"Holy Spirit filled Visual art and Poetry" is what the invite said.
I had an idea of what the Visual art and
Poetry would and could look like, but for the life of me, I could not begin to
imagine what I could liken a "Holy Spirit filled" Visual art and Poetry session, to. But, I now know, and I am here to share that with you.
Last night, Lin and Bongani opened their
warm hearts and space to us, as they hosted Rudo's exhibition of her collection, Umphilisi - a curation of a wholistic body of work, encompassing music, poetry, visual art, and the original creator, Holy Spirit.
The night began with a lovely spread of
welcome drinks and finger foods. We walked around the garden taking in the
ambience, where a trail of art pieces was dispersed throughout the space. A
bonfire-come-viewing deck was stationed by the pool, against the
backdrop of a collection named Kintsugi. This collection draws from the
Japanese practice of restoring broken pottery by filling the cracks with Gold.
It was the perfect set-up, given the sudden change in Joburg weather. Winter
decided to do a final spin around the block, so Art by a Bonfire felt very
fitting, creating the perfect opportunity to reflect on the potential beauty of
the broken pieces of one's life.
Moving into the indoor setup, we cosied up
around a fireplace, with a live band leading us in spontaneous worship. This
made for a great icebreaker as we weren't quite sure what to expect. The hosts
welcomed us and shared what the evening was about, opening the stage for Rudo
to share about the journey leading to her delivering Umphilisi. We took a
moment to pray together, and for each other, marking a coming together and
standing together in faith, for a collective and individual healing experience.
Rudo invited us into her healing journey,
relating how she got to experience God as a father and healer, as she navigated
through various points of grief and loss in her life. This collection was
birthed through those moments of surrender to God, allowing him to carry her
and lead her through the pain. And also, just a commitment to worshipping
through the pain and with the work of her hands, her creations, essentially
giving the gift back to the giver.
The arrangement of the different Visual art
pieces; the song offerings, and the surrendered hearts in the room felt a lot
like going through the 7 stages of the cross during Easter - Mantswe a Supileng
- A sacred moment one has to fully immerse oneself in as a step towards
consecration. The artwork beckoned the audience to reflect, offering a jolting
yet liberating inquiry into how we interact with our pain, hope[lessness] and
healing. Furthermore, it posed as a catalyst for action, urging you to go deeper
into self and walk in purpose.
My most favourite piece, titled Immersion,
was captioned:
"Instead, fully immerse yourselves into the lord Jesus, the Anointed One, and don't waste even a moment's thought on your former identity to awaken its selfish desires." Romans 13:14 TPT
Beneath the quoted scripture was a prompt
to reflect asking, "Will you let go?" a tough question to answer for
a reforming perfectionist.
These two realisations have stuck with me,
following this experience. Firstly, that there is no art without God, and secondly,
God is the ultimate healer. I
particularly enjoyed experiencing a palpable move and presence of Holy Spirit
in a space that I would not have otherwise expected to find him. This heightened my personalised revelation of what the collection meant
for me and allowed me to relax and let the art speak to me.
This was definitely a one-of-a-kind, Holy
Spirit filled experience. One I would do again in a heartbeat.
