Station 1 - Jesus is condemned to death
Workshop participants with Station 1
Work in progress on Station 2
Work in progress on Station 2
Station 2 - Jesus takes up his crossOn Wednesday evening I attended the second art workshop arranged by Hertford & District Churches Together as part of the programme of Lent activities this year. These workshops are developing six Stations of the Cross for Hertford stns: A Stations of the Cross for Hertford which will take place during Holy Week.
The workshop began with Alan Stewart leading reflections on Jesus taking up the cross and we then thoughtshowered words describing those things that Jesus took up on our behalf when he took on our humanity and took up the cross. These were listed on flipchart and we then each chose a word to engrave on a large wooden cross using a nail.
Before doing so, there was discussion on how people felt about this act, which in some ways looked and felt like an act of vandalism on the central symbol of Christianity. One person said that we spend our whole lives trying not to sratch things, while another said that it felt sacriligious. Alan spoke of the offence of the cross and the way in which the early Christians did not depict the cross for this reason. He suggested that this action might be a way for us of recovering a lost sense of that offence. Another participant suggested that we would be engraving onto the cross, things that had been engraved into Christ's flesh.
This very visceral engagement with the experience of the Stations was intentionally a significant aspect of creating each artwork. The previous week's workshop had involved discussion of the charges made against Jesus before each person chose a charge, created a collage based on that charge and then drove a nail through their collage securing it to a block of wood. The experience of driving the nail into the wood was as much part of the emotional and creative experience of the Station as was the creation of the collage. Each person's wood block and charge was then arranged to form the shape of a crucifix.
Participants said that the workshops were providing a different kind of Lenten experience from that of discussion groups. Interestingly, for an ecumenical event, people said that they got to know others differently in these workshops: "People can be cagey in Lent discussion groups but here we see a different side to people."
In addition to work on Station 2, participants also created personal cross designs telling the story of their life and faith. These were based on the ideas behind traditional South American crosses. There was also discussion of ideas for a Station in the sculpture garden outside the Courtyard Arts gallery in Hertford. Next week's session will be a textile workshop creating the Station for Jesus is stripped.
The finished Stations will be exhibited throughout Holy Week; some in churches but many in other public spaces around the town such as the Library, Tesco store, Castle Hall and Courtyard Arts.
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Julie Miller - How Can You Say No To This Man?
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