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Saturday, June 06, 2009
Faith in Tradition : Jon and Tina Bailey Jonathan and Tina Bailey are ministers to artists in Bali. They ran a lectio divina workshop during CreateLeVoyage.com's writers group retreat in 2008. Dawn Fung interviews the Baileys about their work and perspectives of Christians in the arts. Joanathan and Tina BaileyDawn : What is your ministry in Bali? Jon : Our focus in Bali has been in basically two areas with regard to the arts. One has been to bridge communities. The Balinese are a warm and open people and their island, because of its popularity as a tourist destination, attracts people from around the globe. With a significant expatriate population, both Asian and non-Asian, communities can become isolated in one way or another. Most of our art activities, whether in performance or in visual art, seek to create a space where foreigner and local can discover our common humanity, build relationships and work together for the forming of healthy communities. The second area of focus has been with the church to encourage the development of and participation in the life of the Balinese community that surrounds it. We have done this by identifying artists who share a vision of the arts and faith and then exploring the road together. Most recently we have been part of the forming of an arts group that is developing new music and dance for the church. It asks the question: In what ways is God revealed to us all through Balinese art forms? We can, as people of faith in Christ, celebrate God's artistic work on this island and at the same time honour the tradition of Balinese art making. As you would imagine, not everyone in the Church understands the breadth of God's creative activity so there is at times a fear of, for example, worship forms that are non-Western in origin. So we seek to teach and to provide examples that suggest that God is not confined to a western cultural model of the faith. Dawn : It's true that "God is not confined to a western cultural model of the faith", and probably one of the worst myths is that it's a product of the west. In your work at Bali, especially using cultural forms of art, could you comment on how you "teach and to provide examples" for the church to understand that? (I remember Tina knows Balinese dance. Do you incorporate say, Bali dance to worship written with Balinese music intonations?) Jon : One project we are currently working on is the production of a body of gamelan compositions with accompanying dance based on concepts that include praise (as found in the psalms), scriptural texts, and also biblical stories. You can see a rather poorly shot video on Youtube of one piece we did at Christmas. It's a fascinating process to read scripture through Balinese eyes and see the art that emerges as an expression of that reading. It's different than simply taking a story and placing it in a local context. We're finishing up a new 20-minute legong piece based on Adam and Eve this month that will be recorded for local TV. I haven't seen the dance yet that is being choreographed for it, but I can't wait to see how it's interpreted. As background, let me say that we take great care in this process to recognise that there is a large body of music and dance that has been inspired by the Hindu tradition. We do not want, in form or fashion, to offend the Hindu community by appropriating their music and dance to our own purposes. Instead we look to create new pieces out of the rich heritage that this island enjoys. And so we depend largely on local professionals, of which there are only a few in the church community. Incidental to this process has been that we learn new ways of relating across religious lines. On the simplest level, our gamelan players are from different religious traditions. Playing music together, whether it is a new composition or a classic song from the Balinese court, brings us all together and we learn about each other and we find ways to support each other. On a more complex level, we find that some church leaders here are suspicious of the arts, partly at least because they may never have seen a local art form used in a redemptive context. Seeing it for the first time can open the door to consideration. We can talk about form and content separately but we can't practice them separately for the two rub off on each other. This, of course, is the major challenge: how does any form (whether it is painting, dance or sermon writing) accurately and authentically carry the message? Sermon writing and delivery is a highly complex art form and most hearers tend to be comfortable with a variety of styles of delivery and even interpretations of particular texts because we recognise the human element must necessarily be a part of the communication process. Art forms can be treated similarly for they are as complex and subject to multiple interpretations. Why then is it that we are sometimes suspicious of art unless the intent of the artist seems clear to us? When we talk about teaching, it would be better to say that we promote opportunities in which learning can take place, either formally or informally. We, ourselves, are learners when it comes to Asian art forms and Asian approaches to spirituality! But we definitely want to advocate for the inclusion of the gift of the arts into the life of the church. Dawn : I have