CSWR Resources: Religion and Art

Since its founding almost fifty years ago, the Center for the Study of World Religions has explored the connections between religion and artistic expression. The initial gift establishing the CSWR mentioned "encouraging the creation of works of art, music, or literature which would stimulate sympathetic understanding of the religions of the world." Throughout the years, the CSWR has sponsored demonstrations, performances, and lectures relating to religion and art. We continue that tradition today with our film series and with other events such as the Wheel of Life Mandala, as well as through displaying works of art throughout our building.

Under the directorship of Lawrence Sullivan, the CSWR began to conceptualize a Museum of World Religions. From 2000 to 2004, the CSWR was home to the Religion and Arts Initiative. Most of the resources listed here from that time came from the work of that project. Some historical information about that initiative and about the work on a Museum of World Religions can be found in the history section of this website.

Lectures

• Ethics of Bewilderment, lecture by Lee H. Yearley (May 2009; video)
• Toward a Theology of Sound: Drum Talk, Oricha Worship, and Other Ecstatic Phenomena, lecture/demonstration by Katherine Hagedorn (April 2006; audio)
• Centering the Cosmos: Humanity and Space in Early China, by Michael Puett (November 2005; audio)
• Sacred Objects and Sacred Knowledge in Museum Spaces, by Martin Sullivan (November 2003; audio)
• Chant Wars: The Carolingian 'Globalization' of European Liturgical Song, a medieval music lecture/demonstration with Benjamin Bagby and Katarina Livljanic (April 2003; video)
• Making the "Disappeared" Visible, lecture and film of art by Doris Salcedo (December 2002; videos)
• Concert of Turkish Muslim Devotional Music performance and lecture with Virginia Danielson, Ali Asani, Cemal Kafadar, and members of Lalezar (October 2002; video)
• Materiality and Spectacle, panel chaired by Ronne Hartfield, with Anthony C. Yu, Diane Apostolos-Cappadona, and Youssouf Tata Cissé (April 2001; video)
• Beyond Repatriation, panel chaired by Bruce Bernstein, with Jim Pepper Henry, Terry Snowball, Gary Roybal, and Rubie Watson (April 2001; videos)
• Stewards of the Sacred Conference (February 2001; videos):
  • National Museum of the American Indian: Stewards of the Sacred, keynote address by W. Richard West;
  • Public Forum: Stewards of the Sacred, panel moderated by Ronne Hartfield, with Alison Edwards, Pierre Fortin, Douglas Greenberg, Elaine Heumann Gurian, Tom Hill, Jonathan King, Yutaka Mino, Dan L. Monroe, Steven Newsome, Dominique Ponnau, Catherine Reid, Douglas Sharon, Te Taru White, Lawrence Sullivan, Martin Sullivan, Rubie Watson, W. Richard West, and Roslyn Adele Walker

Photo Galleries

• Wheel of Life Mandala constructed by the Venerable Losang Samten (October 2005)
• Garden of the Gods, art installation by Dimitri Alithinos (June 2003)

Publications

• Stewards of the Sacred, edited by Lawrence Sullivan and Alison Edwards (2004; book co-published with the American Association of Museums)
• Musings on Barbarous Beauty, edited by Ronne Hartfield (2004;  book of fall 2001 colloquia proceedings)

Film

• Wheel of Life Mandala, a video of a Tibetan sand mandala created by Losang Samten and with commentary by Janet Gyatso (October 2005; video)
• Acto de Memoria, short video of Doris Salcedo art installation (December 2002; video)