By now the Creator’s Sacrifice has been viewed by many people and celebrated in two mid-week services. Many school age children have also come through Hope Fellowship to see them.
Not everyone, however, has been thrilled with Ovide Bighetty’s paintings. The use of aboriginal characters and Woodland Cree symbols to illustrate the Easter story has left some confused. One person even wrote, “I had a hard time accepting the symbolism that I saw. To me Jesus died on the cross, not on a pole. To me, the dove is the bird of our Christian beliefs, not the eagle. And when the glory of God is shown, it is done by rays of sunlight, not lightning bolts.”
It’s helpful to remember that every person hears and sees the familiar Bible stories through the eyes of their culture and experience. Therefore, European artists tend to visualize Jesus as blond and white, Nigerian artists imagine him to be black, and aboriginal artists picture him as a First Nations chief.
It also helps to remember that true artists, be they red or yellow, black or white, are not that concerned with literal portrayals of their subject matter. Just as well when it comes to the pre-Kodak, pre-cellphone Easter story, since no one knows what Jesus or the cross actually looked like. What good art seeks to do is communicate the heart of the artist to the heart of the viewer in a way that elicits a response or a change of perspective. The Creator’s Sacrifice succeeds in being both thought provoking and healing.
Personally speaking, it has been wonderful to ‘hear’ the gospel story through the eyes and ears of someone who was raised in a totally different culture and natural environment. It amazes me that Ovide Bighetty loves the same Jesus that I do even though so many followers of Jesus mistreated the artist’s people so badly.
Join me in thanking God for the Indian Metis Christian Fellowship in Regina that commissioned this hopeful reminder of the power that Christ has to attract, heal and reform relationships between people from every tribe and nation.
- Pastor Peter
Not everyone, however, has been thrilled with Ovide Bighetty’s paintings. The use of aboriginal characters and Woodland Cree symbols to illustrate the Easter story has left some confused. One person even wrote, “I had a hard time accepting the symbolism that I saw. To me Jesus died on the cross, not on a pole. To me, the dove is the bird of our Christian beliefs, not the eagle. And when the glory of God is shown, it is done by rays of sunlight, not lightning bolts.”
It’s helpful to remember that every person hears and sees the familiar Bible stories through the eyes of their culture and experience. Therefore, European artists tend to visualize Jesus as blond and white, Nigerian artists imagine him to be black, and aboriginal artists picture him as a First Nations chief.
It also helps to remember that true artists, be they red or yellow, black or white, are not that concerned with literal portrayals of their subject matter. Just as well when it comes to the pre-Kodak, pre-cellphone Easter story, since no one knows what Jesus or the cross actually looked like. What good art seeks to do is communicate the heart of the artist to the heart of the viewer in a way that elicits a response or a change of perspective. The Creator’s Sacrifice succeeds in being both thought provoking and healing.
Personally speaking, it has been wonderful to ‘hear’ the gospel story through the eyes and ears of someone who was raised in a totally different culture and natural environment. It amazes me that Ovide Bighetty loves the same Jesus that I do even though so many followers of Jesus mistreated the artist’s people so badly.
Join me in thanking God for the Indian Metis Christian Fellowship in Regina that commissioned this hopeful reminder of the power that Christ has to attract, heal and reform relationships between people from every tribe and nation.
- Pastor Peter
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