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Thursday, 1 February 2024

Artlyst: The Art Diary February 2024

My February Art Diary for Artlyst looks at the Pre-Raphaelites, the works of Alison Lapper, Monia Sjöö and various group exhibitions, including shows at Cross Lane Projects, Drawing Room and The William Morris Gallery:

"‘Landscapes of the Gods’ at Cross Lane Projects brings together the work of nine artists to explore an interconnection with the landscape, the ceremonial, the mythical, the man-made, the dystopian, the inhabited and the emotive. The idea of the exhibition, curated by painter Rebecca Scott, initially developed from a conversation with the artist Michael Petry, in which they discussed Petry’s ongoing visual investigation into the places of the Gods and Scott’s own emotive exploration of the Cumbrian landscape, which surrounds her. Through his paintings, Michael Petry celebrates the ceremonial, memorialises the mythical, and acknowledges, honours, and explores the deeper spirits within us whom we all feel and hear yet have found hard to name. For Petry, our belief (or disbelief) in the Gods is of no importance to them, for we are mortal, whereas they are divine."

Interviews -

Monthly diary articles -

Articles/Reviews -

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Fickle Pickle - Jesus Christo.

Friday, 31 December 2021

Church Times: Young Poland at the William Morris Gallery

My latest review for Church Times is of the Young Poland exhibition at the William Morris Gallery:

'The French artist Maurice Denis, in an address on “New Directions in Christian Art” published by the Revue des Jeunes in February 1919, referred to “the sumptuous glass windows of the Pole Mehoffer in Fribourg” as one example, among others, giving hope of a post-war revival in Christian art.

Józef Mehoffer was a collaborator with Stanisław Wyspiański in Young Poland (Mloda Polska), an Arts and Crafts movement with strong stylistic and philosophical affinities to the work of William Morris, John Ruskin, and their followers in Britain. These affinities were strong within Europe at the beginning of the 20th century. In addition to their exploration through the “Young Poland” exhibition at the William Morris Gallery, these affinities also feature currently at the Hungarian National Museum in “The Beauty of Utopia. Pre-Raphaelite Influences in the Art of Turn-of-the-Century Hungary”, which focuses on the Gödöllo artists’ colony founded by Aladár Körösfoi-Kriesch. Denis noted a further influence in the conversion of the Belgian art critic Bruno Destrée, in part through the influence of the works of the Pre-Raphaelite artist Edward Burne-Jones.'

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

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Henryk Gorecki - O Domina Nostra.

Tuesday, 31 August 2021

Arts and Crafts influences within Britain, Hungary and Poland

Several exhibitions this autumn explore the unexpected example of cultural exchange between Britain, Hungary and Poland through the influence of John Ruskin, the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, William Morris, and the Arts and Crafts Movement.

The Beauty of Utopia. Pre-Raphaelite influences in the Art of Turn-of-the-century Hungary at the Hungarian National Gallery is a complement to Desired Beauty, their exhibition of Pre-Raphaelite Masterpieces from the Tate Collection. Art in nineteenth-century Hungary was primarily shaped by Austrian, German, and French influences. However, the British-Hungarian relations that developed at the turn of the century facilitated the productive effect of Pre-Raphaelite art, the Arts and Crafts movement and numerous English artists on Hungarian literature, fine and applied arts as well as in architecture. The most notable influence of the Pre-Raphaelites was manifest in the ars poetica of the Gödöllő artists’ colony and the early period of Lajos Gulácsy’s oeuvre, but other Hungarian artists also drew inspiration from their English contemporaries.

The exhibition documents the influence of the Pre-Raphaelites in Hungary in four thematic groups: the works made by the Gödöllő artists’ colony, the paintings of Lajos Gulácsy’s “Pre-Raphaelite period”, the English influences in Hungarian art at the turn of the century, and also Pre-Raphaelite prints and drawings that are of major significance in the history of the museum’s collection, including pieces by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Edward Burne-Jones and Walter Crane.

