Issue theme: Religion and Contemporary Art

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The fascination with esotericism in the Russian artistic community of the Silver Age has been studied quite well, but we cannot claim the same about a similar phenomenon in the Soviet era, mostly due to censorship restrictions and the typical secrecy of the mystic artists themselves. Nowadays the relevant information can be collected in the artists’ personal archives and correspondence, as well as in the memoirs. The belonging of certain artists to cultural societies where communication on such topics took place is equally important, e. g. the so-called “Roerich movement” and, in particular, the circles formed around the artists-cosmists of the creative group “Amaravella”. Finally, the connection of a number of artists with the corresponding cultural centers is of great importance for these studies: e. g. the Darwin Museum in Moscow (created initially as an anthroposophical center), or the theosophist Maximilian Voloshin’s house-museum in Koktebel. This paper explores these mystical-theosophical influences on painting and sculpture in the USSR.

The article explores the dialogue between Christian churches and contemporary art in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). First, the so-called Evangelical Art Services, created as early as the 1920s, became a platform for dialogue with those art movements that were not encouraged by the socialist state. Secondly, the policy of the GDR regarding the construction of Christian churches was contradictory: on the one hand, there was support for the restoration of churches damaged during the Second World War; on the other hand, it was difficult to obtain permission to build new churches. The state program of the 1970s and 1980s, “Churches for new cities,” had pragmatic goals in many respects. Thirdly, the cultural policy of the GDR was quite successful in creating a new secular humanistic culture. Artists mostly belonged to a broadly understood “realism,” which often admitted classical patterns, including mythological and religious motifs, while they could hold different views on religion or remain atheists. Religious motifs and symbols in painting helped to express existentially significant issues of life and death, good and evil; understanding the tragedy of World War II; they conveyed the artist’s political beliefs and contributed to the understanding of the position of the artist in modern society. Thus, even in the countries of the “Eastern Bloc” the artistic quest for religious understanding of reality remained relevant, and Christian churches were interested in dialogue with contemporary art.

The article traces the history of the Lutheran Church of St. Anna (Annenkirche) in St. Petersburg as a media space that applies relevant visual means and techniques of modern art exhibition technologies to represent the ideas of Christianity. The church was badly damaged in the fire on December 3, 2002 and was handed over back to the community in 2013. Over the past few years it has become one of the main exhibition sites for contemporary Christian art in St. Petersburg, which allows to raise funds for the planned renovation of the church and helps to increase the number of parishioners. The article covers exhibition projects that took place in Annenkirche during the period of 2017–2022, main ideas of these projects, sources of inspiration and allusions to recognizable artistic and cultural characters. The experience of the Annenkirche is considered in the context of the world experience of using contemporary artistic practices by Christian communities.

The focus of this article is prophetic painting in Pentecostalism as a special kind of spiritual “call from God” and as a creative practice in which believers through painting enter into relations with God. The task of the article is to understand what place the painting occupies in the practices of “the gifts of the Holy Spirit” in Pentecostalism. The author considered the eschatological, prophetic, redemptive perspectives of art in Pentecostal teaching and practice. Based upon interviews with participants in master classes and materials in artists’ blogs, the author shows the ideas of Pentecostal artists about prophetic painting. The author considers prophetic painting as a spontaneous performance of worship and as a form of visual prophecy that provides the feelings of reality, authenticity of action of the Holy Spirit in the life of believers.

The article discusses the problem of representing spiritual Christian meanings with materials and techniques of the secular art. The author draws analogies between the role of materials and techniques, their symbolic meaning in liturgical art and in contemporary Christian culture. The articles analyzes the works of contemporary artists, created both in traditional materials such as wood and metal, and using modern technologies. Based on both academic works devoted to this issue and interviews with artists, the author identifies trends emerging in modern secular Christocentric art: the use of ruined materials or modern digital tools; the prevalence of the material expressiveness over the image; the rethinking the techniques and symbols of the icon. The results obtained, from the author’s point of view, allow us to show the modern artistic tendency towards abstract forms using elements of iconography and updating the language of modern art in a Christian context.

