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![]() This festival which took place Sunday, April 28 at the Irmo community Park 1 to 4 PM, was a splendid success. A beautiful warm day with hundreds of people in attendance, dozens of vendors, a continual presentation of performances on stage, and an astounding display of artwork were the essential ingredients making it such a satisfying event. Cosponsored by IPSC (Interfaith Partners of South Carolina) and the town of Irmo, it was the result of a rather remarkable story of interfaith tensions, resolutions, and the eventual formation of critical new alliances. More about that history a little later. A key factor in the success of this festival was the deep involvement IPSC’s Mary Kennerly. Mary has deep ties throughout the community and served for many years as a principal in the local high school. For me the most outstanding element was the art contest for the youth. IPSC produces a calendar each year which features the artwork of our youth on the theme of peace and harmony in our community. Over 130 entries were received and displayed all around the outside and in several rows through the center of a pavilion which allowed all to view this work in the shade. Those who entered were given the option of also having their work entered into IPSC’s Peace in the Park competition and virtually everyone did. This year’s calendar promises to be stellar in the range and quality of art work that will be able to present there. On the stage a number of performances were given over the afternoon including dance exhibitions from our Hindu and Sikh communities, musical performances from various cultures in a poetry reading by young people who were selected as the winners of a separate poetry contest addressing the themes of peace, harmony and inclusivity. A local art teacher organized the presentation of a Rangoli, a giant one dollar like installation on one of the lawns consisting of flower petals, macaroni, various colors of soils all combined into various patterns and pictorial themes. Students, parents and others participated in making it before and during the festival. And no such festival would be complete without food in this festival delivered in grand fashion. It was food from a number of different cultures and plenty to drink including the very best lemonade I’ve ever been served, made from fresh lemons as you stood in line to receive it. It is very clear from the success of this initial festival that we can expect this to be an annual event drawing people from an ever wider circle in the Midlands of South Carolina. Now a bit about the remarkable history which led to this festival. In June this year, an opportunity presented itself for IPSC to mobilize in the midst of a local controversy. The Mayor of Irmo, Hardy King, had posted controversial comments about Islam on his Facebook page, prompting calls of both support and protest within the local community. IPSC wrote to the Mayor, offering to facilitate a meeting with local Muslims in Columbia. Mayor King informed us that he had already been approached by Chaudhry Sadiq, friend of IPSC and president of the ‘Peace and Integration Council of North America’ (PICNA) to visit the Masjid Noor Ul Huda. Members of IPSC joined the Mayor at the Masjid, and through those all-important encounters, we witnessed a remarkable transformation. Following the visit, the Mayor apologized for his original postings, acknowledging he had been received at the Mosque better than his own family reunion! Wanting to build on this initial step, IPSC worked in partnership with the Mayor and PICNA, to host a public forum entitled ‘Demystifying Islam’ in the heart of Irmo, took place from 5:30 to 8 p.m. on Aug. 30 at the Irmo municipal building. This was a valuable opportunity for people to come and learn about Islam, and to engage with panelists from the Muslim, Jewish and Christian community. This was an opportunity to ask questions and work together towards deconstructing harmful stereotypes, building in their place something far more enduring for strong and peaceable community. King said he was unaware of the ways in which Muslim leaders were distancing the faith from acts of terror until Sadiq spoke to him about it directly. Because of what is portrayed in the news media and on social media, King said, many people may believe Islam is a religion of terror and death. So he believed that this information session was very helpful to combat that perception. He said what started as a sour situation that drew much attention and backlash was, in his eyes, a great opportunity. “God has mysterious ways of bringing people together,” Sadiq said. It was on the basis of the strong relationship that Mayor King had formed with IPSC that he reached out to us to cosponsor this first annual Irmo international Festival.
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Even though I grew up in a Mormon community in semi-rural Utah, my mother’s love of art exposed me at an early age to religious Icons. I did not find them in churches but in books and found them beautiful and moving perhaps because I sensed the divinity behind them, not because I knew anything of Saints and the role of iconography in religion. As I grew older I saw Icons from many cultures and religions particularly Buddhism and Hinduism. Several years ago while at a Contemplative Aging retreat at Mepkin Abbey I had a conversation with Sister Annie, a Franciscan Nun, about St. Francis which lead to a discussion of the work of a colleague of hers Sister Kathleen Warren, who had produced a Movie and book called In the Footprints of Francis and the Sultan: A Model for Peacemaking which lead me down a fabulous rabbit hole, but that’s another story. Although I'll provide this link to a flyer I produced for the workshop I presented on the film. The cover for the movie was an exceedingly luminous Icon of St. Francis and Sultan Malik al-Kamil. I used that Icon to illuminate Rev. James King’s evocation of St. Francis’ prayer at the end of his article in the last issue of CommUnity. The artist is Brother Robert Lorentz and these green texts are links to his Robert Lentz website and Trinity Stores where some of his work is on sale.
Brother Robert has certainly stretched the bounds of western iconography. Here is a quote from him “The majority of my critics are uncomfortable with the way I move back and forth between the cultures in which I have had to live since childhood. They want tidy, black-and-white worlds that I have never known. From childhood I have had to deal with a Technicolor world in which I was never quite sure why there were so many fences. Byzantine icons stay safely behind Byzantine walls and look out at the rest of the world. Catholic images are hemmed in by Catholic fences. My icons ignore walls. They belong wherever there is life.” Here below are wondrous examples of his work which I view as a deep contribution to our Interfaith work. Click on image to see it fully. |
AuthorThis is Jim's Interfaith Blog. Any text which appears in Green also serves as a clickable link. Click on the categories below to filter your view to topics which interest you. Archives
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