December 0,
Faith, Art and Poetry in a Post-Christian Culture
How does faith shape the work of an artist or poet, in an era when words and images from the Christian tradition are often trivialized, distorted or dismissed in the wider culture? What are the challenges for artists who speak prophetically to our time? Join us for a weekend conference exploring these questions, with a special focus on the art and poetry of David Jones (1895–1974). Jones’s unusual and compelling visual and poetic work explores the “sacramental” practice of the artist in a contemporary world torn by violence and cultural fragmentation. His essay “Art and Sacrament” has been hailed by Rowan Williams as “one of the most important pieces of writing in the twentieth century on art and the sacred.”
This residential weekend conference will include the screening of Derek Shiel’s new documentary film on David Jones and conversations with international experts on the life and work of this artist, poet and prophet. With their help we will explore the implications of a sacramental approach to art and poetry in our time, reflecting on how such a vision might shape and inspire our own work.
Jointly sponsored by Georgetown University Library and the Cathedral College at Washington National Cathedral.
Esther de Waal is a well-known Anglican scholar of the Cistercian, Benedictine, and Celtic traditions of Christian spirituality. Her first book, Seeking God: The Way of St. Benedict, continues to be a bestseller and has been translated worldwide. It was followed by Living with Contradiction: Further Reflections on the Rule, A World Made Whole: Rediscovering the Celtic Tradition, A Seven Day Journey with Thomas Merton and, most recently Lost in Wonder: The Spiritual Art of Attentiveness. She lives in the Welsh Borders.
Derek Shiel is one of the foremost scholars of David Jones’s visual arts: his drawings, paintings, engravings, inscriptions, and carvings. With Jonathan Miles he co-authored David Jones: The Maker Unmade, published by Seren in 1995. He has lectured extensively on David Jones in England and Wales and written for various journals and exhibition catalogues. In early 2008 he completed the documentary film In Search of David Jones: Artist, Soldier, Poet, as writer and director. The film was commissioned by the David Jones Society and is now being screened at arts and cultural venues across Britain.
Dr. Kathleen Henderson Staudt works as a teacher, poet, and spiritual director at a number of institutions in the Washington, D.C. area. She teaches at Virginia Theological Seminary, Wesley Theological Seminary, and the University of Maryland on writing, poetry, spirituality, and Christian vocation. Her poetry, essays, and reviews are published widely and she is the author of two books: At the Turn of Civilization: David Jones and Modern Poetics and Annunciations: Poems out of Scripture.