We’re honored to learn from Makoto Fujimura about his book “Art and Faith: A Theology of Making,” published by Yale University Press.
Thākurganj Art and Faith is a theological and poetic book that explores the ways art and spirituality interplay.
Fujimura reveals how creative acts — and making art can help us understand more about God’s work in our lives and how our own creativity can mirror divine creative acts.
Ranging from the Bible to T. S. Eliot, and from Mark Rothko to Japanese Kintsugi technique, Fujimura shows how unless we are making something, we cannot know the depth of God’s being and God’s grace permeating our lives.
You can subscribe or download this show on iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe to the video series on YouTube.
Here’s an overview of the our conversation:
EP16: Art & Faith: A Theology of Making
In this podcast, Makoto Fujimura discusses why he wrote this book, his writing process (and the flow state of creation), developing the discipline of writing, dealing with trauma and continuing to create art, how the church has failed to address trauma, and ways to cultivate more empathy.
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Topics covered:
Why write this book
Culture Care
Arts Advocacy
On Writing & Flow State
Painting vs Writing
Discipline of Writing
God is with us in suffering
Christ tears are the pinhole
Crossway project to illuminate holy gospels
Creating art during traumatic times
Painting “Silence & Beauty”
Advice for Artists
Church failures
Cultivating more empathy
N.T. Wright
Video conversation:
Makoto Fujimura
Makoto Fujimura is the founder of the International Arts Movement and the Fujimura Institute, and co-founder of the Kintsugi Academy.
Fujimura is also an arts advocate, writer, and speaker who is recognized worldwide as a cultural influencer. A Presidential appointee to the National Council on the Arts from 2003-2009, Fujimura served as an international advocate for the arts, speaking with decision makers and advising governmental policies on the arts.
His book “Refractions” (NavPress) and “Culture Care” (IVPress) reflects many of his thesis on arts advocacy written during that time. His books have won numerous awards His books have won numerous awards including the Aldersgate Prize for “Silence and Beauty” (IVPress). In 2014, the American Academy of Religion named Fujimura as its 2014 “Religion and the Arts” award recipient. This award is presented annually to professional artists who have made significant contributions to the relationship of art and religion, both for the academy and a broader public. Previous recipients of the award include Meredith Monk, Holland Cotter, Gary Snyder, Betye & Alison Saar and Bill Viola.
Makoto Fujimura founded the International Arts Movement in 1992, now IAMCultureCare, which over sees Fujimura Institute. In 2011, the Fujimura Institute was established and launched the Four Qu4rtets, a collaboration between Fujimura, painter Bruce Herman, Duke theologian/pianist Jeremy Begbie, and Yale composer Christopher Theofanidis, based on T.S. Eliot’s Four Quartets. The exhibition has travelled to Baylor, Duke, and Yale Universities, Cambridge University, Hiroshima City University and other institutions around the globe.
He is a recipient of four Doctor of Arts Honorary Degrees; from Belhaven University in 2011, Biola University in 2012, Cairn University in 2014 and Roanoke College, in February 2015. His Commencement addresses has received notable attention, being selected by NPR as one of the “Best Commencement Addresses Ever”. His recent 2019 Commencement Address at Judson University, was called “Kintsugi Generation”, laying out his cultural vision for the next generation.
