We invited Alister Pate of Caféchurch to report back on the Spiritus et Locus project which was partially funded by the Kirk Robson Theology and the Arts Memorial Fund during 2014. He writes:
Spiritus et Locus, part of Melbourne Fringe Festival, was a project devoted to giving people an opportunity to practice an active looking for God in the world. It was a form of examen, where we tried to practice awareness of the presence of God in our ordinary lives. The process of photography and reflection brought forth all sorts of surprising juxtapositions: from the highly formal and structured, to the very impromptu, from reflections on the memories triggered by an image, to the feelings aroused by the awareness of God’s presence. We worked hard to make the event as accessible to non-Christians as possible, especially around the promotional material. At all times, we asked the question: how can we talk truthfully from our tradition in a way that does not put up arbitrary boundaries that serve mainly to exclude? Not everyone who participated in the project would identify as a Christian, and those who did came from a variety of faith traditions, both Protestant and Roman Catholic.
The project had three threads. Firstly, it was, and remains, a web presence, including Facebook and Twitter feeds. 710 people viewed the website, and our Facebook posts (some of which were paid promotions) reached into the thousands, and went from nothing to 118 likes.
Secondly, it was a physical exhibition, sited in the Church of All Nations sanctuary building, designed, styled, and bumped in (and out) mainly by Caféchurch and Indigenous Hospitality House (IHH) members. Thirdly, it was a fundraiser for IHH , and the School of St Yared, Ethiopia. Both of these groups have an organic connection to the sponsoring organisations, and the event raised the profile of both, as well as raising over a thousand dollars to support their work.
Around 40 people participated in the exhibition, submitting images and reflections. Everyone had at least one image displayed as a hard copy in the physical exhibition at the Church of All Nations in Carlton, and all the images and reflections were projected onto the wall. Several hundred people came and saw the images, ranging from members of the two congregations who co-sponsored the event (Church of All Nations, and Caféchurch), members of one of the choirs who use the building, members of the 12 steps group that use the rooms in the parish centre next door, and people who came clutching their Fringe guide like a talisman
The exhibition itself was laid out in the carpeted area of the church, in two gentle curves of dark partitions, creating a nurturing space. Each image was printed out 10×4 and pinned to the partitions, along with the reflection from the site. The vibe was “pop up” and “community”, but with serious attention made to things like the branding (for instance all the text in the building was done using Quaddraat and Quaddraat Sans) in order to provide the sort of professional, non-naff, appearance that people in our culture expect from cultural events. Appropriate texts were presented in large posters around the church. Many candles were lit. A card providing a suggested way of participating in the exhibition was made available.
Many of those who came were profoundly moved by the images, by the space and stillness, and by the experience more generally. Let one moment of my time there serve to sum up the experience for me as curator.
“It’s a very… strong image,” said one of the visitors, “it reminds me a lot of my cell in Bathurst Gaol.”