Aladár Körösfői-Kriesch founded the Tolstoyan, Symbolist – Art Nouveau artist colony in 1901, after settling in Gödöllő. The art theoretical writings of the art critic John Ruskin, who was of great importance for the Pre-Raphaelites, also fundamentally shaped the ars poetica of Körösfői, and his book on Ruskin and the English Pre-Raphaelites was published in Budapest in 1905. Laura Kriesch (Mrs Sándor Nagy), Leo Belmonte, Rezső Mihály, Árpád Juhász, István Zichy, Ödön Moiret, Jenő Remsey, Tom von Dreger, Ede Wigand Toroczkai, Ferenc Sidló and Mariska Undi were among the members.

The oeuvre of the Gödöllő artists’ colony is also presented with its antecedents harking back to the romantic historicism of the English Pre-Raphaelites, as well as to the work of William Morris, who revived handicraft traditions and initiated the Arts and Crafts movement, and also in the art and activity of Walter Crane. In the spirit of all the artistic aspirations of the period, works were made in many branches of fine and applied arts in Gödöllő: paintings, murals, graphics, sculptures, furniture, embroidery, textiles, tapestries, glass windows, costume designs, book illustrations and art books.

Lajos Gulácsy spent most of his narrow creative years, almost a decade and a half, in Italy. During this time, he lived and worked in numerous Italian cities. Moving away from space and time, he created a unique literary and pictorial atmosphere. The subject of his admiration between 1903 and 1908 was primarily early Renaissance painters; Fra Angelico, Fra Filippo Lippi and Botticelli, and Dante’s writings, artists who previously had a great influence on the English Pre-Raphaelites. In Italy, at the turn of the century, the Pre-Raphaelite artists had been worshipped, so Gulácsy could have been influenced simultaneously by the paintings of Rossetti and Burne-Jones, as well as the original Italian works that inspired the British artists.

The inspiring knowledge, as well as a kinship in style, subjects, and motifs with English art, can be presumed in the case of a great many Hungarian artists. These connections are demonstrated at the exhibition through works by József Rippl-Rónai, Károly Ferenczy, Ferenc Helbing, Ferenc Paczka, Aladár Kacziány, Lajos Kozma and Attila Sassy.

The prints of Rossetti and his pupil, Burne-Jones, were donated to the Museum of Fine Arts in 1934 as outstanding pieces of Pál Majovszky’s large-scale collection of drawings.

By the turn of the century, like in other European countries, the art of the island country had become popular in Hungary. The English connection of the Hungarian art scene is reflected in Walter Crane’s exhibition in 1900 at the Museum of Applied Arts in Budapest. In Hungary, a real cult developed around the artist at that time, for the reason that Crane, like the group of artists organised around Aladár Körösfői-Kriesch, encouraged the discovery of folk art motifs. Numerous works by Crane from this exhibition got into the collection of museums; many of his graphic works have enriched the British material of the Museum of Fine Arts. And of particular interest, our exhibition also includes the masterpiece by the English artist, entitled Abduction of Europa (1881), which entered the collection of the Hungarian National Bank in 2020 from a private collection in Hungary.

Young Poland: An Arts and Crafts Movement (1890 – 1918) at the William Morris Gallery from October is the first major exhibition to explore the decorative arts and architecture of Young Poland (Młoda Polska), an extraordinary cultural movement that flourished in response to Poland’s invasion and occupation by foreign powers.

Originating in Kraków and the nearby village of Zakopane at the foot of the Tatra Mountains, Young Poland sought inspiration in local folk traditions, wildlife and craftsmanship while collapsing the distinction between the fine and applied arts. Developing themes explored in a critically acclaimed book by its curators (Lund Humphries, 2020), the exhibition is the first in the world to position Young Poland as an Arts & Crafts movement, revealing strong stylistic and philosophical affinities with the work of William Morris and John Ruskin.

While the diverse visual language of Young Poland was created autonomously, in search of a distinctive cultural style and identity, it simultaneously looked outwards to the rest of Europe including Britain. The exhibition explores unexpected examples of cultural exchange between both nations: for instance in 1848 the members of the newly-founded Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood included the Polish fighter for freedom, Tadeusz Kościuszko, on their list of ‘Immortals’ (inspirational heroes). While Stanisław Witkiewicz developed the Zakopane Style—which draws on the vernacular traditions of the Tatras—before he became aware of Ruskin and Morris, he later said that he had unknowingly fulfilled the theories of these British reformers.