Despite the overwhelming secularization of culture in the last century, the dialogue between the Church and contemporary art in Europe continues. The Catholic Church in Europe supports several art centers for contemporary art that stays in dialogue with Christianity. The ideology of such activities can be defined as a cautious attempt to introduce Christian discourse into the debates of the modern postsecular society. Since 2004 the author, a practicing artist, has been involved in some international projects of this kind, and in this essay he shares his experiences and thoughts.

The article discusses the ability of mosque architecture to express meanings beyond those that are purely religious — first of all, to serve as an instrument of political rhetoric. In contemporary Islamic architectural practice (including Russia) following historical patterns, into which other meanings are invested, is becoming widespread. Using the historic neo-Ottoman trend in the architecture of the Republic of Turkey as an example, the author demonstrates the use of a mosque to proclaim the current doctrine of neo-Ottomanism, which combines nationalist and religious ideas. The spread of this trend as a result of the “diplomacy of architecture” led to a narrowing of the scale of formal searches in the construction of mosques at the turn of the 20th–21st centuries, and very different meanings could be invested in the same borrowed architectural forms (pan-Turkism, pan-Islamism, appeal to national traditions). The recent competition of projects for the Kazan Cathedral Mosque demonstrates, on the one hand, an attempt to limit the spread of neo-Ottoman forms and create a new example of the national style, but, on the other hand, it showed the dependence on existing patterns and the inability of architects to offer a clear alternative to these forms, which would be close to believers and understandable to the citizens. The ability of the architectural image of a contemporary mosque to rhetorically convey certain meanings (even not taken into account by customers and architects) is more important than the very fact of creating a mosque as a religious building.

The uniqueness of the Iranian artistic language lies in a special pictorial language full of anthropomorphic images. This is largely due to the Shi’ite Islamic tradition, in which the cult of martyrs plays an important role. Theatrical performances, ritual processions, paintings on the themes of sacred history are some of the cultural events associated with Shi’ism in Iran. During the 19th century due to close interactions with the European art, a bright, emotional type of images emerged (tile panels, painting on canvas, lithographies, etc.), usually associated with the tragic battle of Karbala (the central Shi’ite sacred story). The phenomenon of “Karbala painting” includes depiction of narrative scenes, images of heroes and also related attributes and rituals. Formation of the original iconography of these events was associated with a special, deliberately illustrative and figurative language, designed for the ultimate emotional response. After the Islamic Revolution of 1979, the theme received a new meaning and continues to be one of the favorite patterms for contemporary Iranian artists.

The article analyzes several aspects of the representation of the phenomenon of religion in M. Satrapi’s graphic novel “Persepolis”. The artistic material offers an original form of observation of religion in the socio-political and cultural context of Iran from 1980 to 1994, i.e. describes the events of the Islamic Revolution, the Iran-Iraq War and the post-war period in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Represented in a minimalist black-and-white style, the autobiographical comic shows the transformation of children’s religiosity, offers the experience of “lived religion”, and reveals various cultural codes: ancient Iranian Zoroastrianism, Islam, Christianity, feminist ideology, philosophical humanism. The focus is on issues of personal identity, the oppositions good/evil, freedom/pressure, native/foreign, subjective expectations/objective structures. The question of legitimacy of “oppression” becomes the dominant feature of reflection on religion. This issue is especially acute in the visualization of the artist’s rejection of the requirements of the Islamic dress code (hijab) and the prescribed normative behavior for women. The form of graphic narrative on the one hand reveals the existence of “invisible” forms of religion (conversations with God, prayers, dreams, experiences of family and cultural memory) and offers an alternative (protest) version of religion as a personally significant way of life.

