FRONTIERS • ARTISTIC TALENTS

Evangelizing through art

Daniel Comboni invited those preparing to become missionaries to use their God-given natural gifts for the task of spreading the Gospel. In South Africa, one of his missionaries is developing his painting skills and is engaging in social media platforms to announce God’s love for humanity

BY Raul Tabaranza MCCJ | Pretoria

“WHO WOULD have thought that Christianity, heritage and art can go together?” One of my Tiktok friends made that comment about my doodle of the carrying of the Cross. Aside from doodling, I love painting and making collages from old magazines or newspapers. I am not a professional artist, just a self-taught artist, who discovered these passions at a later stage of life, in my late 40s and more in my 50s. I am, probably, one of those of whom you can say: “life begins at 40, a very late bloomer in the field of arts.”

Developing a passion for arts

I worked as a Comboni Missionary priest in Zambia for almost nine years, and the sceneries in the mission captivated me; especially the Luangwa National Park, where I had very personal and close encounters with animals. Most of my paintings subsequently included animals. In 2017-2018, I did my Sabbatical in Rome; I was already 50 years old then. Everything was in Italian, and since at that time, I was really struggling to understand some words, I had challenging moments during the classes. One day, I started doodling, taking my left hand as the outline. I made different strokes and designs and I found it so beautiful. I bought a bigger sketchpad and I started doodling in my free time, not even realizing that at the end of my sabbatical, I already had three albums.

What is a doodle? Google says that “A doodle is a drawing made while a person’s attention is otherwise occupied. Doodles are simple drawings that can have concrete representational meaning or composed of random and abstract lines, generally without ever lifting the drawing device from the paper, in which case, it is usually called a scribble.  Is doodling a real art? Doodling is underrated as an art form. It’s a fun way of expressing oneself, but also of experimenting and learning to draw. Doodles give a unique insight into your artistic style, conveying parts of your personality not shown through other mediums of art. 

Art communicates a message about our faith, customs and traditions or even virtues and values

When I went home for holidays, I carried with me sketch pads and I produced more doodles. I also started painting different images, mostly abstract on illustration boards, canvas etc.  Imagine at my age, exploring arts in this way, experimenting and blending colours, trying out many designs, liquid painting, taped painting, making collages from photos, dried leaves and branches, papers, pictures and magazines.  I found so much joy in this hobby, and quietly, I put my thoughts and sometimes my prayers into art. 

Communicating faith contents

Nobody knew of my hidden talent, and I was ashamed to share it with others because I felt they were the works of a child. I doodled some more, about Church feasts, Stations of the Cross and mysteries of the rosary. I use these artworks to express my own faith and my life as a missionary, abstract as they may be. Later I started posting my paintings and doodles on Instagram and Facebook. It was then that I realized that my artworks created a special impact on my friends.

Art communicates a message about our faith, customs and traditions or even virtues and values.  When I doodle or paint, I often feel like praying deeply. It creates in me some form of discipline and calmness. It develops patience and in-depth reflection on reality.  Art conveys the intangible stories of our faith; therefore, it is a very effective means of teaching and enhancing devotions and prayers.  In the past, they used art to teach their children and many people about the history of the Church, lives of saints and images of the Old Testament.  Many were not privileged in getting educated, so teaching by images became a very effective tool.  The messages in images can easily be retained in the mind when teaching is accompanied by visual aids.  For example, a mere glance of a dove and a man in the river reminds us of the baptism of the Lord and what transpired in that event. The sight of an image can communicate at a greater level. In 1999, Pope John Paul II addressed this very issue too in his Letter to the artists: “in order to communicate the message entrusted to her by Christ, the Church needs art” (1999: 12).

A work of art is a work of creativity, and creativity has value because God is the Creator 

The value of artworks

When there are special occasions in the Church, I find myself asking how I can make a meaningful image of the feast. When I visit a church, the first things that attract me are the paintings on the walls and the ceiling. I noticed this also from my collection of pictures, I tend to take more photos of artworks. These artworks testify something to us; that there are bigger, deeper and more powerful potentials in our Christian faith.  There is something in arts that could influence a person, especially his feelings.  I often stay for long, sitting down, staring at a painting or artwork, because there is something in art that conveys reverence, as if you become involved in the picture. Aside from art, I love writing a lot, and I preserve my memories in my writings.  I like writing the details of what I have seen or experienced, my feelings of joy and my frustrations. As in art, I love the little details. 