From furniture to Christmas decorations, intricate textiles to delicate paper cuttings, this landmark survey spans five galleries and brings together over 150 works, most of which have never travelled outside of Poland. Young Poland: An Arts and Crafts Movement (1890 – 1918) examines the ideas that propelled the movement and introduces the artists, designers and craftspeople whose decorative schemes and objects came to define it.

Artists featured in the exhibition include Józef Czajkowski, Zdzisław Gedliczka, Wojciech Jastrzębowski, Karol Kłosowski, Józefa Kogut, Bonawentura Lenart, Jacek Malczewski, Jan Matejko, Józef Mehoffer, Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska, Henryk Uziembło, Stanisław Wyspiański and Stanisław Witkiewicz.

Influences between Hungarian and Polish art, as well as that of Austria, Czech, and Croatian painting, were explored in 2017 in The First Golden Age: Painting in the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and the Műcsarnok, an exhibition for the 120th anniversary of the Műcsarnok in Budapest. The Hungarian Review has an extensive article that also explores these influences in the light of the 2017 exhibition.

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Bela Bartok - Hungarian Sketches.

Saturday, 28 November 2020

Young Poland, Stanisław Wyspiański, Jerzy Nowosielski and Leon Tarasewicz

Young Poland: The Polish Arts and Crafts Movement, 1890–1918 is the first book in any language to explore the Young Poland (Młoda Polska) period in the context of the international Arts and Crafts movements.

The Young Poland movement emerged in the 1890s in response to the country’s non-existence for almost a century. It embraced an unprecedented flourishing of applied arts and the revival of crafts, drawing inspiration from nature, history, peasant traditions and craftsmanship to convey patriotic values.

The lavishly illustrated publication charts the rich history of the artists, designers and craftspeople whose schemes came to define Young Poland, including over 250 illustrations of ceramics, furniture, textiles, paper cuttings, wood carvings, tableware, stained glass, book arts, children’s toys and Christmas decorations, as well as domestic, church and civic interior decoration schemes.

The book is being published ahead of a major exhibition on the subject at William Morris Gallery in Autumn 2021.The book argues that Young Poland shared fundamental parallels with the British Arts and Crafts movement, and that it was specifically this Arts and Crafts ethos which fuelled the movement’s patriotic ideology and the nation’s quest to regain Polish independence.

While the diverse visual language of Young Poland was created autonomously, in search of a distinctive cultural style and identity, it simultaneously looked outwards to the rest of Europe including British influences, notably the Pre-Raphaelites and the vision of John Ruskin and William Morris. In fact, as the book reveals, there was a cultural exchange between both nations: in 1848 the members of the newly-founded Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood included the Polish fighter for freedom, Tadeusz Kościuszko, on their list of ‘Immortals’ (inspirational heroes).

As 'Views of Albion' demonstrates there were diverse responses to the Arts and Crafts Movement in Germany, Austria, Poland, Bohemia, Slovakia, Hungary and Southern Slavic countries showing its specific features in the works of artists such as Alfons Mucha, Gustav Klimt and Stanisław Wyspiański.

Artist, designer and writer Wyspiański was the foremost representative of the Young Poland movement and can most closely be considered a counterpart to William Morris. Nature and history were key subjects for both reformers and crucially, they shared firm belief in the equality of fine and decorative arts. Like Morris, Wyspiański was a polymath whose prolific output included wall paintings, decorative patterns, stage sets, textiles, stained glass, book arts, church and domestic interior decoration, as well as achieving acclaim for his writing. Wyspiański was also instrumental in the foundation of the Polish Applied Arts Society in 1901, the equivalent of the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society which raised the status of the decorative arts in Britain. Both men were also early champions of the preservation of historic buildings.

Drawing on nature and the folk tradition, Wyspiański played a significant part in developing a distinctive national style, characterised by a ‘return to crafts’. His most famous decorative scheme is at the Franciscan Church in Kraków (1895–1904), which invites comparisons with the work of Morris & Co. Wyspiański designed the impressive Art Nouveau polychrome paintings and stained-glass windows. Most of the paintings on the walls of the choir and transept consist of geometrical and vegetal motifs, including common Polish flowers. The windows of the chancel feature the four elements and figures of the Blessed Salomea and St Francis. Dominating the entire church is the monumental stained glass window God the Father – Let There Be! situated above the main entrance to the church.

