Look to the Arts for True Meaning
From Mila Szczecina, Johannesburg
Have you ever asked why…art? What is its purpose? What is its underlying attraction?
“…as Genesis has it, all men and women are entrusted with the task of crafting their own life.” – St John Paul. (Artist unknown)
Why does the Sistine Chapel have the ability to draw more than 5 million visitors per year? How can a film such as Avatar gross $2,7 billion and a musical like The Phantom of the Opera run for over 25 years, performing to over 140 million?
Is this mere coincidence or does it point to some deep human desire?
St John Paul II once stated that through his “artistic creativity” man appears more than ever “in the image” of God. The late pope had a love for poetry and literature, and as a young man was an actor.
His passion for the arts was fully expressed when in 1999 he delivered a “Letter to Artists”, aimed at reconnecting the Church and the arts.
The radio series “ART: A Revelation of Truth” is based on this very letter. Over a period of seven weeks a panel of young artists, touched by this saintly pope, will explore the topics: “The Artist: Image of God the Creator”, “Redefining Beauty”, “Celebrity and Uncovering your Gifts”, “Art and the Mystery of the Word made Flesh”, “The Illuminated Artist”, “The Creator Spirit” and “The Artist’s Mission”.
St John Paul had an enormous heart for the arts and his letter uplifts the dignity and the need for artists to arise and to live out their true vocation — yes, it is a calling.
“Not all are called to be artists. Yet, as Genesis has it, all men and women are entrusted with the task of crafting their own life: they are to make of it a work of art, a masterpiece,” St John Paul said.
The Church desperately needs artists to rediscover the true meaning of art so that they will use it to reveal what is true, good and beautiful.
I appeal to all artists, “closet creatives” and anyone interested in the arts to listen to “ART: A Revelation of Truth”, which airs weekly from Sunday, June 7 at 18:00 (after the Angelus) on Radio Veritas 576AM (also on DStv’s audio channel 870 or streamed on the Internet at www.radioveritas.co.za).
We need to create a community of artists and supportive patrons who are willing to reclaim the true meaning of art, those who are willing to reveal the invisible God to a world so desperately in need of seeing him.
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