been observing the Christian arts ministries for about seven years in Singapore now. Sometimes I get the feeling that the problem with Christians in the arts, is not so much disunity (nor failure to go to church) but really, the enjoyment of that personal relationship with Jesus Christ. That important Person who we are called to be with, is overrun by work commitment or issues of arts and faith. Do you have a thought about this? Jon : We often think of the Christian life as defined by the work we engage in for God, rather by becoming a person of faith as defined by the life of Christ. So being must precede doing if we are being drawn into the spiritual life of God. There is, of course, a 'work' to the spiritual life and that is largely about the development of a life discipline rather than the accomplishment of a set of tasks as good and as important as those tasks may be. Indeed if we are in fact overrun by work commitments or issues of arts and faith, but have not developed that inner space or quiet where God's spirit can dwell within us, then our relationship with Christ will likely remain superficial. Dawn : You did lectio divina last year with us. (I'll just state from Wiki : Lectio Divina is Latin for divine reading, spiritual reading, or "holy reading," and represents a traditional Christian practice of prayer and scriptural reading intended to engender communion with the Triune God and to increase in the knowledge of God's Word. It is a way of praying with Scripture that calls one to study, ponder, listen and, finally, pray and even sing and rejoice from God's Word, within the soul.) I'm not sure how much of the definition is what you attest to, but could you comment on the link/significance for art practitioners? Jon : Lectio Divina is sited among a variety of spiritual disciplines that have come down to us through history from the very beginnings of the Christian faith. The practice of Lectio has stood the test of time and is recognised as, among other things, a way to 'practice the presence' of God. Addressing the lack of awareness of God's presence in our daily lives is one of the classic challenges of the follower of Christ. And artists are no exception. So for the artist we can look at the value of Lectio from two perspectives. The first is the value to the artist who is looking for a deeper communion with God, who is looking for developing an inner quiet in order to better hear the 'voice' of God. The second is to recognise that a creative work of art can be a means through which God 'speaks'. In my mind it is a sort of specialised and intense opportunity for the viewer to become aware of God's presence because we are focused on the the artwork that is before us. So we can be attuned to God's presence as we read scripture and also as we view art. And God speaks through both of these as we seek to engage the subject and are open to God's voice. Now, I should add here that we're not placing a work of art on the same level as divinely inspired scripture. It's not unlike Jesus' use of parables or Joshua erecting a monument after crossing the Jordan river. But God's participation in our lives is a permeating of every facet of the day. When we develop the awareness of God through disciplines such as lectio we may find that our relationship with Christ takes on a whole new dimension. Dawn : Do you have any advice for church worship pastors and arts ministries in Singapore who want to break new ground in what they do and outreach? Jon : We find that many pastors and church leaders around the world have given little or no thought to the arts in ministry even though the scriptures frequently refer to art forms and are themselves in many cases examples of literary art forms that exemplify the functional principles of art. There are several classic works on the arts/culture in faith, and the past ten years have seen countless new books being written on the subject. I think the best advice I could give would be to become familiar with the theological conversations that are taking place across a wide spectrum of church backgrounds about the arts. As we move into the 21st century it is likely that the arts will play an increasing role in how our society understands, experiences and expresses the God and spirituality. Those who are familiar with the intersection of art and faith can help to bridge the gap that exists in the church and seek for ways to incorporate artists into the life of the church. One thing that we feel could be avoided comes from the modern fallacy that what is new is better. Consequently we in the church feel that we should always copy mainstream or pop music and incorporate it into worship. Instead of staying one step behind the mainstream, could we not explore the rich heritage of those who have gone before us? It's virtually impossible to create something entirely new, but we can innovate. Singapore, I think, has a tremendous opportunity to offer the region examples of art and worship that express the cultural diversity that God has blessed it with. Lastly, and briefly, we can't say enough about the need for quality in the arts that emerge from within the church. The goal is not to compete with artists outside the church, but if we produce quality work we will gain a hearing that is respected. You can email Jonathan and Tina Bailey at djono@mac.com
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