Kraków is home to a proliferation of magnificent churches, the largest stained glass studio in Poland, and resident artistic geniuses in Wyspiański and Józef Mehoffer. Stained glass as an artform reached its pinnacle during Kraków’s Art Nouveau movement. In 1902 S.G. Żeleński (brother of famous writer Tadeusz Boy-Żeleński) founded a studio specifically for stained glass, and attracted the best artists of the generation to work there, including Wyspiański, Mehoffer and Stefan Matejko - the nephew of renowned painter Jan Matejko. After working together during the restoration of the stained glass in St. Mary’s Basilica in 1899, both Mehoffer and Wyspiański turned the force of their creative energies to stained glass, creating some of their most defining works of art in public buildings around Kraków’s Old Town.

Janusz Bogucki was an important Polish critic and art historian, who noted a tendency towards the spiritual in Polish avant-garde art towards the end of the twentieth century. Work by artists such as Jerzy Tchórzewski, Stefan Gierowski and Jerzy Bereś, arose from a need to achieve transcendence and was characterised by a search for the Absolute. The work of these and other artists was, for Bogucki, confirmation of his idea that art should turn to sacrum and he, therefore, invited them to take part in his church-based projects in the early 1980s. Most significant Polish artists participated in these exhibitions. It was also in this period that the work of Jerzy Nowosielski revealed its full fascination with icon paintings through the publication of "Wokół ikony" / "Around the Icon" (1985) and later "Mój Chrystus" / "My Christ" (1993).

Until December 5th, the Museum of Icons in Supraśl has an exhibition titled “Transfiguration. Jerzy Nowosielski, Leon Tarasewicz”. The exhibition presents the “Transfiguration” on Mount Tabor from 1961 by Nowosielski (collection of the Museum of the Catholic University of Lublin) in relation to the “site-specific” concept prepared by Tarasewicz. The artists met many times in a master-student – friend relationship. The personality and work of Nowosielski influenced the formation of Tarasewicz’s artistic personality. During the opening of the exhibition, Anda Rottenberg noted that both Nowosielski and Tarasewicz, in their art, are constantly looking for evidence for the existence of God.

Nowosielski was a Kraków-born Polish painter, graphic artist, scenographer, and illustrator. He was well known for his religious compositions (wall paintings, iconostases, polychromies) in the Orthodox Churches in Kraków, Białystok and Jelenia Góra, the Roman Catholic Church of the Holy Cross at Wesoła, the Franciscan Church in the Azory district of Kraków, and the Greek Catholic Church in Lourdes, France. Nowosielski designed and erected the Church of the Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Biały Bór.

Nowosielski was an outstanding painter, draughtsman, set designer, architect and illustrator, the author of writings on art and a bold and controversial thinker who invoked the theology of the Orthodox Church. His work is proof that, irrespective of the range of media available nowadays, he is still an innovatory figure in the world of painting, where he demonstrated that the surface of a painting continues to be a “field” for conveying a way of seeing the world and an area for communicating with the non-material, metaphysical universe.

Nowosielski’s clearly anti-Cartesian interests materialised in the form of hundreds of paintings, drawings, prints, architectural and set designs and polychromes in churches, (Roman Catholic and Orthodox alike), as well as in the numerous writings and interviews which form both a commentary on his own work and a subversive view on the matter of faith in the broad sense. The thematic sweep of his oeuvre, which goes well beyond the widely perceived concept of nudes, portraits, still lifes and landscapes, is also something that cannot be disregarded.

Alongside icons featuring traditionally conceived images of the saints present in Christian worship, he introduced a new category, ‘secular icons’. To him, both the one and the other were, above all, paintings. Time and again, he emphasised that, regardless of the questions or themes which a work of art tackles, if it is to be good, then it has to touch the sphere of the sacrum.

Leon Tarasewicz is one of the most intriguing contemporary painters in Poland. He was born in 1957 in Waliły in the Podlachia region. Tarasewicz is an inventive artist who constantly explores new aspects of the old and seemingly predictable discipline of painting. He is fascinated by the works of Nowosielski.