We need creative and quality communication techniques, to show to the people in the mission the love of God through arts

Doodling is a very time-consuming artistic activity and the details speak of its beauty.  When you put the details in your work, communication is elaborated upon. A piece of my artwork speaks of something within me.  My painting, doodling and collaging is a very special gift for me; a spiritual gift that leads me to a deeper communication and communion with God. A spiritual piece of art links one to Him; gives some connections of one’s life, past, present and future. Artists have a vision, and bring it to life by painting or doodling, as they are always participants in their work.

Art and life

Art is a very healthy hobby, it keeps you grounded, able to analyse things, visualize thoughts and convey desires.  Since it is a passion, one’s creation and creativity can also transform into a way of life, in personal or communitarian aspects. Art is very influential and I may have to consume a bushel of salt in order to reach that level, whereby my artworks would speak to the world and go beyond boundaries. I know that a good artist has a very deep level of introspection. He can connect his work to a higher motivation and stir the unconscious part of a person. I am trying to reach that.  I pray that it will come. Reflecting on the words of my Tiktok friend, art and any form of social media can powerfully connect together in the evangelizing work of the Church. 

Sharing in God’s creative power

Let’s consider the Creation story in Genesis.  We call God, the Creator. He created heaven and earth, fishes and plants, trees and animals and everything that lives on the earth.  God is an artist and He was immensely happy with what He had created.  At the end of the day, He looked at His creatures and everything was good. I am also happy with my work. Actually, I find them very good. As Christians, we know why a work of art has a value. Why? A work of art is a work of creativity, and creativity has value because God is the Creator. The first sentence in the Bible is the declaration that the Creator had created: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Gen 1: 1) Creating and being artistic runs in our veins. It should be handed from generation to generation in our works of evangelization and developed more and more so that people can experience that intimacy and connection with God. 

As I have said, in the beginning, I was so ashamed to share my work, afraid to be laughed at by people. I didn’t have that confidence because I felt that, being a self-taught artist, my pieces of art were of no value.  Then one day, I said to myself: “Raul, God has given you this gift, and you should put it into the open space.”  My hidden talent should be discovered in depth, developed and put out for the common good.  When I started posting online one by one, I was so surprised by the effect: what a huge community of friends and family I found, aspiring artists, neophytes in the craft and many professional artists who encouraged me to keep on practising, developing my skill and harnessing my work to perfection. I am an aspiring artist who pursues goodness and beauty in my life, and I want to share it with others. Perhaps they may also see beauty in the little details of their life, whether bad or good.  In life, as in visual arts, we can also repair the work, as we can also make amends for the wrongs we have done.

Mission and arts

Being a Missionary, I think art is a very challenging gift to impart, as many of our missionaries are more into buildings and infrastructures, churches and refugees.  Artists are sometimes isolated.  As a Comboni Missionary, I experienced life in the mission as being more about relationships with people and pastoral commitments than artistic expression.  It was only when I worked in Waterval Mission (Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga), that I dug a bit deeper to discover my artistic talents. My colleague priest used to tell me to organize a workshop with the youth and combine prayer and arts, and I would have called it, “Praying with your fingertips: painting your imagination.” The plan unfortunately didn’t come to fruition, because of transfers and the arrival of the Coronavirus pandemic.

Mission needs some creativity to capture the attention of our people.  The Charisma of St Daniel Comboni has a lot of symbols such as the Pierced Heart of Jesus, the Good Shepherd, The Crucified Christ, The Cenacle of Apostles and Mission Ad Gentes. All of them have been interpreted by artists in different ways. We need creative and quality communication techniques, to show to the people in the mission the love of God through arts.  To have a creative team for this unique mission is a very big challenge. If you are very attentive to social media, there is an increasing number of aspiring artists. Today’s generation relates more to the arts than to lengthy talks. 

I take this as a personal challenge now; to use my God-given gifts for a special ministry.  When I post my humble works on Instagram, I accompany them with my own voice, explaining the work created, the events, the historical and biblical backgrounds as my way of imparting our faith. This is my little personal contribution to God, aside from my commitments in our Province. May it flourish, for it is said, “If it is for God, it will always bear fruit”.