For a long time now I have had a huge fascination with ancient religious and cultural forms of art. I find myself attracted and inspired by art that has the power to religiously encapsulate people and not only inspire them but also strengthen their faith in the supernatural and in God. Faith and religion should be understood and appreciated and I feel that there should be enough forms of gaining knowledge so it becomes more accessible. There is a much greater audience that will be interested in watching a documentary than those wanting to read the Bible.
I have extensively researched into various forms of the art of eternity including the Egyptian, Iranian an Greek forms and I am constantly on the lookout for more art of this kind to fulfill my desire for the art and increase my knowledge of it and answer some basic questions that have baffled the minds of artists and art critics over centuries. My project will be focus on the religion Christianity rather than faith and religion as a whole subject and the reason for this is that I am a strong and practicing Christian myself.
My further research began by watching documentaries about Religion & Ethics , especially those presented by Andrew Graham Dixon on BBC channel 4. The idea behind this documentary was to increase the understanding of the audience as to what Christianity actually is. Andrew Graham Dixon’s film was one of the most informative documentaries. This was a 3 part series consisting of ‘Painting Paradise’ in which the mysteries of the art of the pre-perspective era are unraveled. Part 2 was ‘The Glory of Byzantium’ which involved in depth research of the Byzantine Empire and the last episode was ‘When East meets west’ in which the evolution of art is examined.
Through this documentary several questions that have remained a mystery for thousands of years have finally found their answers. Some of these questions include how art should depict the relationship between man and his God? How art can express external values? And one of the most important questions; should you portray the face of God?