Tarasewicz has presented his works at the CCA Ujazdowski Castle several times (some of them also belong to the Centre’s permanent collection). One of the most interesting projects he took part in there was the show Jerzy Nowosielski - Leon Tarasewicz - Mikołaj Smoczyński (1997), an encounter of three strong artistic personalities, surprisingly linked by the Eastern Orthodox religion. This in turn inspired Tarasewicz to create a site-specific project at the Lublin’s Holy Trinity Chapel.

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Arvo Pärt - My Heart's in Highlands.

Tuesday, 9 June 2015

St Margaret's Barking

George Jack (1855-1931) architect, furniture-designer, wood carver, stained glass artist, and teacher, was an important contributor to the Arts and Crafts Movement. He trained as an architect in Scotland, and became a full-time assistant to Philip Webb in 1882. Through Webb, Jack was introduced to William Morris and from 1885 began to design furniture for Morris & Co. Subsequently he took up wood carving and plaster moulding.

From 1929-1936, the architect Charles Canning Winmill involved Jack in the repair and renovation of St Margaret’s Barking. By the time he worked on St Margaret’s, Jack was in his 70s and was quite ill. Despite this fact, his work for the church was admirable and included: the memorial window to the Hewitt family in the Lady Chapel, a pair of tall candelabra, decoration of the Chancel roof, a carved memorial tablet, eight carved figures on the Youth Chapel screen (Captain Cook, Elisabeth Fry, St Ethelburga, two Barking fishermen, Saint James, Saint John and Saint Nicholas), and the Fisherman’s window in the Youth Chapel.

Jack also enlisted the help of his daughter Jessie in painting the font cover at St Margaret’s. Jessie painted the existing wooden cover to a design by her father. The lettering around the rim says, ‘God hath given to us eternal life and this life is in his son’. Each segment is painted with a bird or butterfly on a mid-blue ground with gilding. This is the only known example of Jack’s daughter helping him with his decorative schemes. Sadly, his work at St Margaret’s was one of Jack’s last commissions, he died in December 1931.

From 29th April to 29th July 2006, the William Morris Gallery held the first exhibition solely devoted to George Jack. His name is familiar to many who are interested in Morris but most are not fully aware of the extent of his output. The exhibition aimed to bring this important artist to greater prominence and explored all aspects of his work. Exhibits were drawn from the archive held at the Gallery, which contains designs for work in plaster, furniture, woodcarvings, embroidery, letters and photographs, and from other collections. It is also brought to light the contribution of his wife and daughters.

St Margaret’s loaned three key works for the exhibition – two of the carved wooden figures from the Youth Chapel screen (Captain Cook and Elizabeth Fry) and the Font cover. As curate at St Margaret’s at that time, I liaised with the William Morris Gallery over these loans and said that: “George Jack’s work at St Margaret’s has been much loved since Charles Winmill’s renovation at the turn of the last century which introduced many artefacts from the Arts and Crafts movement into the church. Jack’s work here demonstrates his versatility and skill as a craftsman and has great local significance as memorials to Barking’s fishing industry and links with Captain Cook and Elizabeth Fry. This exhibition will highlight an under-appreciated aspect of the significant history that can be found at St Margaret’s.”

I also arranged that, during the Barking Festival, Amy Clarke (Curator, William Morris Gallery) gave a short illustrated talk on George Jack and tour of the church showing Jack’s work at St Margaret’s.

2005/06 was a year at St Margaret's where there was a particular focus on the arts. The year began with a Christmas gift from a local artist. For some years George Emmerson had been painting the church, churchyard and the ruins of Barking Abbey and, as he left the borough, presented the church with a book of these paintings. The book is filled with watercolours set in intricately painted borders and complemented by historical information and personal reflections. It is a beautiful reminder of the history of the Abbey Green site in which St Margaret’s is located and a record of one person’s response to that history.

Lent 2005 saw the unveiling of an original painting commissioned for the Youth Chapel at St Margaret’s. Early in the morning was unveiled by the artist Alan Stewart and dedicated by the Bishop of Barking. The painting depicts Christ cooking breakfast for his disciples by Lake Galilee after his resurrection, as told in John's Gospel chapter 21. Stewart has painted a black Christ surrounded by disciples of every ethnic origin to reflect the diverse congregation that currently worships at St Margaret's. Through its lakeside setting the pastel painting also links to the stained glass window in the Youth Chapel commemorating the fishing industry in Barking.

