Wikio - Top Blogs - Religion and belief

Saturday 26 December 2015

Flight & floe-fall lament


Lucy Winkett, the vicar of St James Piccadilly, says, 'Whatever the Victorian carols might say about oxen and midwinter snow, the approaching story of Christmas is of Mary and Joseph becoming refugees after giving birth in dangerous circumstances to a baby who grew up to change the course of world history. And the coming festival declares that the birth of Christ expresses something unutterably beautiful and redemptive about the renewing presence of God in the world. The real Christmas celebrates the divine in a humanity that is both messy and miraculous, a festival by no means sanitised from the blood and tears of the world. And this real Christmas story is this year is being played out in front of us in family after family climbing into boats to flee from tyranny.'

Two videos of the work can be viewed on the website showing the vessel used by refugees to reach the Greek island of Lesbos. One is by St James's member and film maker Carolyn Davies; and, the other, a time lapse film showing the 6 hour installation above the nave of St James's as part of Flight. The boat carried 62 refugees from Turkey.

Sara Mark writes: “ ‘Her floe-fall lament (COP21)’ was made by freezing 66 litres of water into an oil drum. I placed it in the central aisle of the church to cause maximum disruption to the usual events on Sunday and the constant amplified sound of the melt-water pouring into the oil barrel beneath was an insistent reminder of something happening in real-time elsewhere in the World.”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

No comments: