A+C and Chaiya Art Awards

Great to be at the Bishopsgate Institute this evening for the Art and Christianity Awards. These awards celebrate the successes and diversity of artistic projects in religious buildings throughout Britain. There is also have an award for a book which explores the dialogue between the visual arts and religion.

I was there as Michael Takeo Magruder's 2016 installation at St Stephen Walbrook, Lamentation for the Forsaken, was among the shortlisted works. This piece is a new media installation that juxtaposes Christ’s suffering and journey to the cross with the anguish and plight of refugees fleeing the Syrian Civil War. See the installation of the piece at St Stephen Walbrook here and read my interview with Michael Takeo Magruder here.

Congratulations to the winners of the Awards: 

• The A+C Award for art in a religious context - permanent category:Stephen Owen, Prayer Chapel Communion Table and Lectern for Guildford Baptist Church, 2016; and temporary category: Jake Lever, Soul Boats at Birmingham Cathedral, 2015-16; and
• The A+C Book Award - Ittai Weinryb, Agents of Faith (Yale University Press, 2018)

I am privileged, too, to have been invited to join the Judges for the Chaiya Art Awards. The biennial Chaiya Art Awards has its roots in Christianity but this competition is open to people of all faiths, to those who have no belief in God, and to everyone in between. It’s about continuing an age old conversation in a modern setting with contemporary eyes. It’s about asking big questions and looking for inspiration from the wealth of the UK’s creatives. Artists entering have been encouraged to mine the depths of their imagination and creatively fly as they respond to the theme 'God is ...'

Read my interview with Katrina Moss, founder of Chaiya Art Awards, here and read my visual meditation of the winning piece from the inaugural Awards here.

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 Thomas Tallis - Lamentations Of Jeremiah.