Early in the morning was joined in the Youth Chapel by the second artistic gift St Margaret’s received in 2005/06. During a study visit to their link parish of Kristinehamn in Sweden the Church was presented with an icon of Christ blessing the children by the Norwegian painter Kjellaug Nordsjö, who is widely considered the best contemporary icon painter in Scandinavia. This icon is a window into Christ’s inclusivity and gentleness and a sign of the welcome that the Church seeks to give to all who come to St Margaret’s.

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Arvo Pärt - Silentium.

Monday, 10 February 2014

Church engagement with the Arts: Good practice

The William Morris Gallery currently has a small display of work by George Jack. Jack (1855-1931) architect, furniture-designer, wood carver, stained glass artist, and teacher, was an important contributor to the Arts and Crafts Movement. He trained as an architect in Scotland, and became a full-time assistant to Philip Webb in 1882. Through Webb, Jack was introduced to William Morris and from 1885 began to design furniture for Morris & Co. Subsequently he took up wood carving and plaster moulding.

From 1929-1936, the architect Charles Canning Winmill involved Jack in the repair and renovation of St Margaret’s Barking. By the time he worked on St Margaret’s, Jack was in his 70s and was quite ill. Despite this fact, his work for the church was admirable and included: the memorial window to the Hewitt family in the Lady Chapel, a pair of tall candelabra, decoration of the Chancel roof, a carved memorial tablet, eight carved figures on the Youth Chapel screen (Captain Cook, Elisabeth Fry, St Ethelburga, two Barking fishermen, Saint James, Saint John and Saint Nicholas), and the Fisherman’s window in the Youth Chapel.

Jack also enlisted the help of his daughter Jessie in painting the font cover at St Margaret’s. Jessie painted the existing wooden cover to a design by her father. The lettering around the rim says, ‘God hath given to us eternal life and this life is in his son’. Each segment is painted with a bird or butterfly on a mid-blue ground with gilding. This is the only known example of Jack’s daughter helping him with his decorative schemes. Sadly, his work at St Margaret’s was one of Jack’s last commissions, he died in December 1931.

From 29th April to 29th July 2006, the William Morris Gallery held the first exhibition solely devoted to George Jack. His name is familiar to many who are interested in Morris but most are not fully aware of the extent of his output. The exhibition aimed to bring this important artist to greater prominence and explored all aspects of his work. Exhibits were drawn from the archive held at the Gallery, which contains designs for work in plaster, furniture, woodcarvings, embroidery, letters and photographs, and from other collections. It is also brought to light the contribution of his wife and daughters.

St Margaret’s loaned three key works for the exhibition – two of the carved wooden figures from the Youth Chapel screen (Captain Cook and Elizabeth Fry) and the Font cover. As curate at St Margaret’s at that time, I liaised with the William Morris Gallery over these loans and said that:

“George Jack’s work at St Margaret’s has been much loved since Charles Winmill’s renovation at the turn of the last century which introduced many artefacts from the Arts and Crafts movement into the church. Jack’s work here demonstrates his versatility and skill as a craftsman and has great local significance as memorials to Barking’s fishing industry and links with Captain Cook and Elizabeth Fry. This exhibition will highlight an under-appreciated aspect of the significant history that can be found at St Margaret’s.”

I also arranged that, during the Barking Festival, Amy Clarke (Curator, William Morris Gallery) gave a short illustrated talk on George Jack and tour of the church showing Jack’s work at St Margaret’s.

2005/06 was a year at St Margaret's where there was a particular focus on the arts. Here is a press release which we issued at the time summarising the different projects which provide an example of good practice in church engagement with the Arts:

'St Margaret’s Barking has had a year of involvement in the Arts which began with a Christmas gift from a local artist.

For some years George Emmerson had been painting the church, churchyard and the ruins of Barking Abbey and, as he left the borough, presented the church with a book of these paintings. The book is filled with watercolours set in intricately painted borders and complemented by historical information and personal reflections. It is a beautiful reminder of the history of the Abbey Green site in which St Margaret’s is located and a record of one person’s response to that history.