The Japanese graphic novel — manga, and the closely related genre of animated films — anime, have long ceased to be regarded as only commercial. Being indeed influenced by Western popular culture, manga and anime at the same time absorbed the rich artistic tradition of Japan. Post-war manga, as a result of more than half a century of its development, has become a significant part of both Japanese and world culture. The interest for the Japanese graphic novel goes far beyond Japan. One of the notable features of this medium is interest in religion. There are many Shinto ideas and allusions; at the same time, as in popular culture forms, the manga shows religious syncretism, and along with Buddhist, Taoist and Confucian images, the artists include the elements of other religions, primarily Christianity. At the same time, the manga authors construct their own religious plots and entire religious systems reflecting significant religious processes taking place in society and influencing modern religiosity. In the article a special attention is paid to the natural religion of Hayo Miyazaki, reactualizing ancient Japanese traditions.

The article deals with reconstructions of Paul’s views on the Law, Jewish-Gentile relations, and redemption. These reconstructions were made by members of The Radical New Persepective on Paul / Paul within Judaism movement from the late 20th to the beginning of the 21st century. This movement has its origins in new perspectives on Second Temple Judaism. The radical new perspective on Paul argues the following characteristics in its construction of Paul: Paul remained fully Jewish even as a follower of Jesus; Paul remained Torah-observant; Paul writes to non-Jews and addresses his Gospel about a Jewish Messiah to Gentiles; Paul perceived humanity as consisting of two parts: Jews and non-Jews, even when united in the Messiah; Paul lived in a state of eschatological urgency with the end times and messianic age coming soon. Paul indeed sees himself as being involved in events that will lead to the salvation of the whole world. Paul’s Jewish ancestry and identity is a constitutive element of his self-understanding as apostle of Christ to the Gentiles. He is specifically occupied with the Gentile problem. Paul’s debates about Gentiles and circumcision can be understood as in-house Jewish debates about how to include Gentile outsiders in Jewish assemblies. Whenever Paul says anything negative about the Law, it is always about Gentile's relationship to the Law, not Jews’. Paul provides a way to maintain the particularity of his ethnic and religious identity without denying the ethnic and religious identity of others. Paul preaches a much more radical form of Judaism for Gentiles than diaspora synagogues ever requested, much less required. The scholars adhering to this perspective consider that Paul’s texts are not in the background of the Second Temple Judaism but as texts of the Second Temple Judaism.

The article explores the views of the Lebanese Shiite jurist-theologian Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah (1935–2010) on the nature of international relations in the 20th century. The article’s focus is on his concept of power and its role in defining the place of Muslim countries on the international stage. Two works by Fadlallah, “Islam and the Logic of Power” and “The Will for Power,” are under consideration. In these books he defines the nature of power and its practical implementation in the existing political world order. As an Islamic theologian, Fadlallah looks at religion’s significant role in public life. He formulates the concept of a “dynamic Islam” that responds to the changing historical context and the balance between the strong and the weak, which are in constant struggle. Such a “dynamic Islam” encourages resistance of the oppressed. The most important component of power, according to Fadlallah, is its intangible, non-material side — the spiritual strength of individual believers and the cohesion of society based on common ideas and goals.

In this paper I address the process of moral building in the community of the Spiritual Christians-teetotalers (Trezvenniki) of Brother Ioann Churikov, also known as the Churikovites. The paper is based on my fieldwork in 2019–2023 through participant observation, interviewing and online ethnography. The process of moral building begins at the moment of conversion and proceeds throughout the life of the adept. The theology of Sobriety includes, on one hand, a strict adherence to a set of rules and, on the other, it is seen as a teaching that brings spiritual and material benefits. I also discuss two levels of regulations the teetotalers are expected to observe. These levels differ in strictness, due to the mechanisms of compromise allowing the Churikovites to advance in their faith gradually and consciously. The main focus of the article is the mechanisms and affordances that enable the teetotalers to return to the community even when the vows of the Sobriety are broken.