About spirituality and the sacred

Republished from Tom Hartley's notes
http://www.facebook.com/notes/tom-hartley/
politically-correct-art/10150101769807770?
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Example of Aboriginal Art at Chilliwack Hospital

(photo of public relations release, Fraser Valley Health)

• David Vineberg likes this.
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    Roseann L Peters beautiful

    2 hours ago ·  ·  1 person
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    Josephine Cutaran Gibbs This art work does not look at all religious to me, Tom. What was the person's objection exactly, I mean what was the rationale behind the thinking that it is? It certainly looks decorative. Aside from the symbols, which means nothing to me except as the archaic spirals reminiscent of celtic knots, there is no other structure to say what it could mean but if you look at the art of Rothko (chapel) in which he uses a colour in an non-representational way, which just looks like a homogenous field, was said to be religious because it indicates a purity and transcendent 'space' for contemplation, etc. In this context, maybe it is religious but it is really stretching it a bit too far.

    about an hour ago ·  ·  1 person
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    Tom Hartley Well said. The person in question merely said it was offensive because it is spiritual. The picture I took is not the whole exhibit which will be unveiled this Friday, but is representive of what will be shown. I guess the argument is so silly we must conclude racism and religious zealotry are what motivates the complainer.
    
    The Rothko sounds spiritual, transcendent and sublime, to me, but not religious by any stretch of the imagination. I assume those who said it was religious were not complaining, just describing the work, which is fair enough. But this person is actually asking for censorship! One gal (first nations) said she was in tears after reading the compainer's letter, and in her comment on the newspaper's website said she felt the letter writer was being racist. I have to agree, though I will not make that claim in my letter to the editor. I will, however, consider how to bring your point about representational art into the debate since the descriptions of the medicine man & woman, cedar spindle whorl and healing wheel, though clearly 'representing those things," do not have the iconographical punch that, say, a cross might.
    
    As for religious vs spiritual, would you consider the aboriginals in your area to be religious as opposed to spiritual? I think that while religion is necessarily spiritual, the spiritual is not necessarily religious, though it is hard to distinguish the two.

    about an hour ago · 
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    Josephine Cutaran Gibbs Thats difficult to answer because unlike the western paradigm ( in which every field is segregated) every facet of Aboriginal life is wholistic. Their religion/spirituality is tied up with culture, songs, dance, ritual, all facets of everyday life even. So everything they do while living and dying is sacred. They are part of a conitnuum from their ancestors to the present, hopefully (lol) unbroken throughout to their children an dtheir children after. Its like being part of a river of life. They have no concept of the secular as we know it Tom. There is only taboo, being disrespectful or the profane. I think what the complainer is doing is typical of the WASP (white anglo-saxon protestant) reaction. They like self-control or suppression of the sensual, the stuff that is confronting or disturbing side of spirituality. It all goes back to the Neo-platonists. I guess religion has become more mind than the whole polyphonic experience of most indigenous culture. It doest have to be mind vs body duality. I think that the wasp (now synonymous with western culture) mentality is afraid of the sacred. Obviously the labels/card featuring the native verbal language as well as the visual language it identifies were threatening. This labelling was threatening to the complainer's sense of identity just as it is validating to the peoples whose honour the artwork was made. It makes the complainer an invader, the baddie without any moral high ground IMHO.

    49 minutes ago ·  ·  1 person
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    Tom Hartley Awesome point, Josephine. I will steal the wholistic notion if you don't mind. OMG that is so germane to this subject. I would go one step further and suggest that the compartmentalization your refer to actually contributes to mental and, by extension, physical disease! Thanks.

    28 minutes ago · 
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    Josephine Cutaran Gibbs No worries Tom. Glad to be of help.

    24 minutes ago · 
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    Tom Hartley 

    Ok I added this for now and will keep going.
    
    "....In fact, consider how the art in question seems the opposite of "religious" in that it does not distinguish between the spiritual and the physical as does Christianity, Islam, etc, and instead encompasses a wholistic concept of health that is remarkably absent in Western medicine. The artists respectfully represent our elders and their lore, the earth and the herbs it provides, and the circles in life that require balance."

    13 minutes ago ·  ·  1 person
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    Alma López-Tolman 

    It seems to me perfectly appropriate to display local cultural images of gathering of herbs by women, who are traditionally the ones who would care after the sick, and words that convey healing, life, care, hope and strength in a hospital setting.
    
    Your lady seems to lack understanding..

    6 minutes ago ·  ·  1 person