During the year the Church has worked together with the Arts services department of the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. Led by Tracey McNulty and Catherine Miller, this team has been responsible for the A13 Artscape project, one of the most ambitious public arts projects in the

St Margaret’s first collaboration with them was Love& Light in which VJs and digital artists from plugfish filmed and digitally animated both members of the congregation and the surrounding flora and wildlife, setting them within delicate moving imagery before projecting them onto the windows, walls, roof and tower of the church. Projected onto the clear windows of the church were moving images of the local body of Christ at St Margaret's - dancing mums, waving ladies, an eight piece dance group, the verger and curate racing each other up the Church Tower, an imaginary teenage rock band, and a number of other spinning, walking, waving, smiling members of the congregation. This piece, rightly entitled Abbey Happy, was the church at play.

Studding this celebration of the congregation were reminders of Barking's past which drew on memorials contained within the church. Captain Cook's ship, The Endeavour, sailed again next to the stained glass window commemorating Barking's fishing heritage. This window then provided motifs of sea horses, shells and water that featured in several other projections. The whole was a joyful celebration, not just of St Margaret's special history, but also of its lively and diverse present. In it the church was truly seen as a place of love, light and laughter.

Over the course of the year St Margaret’s has also collaborated with Arts Services on two concerts for Refugee Week and the Molten Festival featuring concert pianist Manuel Villet, world music star Jide Chord and the children’s choirs from St Margaret’s School and Watoto Childcare. Music also featured in a taster workshop at the St Margaret’s Centre for the Sonic Spin course which provides training in Music Technology. Through a printmaking and design workshop we arranged for young people from local churches to contribute designs to the Making Barking Brilliant project which will see these and other designs turned by the artist Dale Devereux Barker into enamel panels and etched slabs located on walls and streets in Barking.

Finally, in January 2006 we will provide a venue for RE:Generation, a film and photographic project by Michael Cousin which explores local people’s memories of Barking’s past, their feelings about its present and their hopes and fears for the future. People from St Margaret’s feature in the film and have contributed their photographs and memories to the project. Community involvement has therefore been a major feature of these projects which attempt to contribute to the regeneration of the Town Centre and the well-being of its people.

Anthony Shapland has said of Michael Cousin that, “He successfully combines the naivety of a child, seeing the world afresh with a grown-up, stubborn belief that things could be different. He … [creates] a space for contemplation … He is … willing the viewer to look at something with new eyes, to experience reality refreshed.” This could well have been a manifesto for St Margaret’s year in the Arts and for the Lent course which explored images of salvation from conceptual art, figurative paintings, and feature films. Discovering spirituality in works such as Tracy Emin’s Bed, AndresSerrano’s Piss Christ, Abel Ferrara’s Bad Lieutenant and uncovering models of salvation in paintings from different periods of Art history was certainly eye-opening for many.

The Lent course culminated with the unveiling of an original painting commissioned for the Youth Chapel at St Margaret’s. Early in the morning was unveiled by the artist Alan Stewart and dedicated by the Bishop of Barking. The painting depicts Christ cooking breakfast for his disciples by Lake Galilee after his resurrection, as told in John's Gospel chapter 21. Stewart has painted a black Christ surrounded by disciples of every ethnic origin to reflect the diverse congregation that currently worships at St Margaret's. Through its lakeside setting the pastel painting also links to the stained glass window in the Youth Chapel commemorating the fishing industry in Barking.

Early in the morning has been joined in the Youth Chapel by the second artistic gift St Margaret’s received this year. During a study visit to their link parish of Kristinehamn in

Sweden

the Church was presented with an icon of Christ blessing the children by the Norwegian painter Kjellaug Nordsjö, who is widely considered the best contemporary icon painter in Scandinavia. This icon is a window into Christ’s inclusivity and gentleness and a sign of the welcome that the Church seeks to give to all who come to St Margaret’s.

Revd. Jonathan Evens, Curate at St Margaret’s, says:

“Our year in the Arts has refreshed our memory of our history, celebrated the present diversity of our congregation and community, contributed towards the future regeneration of our town centre, and created spaces for seeing the world, reality and our faith afresh. The value of the Arts for us and our community therefore speak for themselves.”'

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Arvo Pärt- Spiegel im Spiegel.