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The Bible and Visual Culture IV
The Shadow & the Real: The Bible & Painting, Manchester Art Gallery,
22 September 2007
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Introduction
This
is the fourth of a series of symposia and
conference strands jointly organised by the Centre for the Bible
and the Visual Imagination, University of Wales, Lampeter and
the Centre for Studies in the Visual Culture of Religion,
University of Wales, Aberystwyth. The aim is to: stimulate
discussion and study; facilitate the publication of academic
scholarship; and promote public awareness and participation at
the crossroads of Biblical Studies, Art History and Practice,
and Visual Cultural Studies.
Valuable insights into the narrative of the Bible are often gained through an appreciation and critical study of the cultural afterlives of its characters, events, imagery, and doctrines. Artistic expressions of biblical themes and ideas can convey the essence of the biblical text and involve the viewer more personally and vividly than a purely literal reading of it.
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Reproduction courtesy of Manchester Art Gallery
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Moreover,
visual expressions of the Bible can draw the viewer into the very subject matter itself, serve as an interpretative or exegetical tool, illuminate the text (in the sense of adorning, illustrating, and casting light upon it), as well as provide a commentary upon the religious and theological values of the producer, percipient, and social and cultural context of the artwork.
Conversely, the study of biblical texts can illuminate the
artwork, helping to establish, for example, its iconographical
and narrative significance, and didactic, liturgical, and
devotional intent and function.
The Bible & Painting
With this in mind, this interdisciplinary symposium makes use of
existing methodologies in the disciplines of the History of Art
and Visual Culture and Biblical Studies and explores new
approaches that encourage the systematic investigation of visual
expressions of biblical subject matter. The symposium is
structured around paintings held at the internationally renowned
Barber Institute of Fine Arts, Birmingham. |
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Speakers
Professor John Harvey
is Director of
the Centre for Studies in the Visual Culture of Religion
at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth. He is an historian of art and visual culture and a theorist through art practice.
Dr. Martin O’Kane
is Director of
the Centre for the Bible and the Visual Imagination at
the University of Wales, Lampeter, and lectures in
Biblical Studies.
Professor Cheryl Exum is Professor of Biblical Studies at Sheffield University, and has a particular interest in the interpretation of biblical characters in painting.
Professor David Jasper is Professor in Literature and Theology at Glasgow University. His research areas include interdisciplinary approaches relating to the Bible and the visual arts.
Salley Vickers is a well-known contemporary author whose novels include Miss Garnet’s Angel and The Other Side of You. She is particularly drawn to the power of the biblical narrative and its depiction by artists (evident in many of the storylines running through her
novels). Formerly a lecturer in English Literature, she is also an analytical psychologist and lectures widely on the connections between literature, psychology, and religion.
Structure & Programme
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