VIII.Simon of Cyrene Helps Jesus Carry the Cross
VIII.
Simon of Cyrene Helps Jesus Carry the Cross
Simon Helps Jesus to Carry His Cross, c.
1995
Anonymous Artist, Turkana, Kenya
Tempera on wood
Lodwar Cathedral, Kenya
The Lodwar Cathedral in Turkana, Kenya, was remodeled and expanded in 1995. Desiring authentic African art, Sister Janet Mullin, of the American Sisters of Notre Dame, trained a team of young Kenyan artists and asked them to paint a set of Stations of the Cross that would reflect the life and environment of the Turkana people.
Faces, dress, and places would be authentically Turkana. Soldiers would be Kenyan, not Roman. Pilate would wear the traditional dress of a Turkana chief and the cross would be the rough piece of a local tree. Lodwar’s shops and houses would be the background in many of the stations. When the stations were completed and unveiled, they saw a Jesus who looked a lot like them. The Turkana are a people who suffer a lot, from disease, sickness, insecurity, and hunger, and have been left behind in Kenya’s struggle for development. “Look at Veronica wearing Turkana beads!” or “That’s our shop on the corner!” were comments by children and adults as they excitedly discussed their new stations.
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CHRIST
CHURCH Exeter, New Hampshire
The Way of the Cross 2008