Religion, Belief and Faith Identities in Learning and Teaching UAL – (Website now inaccessible)
What does diversity of religion and belief mean for the way we teach and support students at UAL? Consider how we address religion, belief, and faith identities through teaching, learning and research at UAL
Looking at the Art and Design research and resources, it was great to see the range of resources available from events, books and interviews. Something I did notice was the content did feel a bit dated and would help with an update. Going through some of the resources, I came across the Dazed article exploring “The groundbreaking artists challenging religion through art”. This list talked through art such as Giulia Marchi’s photo series, “Call her Fatimah”, looking at the lives of the female Muslim population in China to more controversial pieces such as Serrano’s Piss Christ – a photograph of the crucifix submerge in urine (The groundbreaking artists challenging religion through art, 2015).
This made me think about the intersection of art and religion. While arts and design are great tools to explore and connect to complex concepts, how to we navigate the freedom of speech while respecting other people’s views. This also raises the question of ownership and authority from being part or not part of a community. Does being part of a community allow you more access to ‘negatively’ explore or challenge certain ideas?
How do we separate healthy critique, criticism or representation from hate speech or blasphemy?
Recently, there has been protest over the release of the film “The Lady of Heaven” which tells the story of Lady Fatima, the daughter of Prophet Muhammad. With more than 120,000 people having signed a petition for it to be pulled from UK cinemas. “The Bolton Council of Mosques called the film “blasphemous” and “underpinned with a sectarian ideology” (Cineworld cancels The Lady of Heaven film screenings after protests, 2022).
The London-based executive producer, Malik Shlibak, responded to Cineworld’s decision: “That is something quite silly, because everyone has the ability to share their thoughts and enact their freedom of speech.”
On the other hand, Marvel has recently released a new mini-series, Ms Marvel which follows a Muslim American teen who struggles to fit in until she gains her own powers. The show has received huge praise for Disney’s first Muslim superhero story (Ms Marvel: Critics praise Disney’s ‘joyful’ first Muslim superhero story, 2022).
How could you apply the resources to your own teaching practice?
I would use this resource as a directory to look at to guide students interested in making work around the topic of faith and spirituality. I would additionally use as a jumping point for references – this work should not only be championed due to its exploration of faith but because of its process and concepts as well. I feel only promoting something because it fits in a certain criteria breeds the notion of tokenism. As Dr Erika Doss explains in her ‘Religion in Modern Art interview, “People are terrified to talk about Warhol as a Catholic artist, because then it is just called “Catholic art” (Religion in Modern Art: Interview with Dr. Erika Doss | Birmingham Museum of Art, 2015).
Bibliography:
Dazed. 2015. The groundbreaking artists challenging religion through art. [online] Available at: <https://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/article/28290/1/the-groundbreaking-artists-challenging-religion-through-art>.
BBC News. 2022. Cineworld cancels The Lady of Heaven film screenings after protests. [online] Available at: <https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-61729392>
Birmingham Museum of Art |. 2015. Religion in Modern Art: Interview with Dr. Erika Doss | Birmingham Museum of Art. [online] Available at: <https://www.artsbma.org/religion-in-modern-art-interview-with-dr-erika-doss/>.
BBC News. 2022. Ms Marvel: Critics praise Disney’s ‘joyful’ first Muslim superhero story. [online] Available at: <https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-61743910>.