Reformation of an artistic kind
New Zealanders, by and large, are not really big on religion. We are essentially a pragmatic, empirical and utilitarian people.
Five hundred years ago a man nailed a document to a church door, the contents and fallout from which changed the Western world.
It happened in Germany, the man in question was Martin Luther and one of the things he was advocating was to cut out the middle man. The middle man was the priest. You can become your own priest, Luther argued, expressing a new brand of human confidence born during the Renaissance. We don’t need middle management any longer. DIY was the modern way.
This represented a major power shift. Not surprisingly the birth of Protestantism saw the beginning of major religious wars.
Fortunately most of us have finally learnt to get along since then. In 1906 in northern England, my Protestant grandmother married my Catholic grandfather. On Sundays they would set off to church together and, at the end of the street, part company to attend their different denominations to worship the same God. A model of tolerance and maturity for the times.
Religion itself has fallen out of favour for many since then but here in Hamilton a three-day conference called ‘‘Reformation 500’’ has just come to an end, to mark, celebrate and critically examine the consequences for us of what took place on October, 31, 1517, when Luther set the world alight with his 95 Theses.
There are always consequences. Ask missionary Samuel Marsden and the indigenous population of this country.
Martin Luther was German and one of the persons involved in the organisation of the conference also happened to be German, Norman Franke, former lecturer in languages at Waikato University.
I say, former, because Franke was one of many who suffered from the raft of recent ongoing redundancies conducted by the new slash-and-burn Vice-Chancellor, Neil Quigley.
As a consequence (there are always consequences) the conference with the presentation of academic papers, originally planned to be held at the university, was moved to facilities in the city, not least because the new university regime wanted monetary payment for this international gathering of academics on their premises.
This is hugely ironic since Protestantism itself is touted with being a contributing factor in the birth of capitalism, a dirty word now among many in this country.
This is how it worked. Wealth proved your state of divine election. God was smiling on you and the loud clink of coin in your pocket proved it. It was the sweet tinkling sound of your guarantee of eternal salvation. The rich would inherit the earth.
New Zealanders, by and large, are not really big on religion. We are essentially a pragmatic, empirical and utilitarian people. A spade is a spade and not a celestial garden implement for turning over the soil of the soul in the vineyard of the Lord.
Even the spiritual gets short shrift here. Evidence of that, if needed, was displayed in spades on TV 3’s The Project, the other night. In discussion about Labour’s policy of ‘‘free education’’ for tertiary students, presenter Kanoa Lloyd was happy to see it extended to the likes of nurses and engineers, but not to those ‘‘mucking about with art history’’. Andrew Little concurred.
Is it small wonder then that the Japanese see us as boorish and unsophisticated. And not just the Japanese. Yeah Nah.
Such jaw-dropping pronouncements expose our crude baseline functionalism. Not only is such a remark oblivious to the very real value of the subject in itself and what it offers by way of enrichment to life, but also ignores what it contributes, as an industry, to the economy and employment opportunities in the arts sector.
But we’re not big here on spiritual enrichment. Doh!
And speaking of Doh, a tiny example might be in order here.
In one of The Simpsons’ episodes, Grandpa Simpson, confronted with a dilemma, trudges through the mean streets of Springfield one night with it weighing on his mind, when he finds himself seated in a cheap diner. For those who’d studied their art history, they would have immediately recognised the environs of the place as that of the Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks. Enrichment.
For those wanting to feed their souls, get yourself over to a new art gallery just opened last week in Frankton, at 10 High Street. A group show of local artists’ work is on display. The gardens out the back are a classical revelation.
For others looking for art investment, take a peek at Aesthete Gallery, corner of Victoria and Rostrevor. There is a rare gem of a painting by Colin McCahon, sold for $65,000. Who says art doesn’t contribute to the gross national product? Goldie, Woollaston and Maddox are also there for the taking.
Then duck over to the Wallace Gallery in Morrinsville and you’ll see the work of Pat Paterson that captures the essence of the Waikato landscape with a number 8 wire theme.
My kind of Reformation.