art

[mahogany]

One of good things my mother did for me when raising me in racist, backward, small town northern Alberta, was insist on buying me a black dolls, finding literature with black heroes/heroines, and subscribing to magazines aimed at black people.

When you're the only chocolate sprinkle in the whole joint, having representations of beauty and positivity that reflect your own type of beauty and goodness is a huge deal.

For me it's a no brainer to try and include multicultural (why just stop at black or white, when there's so much beauty in the world?) literature, toys and images.

When it comes to Catholic literature and imagery, this is easier said than done. It's down right difficult! I purchased a copy of the Balitmore Catechism to use with my kids. It's brutal! I understand that it was a reflection of the time it was written, and that the images were geared toward the intended audience, which at that time may have been racially homogeneous, but COME ON! Can't someone revise the art work to be inclusive and representative of the church as it is today?

Also, I'd love to have a small prayer corner in our home. In it, I'd love to have a copy of the Divine Mercy image. Do you think I can find a non-Eurocentric version of the image? Nope. Not even close. I keep coming up with the same three versions (Vilnius, Skemp and Hyla) If it exists, it's beyond the reach of my limited Google abilities. I'm not looking for a black Jesus either, btw. I'd really love some art work that depicts him as middle eastern, since you know, that's what he was, and all.

My mom is doing a pilgrimage to the holy land in a few weeks. I've asked her to bring me back one piece of non-eurocentric Catholic original art if she stumbles across anything that isn't a gazillion dollars. I'm crossing my fingers.

Yes, I make a big deal out of stuff like this. It is important. What we read has a profound impact on how we perceive others, and on our own self-esteem. There is the overt stuff. The overt stuff is actually easier to counter-act. The subtle stuff, like a lack of inclusion in books and magazines is actually much harder to counter-act, but it can be done. It all starts with awareness.

Comments

[kishiriadgr.livejournal.com]

I feel your pain. I asked my mom to find me a Sacred Heart where Jesus didn't look like a blonde Breck Girl with a beard. There aren't any! I saw one very crudely-executed black Sacred Heart, and that was it.

The Divine Mercy might have some appearances in Orthodox-style art, and that tends to have a darker Jesus. At least the one small ikon I have does.

[annabellissima.livejournal.com]

Actually, white-washing is one of my biggest pet peeves with Catholic schlock. One of my biggest pet peeves are all the holy cards and depictions of the saints as white. Just about EVERY saint is depticted as white (for example, the Spanish saints like Teresa de Avila, St. John of the Cross, etc).

The ONLY saints that seem to be multi-cultural are St. Martin de Porres and St. Tekakwitha.

Another pet peeve is how we butcher the saints' names by Americanizing them (for example (again) Avila, de Sales, etc).

Yeah... it's embarrassing that such an amazingly rich cultural faith is misrepresented so much by Catholic companies. But then... I've seen plenty of Asian, and Black Madonnas with Child, so *shrugs* I guess it's just the state of things.

[toezontheground.livejournal.com]

What about stuff from Latin American Catholicism?

[garpu.livejournal.com]

I wonder as the non-Caucasian Catholic population surges if those issues you raise might finally be addressed. It *is* a big deal, as Jesus and Mary probably weren't Scandinavian or European to begin with.

Then again how many non-Europeans are Cardinals?

[daisan.livejournal.com]

I hate the Divine Mercy image precisely because it shows the whitest white Jesus that ever did live. Blue-green eyes? Hello? It bothers me so much that I can't concentrate on the prayer if I'm looking at that image.

I completely understand and sympathize with the difficulty of finding multi-racial pictures in Catholic literature. My St. Joseph's catechism, which is based on the Baltimore, has a picture of two white boys and one says to the other, pointing at a black boy, "Let's go tell him how happy we are that he's moved into our neighborhood!" *cringe* It was probably a great lesson in the mid 60s when integration was happening and there was a great fear of the "other", but is woeful and condescending in the current racial climate.

I remember reading that the Church has made an effort recently to make country-specific Catechisms available, and there is an African Pauline Press which seems to have prayer books that depict Africans in prayer. That might be going too far in the opposite direction, since you want multi-cultural rather than homogenous, and also because Canada is NOT Kenya. I also don't know the logistics of ordering and shipping. But maybe it's worth a look? http://www.paulinesafrica.org/reprints.html

[lovejunk.livejournal.com]

Try Filipino stores, there were at least non-specifically brown saint statues in my house growing up.