Church Times: The Stars Are Bright

My latest review for Church Times is of The Stars Are Bright at the Theatre Courtyard Green Rooms, Shoreditch:

'Opening just ten days after the lockdown on galleries was lifted, the staging of “The Stars are Bright” at the Theatre Green Rooms, Shoreditch, mirrors the story of these paintings, which were themselves locked down for 20 years. Black Lives Matter protests since George Floyd’s death have inspired international awareness of institutional racism during lockdown. “The Stars are Bright”, therefore, comes at a critical time to show the work of Black artists, past and present, including the story of these African artists and their work.'

These are vibrant paintings that have not been on display since 1953 – by schoolboys from the Cyrene Mission in what is now Zimbabwe. In the review I assess what it was that generated so much interest when the paintings were first exhibited in 1949. 

This exhibition and my review connects with St Mary's Cathedral Johannesburg, as the priest, Ned Paterson, who set up the Cyrene Mission was ordained in the Cathedral and also decorated parts of the Cathedral. Paterson was at the consecration service for the Cathedral in 1929, having completed his work there. In my sermon for the 90th anniversary of the Cathedral last year, I drew attention to the artwork and decoration of the Cathedral and suggested that this provided ideas for how mission could be undertaken today. 

Other of my pieces for Church Times can be found here. 

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Robert Randolph & the Family Band - If I Had My Way.