach party on a day trip in the summer of 2008).

This is a story about three religious paintings that were made by an Italian prisoner of war – Giuseppe Baldan – for a mud chapel. Find out how pictures painted on the back of old flour bags gave prisoners hope during World War II.

The paintings show the Virgin Mary holding her son, the baby Jesus, with angels on either side of them. In the background are views of the Lafaruk prisoner of war camp, where the Italians were held.

The camp was set up near Berbera, in what is now Somalia. The British built it to hold Italian prisoners of war during the war in North Africa.

How did the paintings survive? When the camp was disbanded, Somali soldiers, who were at the camp to keep order, destroyed the chapel and slashed the paintings. The Italian solders rescued the paintings and gave them to Captain Alfred Hawksworth – the British officer in charge of the camp – to look after. In 1965 he tried to give them back. A letter from Luigi de Giovanni, the camp interpreter, explained why the prisoners told Captain Hawksworth to keep them.

“I have appreciated your idea of bringing back to Italy the sacred paintings of captivity we entrusted to you … you must keep them for ever as a gauge of gratitude and love by the 35,000 people who owe you, beyond their life, the dignity of human treatment.”

KELVINGROVE: TAU-RAPA WAKA-TAUA

Many exhibits in Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum can't be squeezed into some narrow definition of culture, faith, religion or spirituality, but they still have much to show us and tell us about all those things. Certainly, Kelvingrove’s exhibits are not limited to those traditions or lifesyles which can be found in conspicuous numbers in Glasgow - as is demonstrated by this piece.

This elaborate wooden carving once decorated the back of a Maori war canoe. The details are symbols of the Maori creation story.

Stem of war canoe – Tau-rapa waka-taua – Maori, New Zealand

KELVINGROVE: THE STORY OF VIDHURA-PANDITA

Now here's the sort of display item that might not be acquired today, no matter its cultural worth. Few people would see past the fact that this is made of ivory.



The carvings on this Burmese elephant tusk tell a story of the triumph of good over evil.

Vidhura-Pandita is the Buddha in the form of a wise man. He is chief adviser to King

Dhananjaya. King Dhananjaya is the good ruler of the city of Indapatta.

Other prominent characters from the story represented on the tusk include: the naga spirit king (all nagas wear a pointed snake headdress); Princess Irandati (the naga king’s daughter); Punnaka, a demon (he’s wearing a demon mask on top of his head).

KELVINGROVE: THE LION AND THE GAZELLE

The first blog entry from the treasure trove that is Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum is for an Islamic shield, 1750-1850, Indian or Iranian, metal inlaid with silver and brass. Here’s the copy on the card with the shield itself:

The animals on this shield are made of words. The four lions are symbols of courage and are protecting the gentle gazelles in the middle. A soldier carried the shield into battle as a symbol of his Islamic faith.

Alongside the shield is an interactive electronic book, which tells the story of the shield in eight pages or so. The following text is found on the last few pages of the interactive book:

To fully appreciate the cultural value of this Islamic shield, and after careful consideration, we have chosen to tell this shield’s story in a visual way by illustrating the lives of the characters represented on it, those of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him and his cousin Imam Ali.

 To aid us with this task we have selected a number of historical miniature paintings that have appeared in Islamic manuscript  books such as “Jami’ al-Tawarikh” by Rashid Al-Din, Tabiriz AD 1306; “Siyar-i-Nabi”, Istanbul, AD 1595; the “Khavarnama” by Ibn Husam, Punjab, AD 1686; and “Maktel-i-Ali Resul” by Lami’l Celebi, Turkey, early 17^th century AD.

We are very aware of the tension that exists within Islamic cultures today with regards to figurative art in general, and the depiction of Prophet Muhammad and of his family in particular.

Some of this concern stems from theological arguments, but some stems from concern for misrepresentation and disrespectful depictions.

We would like to assure Muslims that in this interactive  we are following in the footsteps of respectable Medieval artists and their patrons who set precedence for the Islamic artistic tradition of illustrating the stories of the lives of Prophet Muhammad and his followers.

We have adhered to veiling the face of the Prophet and flames to emphasise his special position in his community.

The aim of this interactive is purely educational to introduce and explain the story of the gazelle and the lion in an accessible way to people who may not know of it.

