Dates：2017-11-16 ~ 2018-03-04
Opening Hours : Tuesday–Sunday : 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Location：Special Exhibition Areas
Closing Day : The museum is closed every Monday, and Chinese New Year’s Eve to Chinese January 5th.
At the foundation of the Christian faith is the Bible. As a holy book, the Bible is a source of spiritual sustenance for over 100 million believers. Over the last 2000 years, the Bible’s stories have been retold countless times in painting as part of the artistic inspiration they evoked and the ecclesiastical and state support they received. These paintings were not just vehicles through which religious allusions and doctrines were spread, but were also important windows in which the images and sacred meaning of the Bible’s stories were conveyed to the public.
In 2007, the Museum of World Religions (MWR) held a special exhibition entitled A Painting, A Story: Adoration of Shepherds in which visitors were encouraged to explore the topic of religious faith as it has been presented in religious art. In 2017, the MWR, in cooperation with the Chi-Mei Museum and the Art History Department of Tainan National University, is once again revisiting the beauty and importance of Bible paintings. With its 36 paintings, the exhibition hopes to explore the Bible’s many stories, the artistic styles these stories have been represented with and ultimately, their dialogue with the concept of religious faith.
The Bible contains the Old Testament and New Testament, with the birth of Jesus serving as the demarcation between the two. The Old Testament narrates the history of the Israelites, while emphasizing the relationship between God and his chosen people. The New Testament, on the other hand, is a record of the life of Jesus and emphasizes his love and salvation of the world. For centuries, the Bible’s rich, diverse stories and sermons from both the Old and New Testaments have been a source of wonder and imagination for countless artists whose artistic expression and interpretation of these stories have become some of the world’s greatest masterpieces. Accordingly, in this exhibition, viewers are given a chance to rediscover the world of the Bible through paintings at the crossroads of art and religion—i.e. paintings not only aesthetically and culturally significant, but also expressive of religious faith.
This exhibition is divided into two main areas: The first features paintings between the 15th and the 19th century. In the tradition of the long road of faith as expressed in the Bible, visitors will have a chance to soak up the historical tradition, theological significance, and artistic expression of the Bible’s many stories. The second area is a multimedia interactive exhibition space themed “Love and Light”. With light and music, visitors will celebrate the Tree of Light in an interactive activity highlighting the search for love and truth—the ultimate goal of religious belief and the foundation of inter-religious dialogue.
When appearing for the first time, names, places, and chapters of the Bible will be translated into the most commonly used translations of both the Christian and Catholic traditions.
Website：http://www.mwr.org.tw/2017bible/