None of the images that are meant to be a true likeness of any of the characters. They are merely illustrations to inspire and educate their audience.

KELVINGROVE ART GALLERY & MUSEUM

In my hometown of Glasgow for a few days, I have the pleasure of visiting Kelvingrove Art Gallery andMuseum, just a short step from the hotel in which I’m staying. There’s plenty in Kelvingrove that would merit inclusion in this blog, for all kinds of reasons. I’ve written about Kelvingrove before, especially in connection with the Salvador Dali painting, Christ of St John of the Cross, that is arguably its most famous exhibit.

Like many an art gallery or museum, of course, there’s a lot of stuff that takes religion or spirituality as its topic or in which religion can be identified as an underlying theme. It would be a difficult task to present any kind of historical or thematic survey of art (western or eastern) that didn’t engage with religion. 

I’m being rather unsubtle here in only highlighting those exhibits or displays that could be said explicitly to foreground the kind of themes and topics that often feature here. If I were not so choosy, I’d have to reproduce, describe and discuss just about everything there is to be seen there!

Text indented and in italic comes direct from the display cards that accompany these exhibits. There’s a lot more of that than there is of my own writing here. When it comes to describing a visit to Kelvingrove, that’s the way it should be, faithful reader.

The entries are in no particular order. I’ve tried to gather together different entries that relate to one religion or faith community, although that’s not always been possible. And there are going to be more pictures than usual.

Watch this space over the next few days for what I hope you'll consider some lovely stuff!

CHRIST OF ST JOHN OF THE CROSS

Here's another post from and about Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow.

Salvador Dali's "Christ of Saint John of the Cross" (1951) depicts Jesus on the cross, suspended in a dark sky over a body of water, over fishermen and their boar. It is a depiction of the crucifixion without nails, blood or crown of thorns. Dalí believed that these typical elements would detract from the vision of Christ he shows here. The painting is based on a drawing by the 16th century Spanish friar Saint John of the Cross (hence its name). The composition of Christ is also based on a triangle and circle (the triangle is formed by Christ's arms; the circle is formed by Christ's head). The triangle, since it has three sides, can be seen as a reference to the Trinity, and the circle may allude the Platonic concept of perfect abstract forms. Dalí explained the inspiration behind the painting thus:

"In the first place, in 1950, I had a 'cosmic dream' in which I saw this image in colour and which in my dream represented the 'nucleus of the atom.' This nucleus later took on a metaphysical sense; I considered it 'the very unity of the universe,' the Christ!"

Dali's words show how, in a typically distinctive way, the painting enters into the never-ending debate between science and religion. The importance of depicting Christ in the extreme angle evident in the painting was also said to have been revealed to Dali in a dream. The painting and intellectual property rights were acquired by Glasgow Corporation in the early 1950s for £8,200 - a price considered high at the time. The painting was put on public display in Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. In 1961, the canvas was damaged by a member of the public (wielding a brick) because of his belief that the painting diminishes the status of Jesus (since the viewpoint of the artist looks down on Christ, rather than up to him). Thankfully, the painting was eventually restored.

When I was a child, my dad would take me to Kelvingrove occasionally on Sunday afternoons (there was nothing else open in Glasgow on Sundays back then, of course). Among other attractions (the glass beehive, the mannequin couple in Japanese costume whom I thought were actual people and really good at standing still, the ship models), this painting grew to become my favourite thing there. I developed a personal ritual for viewing it. The painting hung at the end of a long balcony. Starting at the furthest point from it, I worked out how many paces it took to reach the painting. so I could start at the other end of the balcony, with eyes closed, walk towards it, then open my eyes to be inside the picture, nearest the little fishermen, gazing up at the huge figure on the cross, floating above my head. Though too young to know or use the word, I undoubtedly got an experience of awe from this.

In 1993, "Christ of St John of the Cross" was moved to the St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art. Indeed, I've heard it said that the main purpose of the museum was to provide a fitting home for this one extraordinary picture. At St Mungo's, the painting was displayed in such a way that it could be viewed from three different levels. However, it was to returned to Kelvingrove for the reopening of the Art Gallery, after it underwent renovation, in July 2006. In 2005 Christ of St John of the Cross was voted Scotland’s favourite painting in a poll conducted by The Herald newspaper, with 29% of the vote.

The Spanish government is said to have offered £80 million for the painting, but the offer was turned down.