Image: Simon Howden / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Keynote staff members, Bryan and Laurie Horvath, serve in New York City as partners with the International Arts Movement (IAM), founded by Japanese-American artist, Mako Fujimura. IAM gathers artists and creative catalysts to wrestle with the deep questions of art, faith and humanity. These conversations help to inspire the creative community to engage the culture that is and create the world that ought to be.
I think you’ll be excited to read about what God is doing through this dynamic movement!
KeynoteConnection: Why is it important for Christians be involved in creating and shaping culture?
Bryan: One reason is that God cares about all His creation and has asked us to steward it. Often times our response to culture as Christians is to condemn, critique, copy or even just consume it. And though those are appropriate responses at times, I think an even more powerful and lasting response is to actually create culture that is true and good and beautiful.
Humankind is made in God’s image and He wants us not only to help point broken people to Him, but He also calls us to participate in seeing the world He created renewed. What if instead of only standing downstream trying to clean up what has been put into the cultural river, we went to the mouth of the river and began contributing good things? That would actually change the essence of the river at the source.
KC: One of the values of IAM is rehumaniztion. What does it mean to rehumanize our world?
Bryan: I don’t think you have to look far to see the dehumanization in our world across all cultural spheres. Whether it’s the business with a profit at any cost mentality, a one size fits all education system, social injustice or corrupt political systems. As we wrestle with these issues, address the brokenness and begin to build new paradigms, we are rehumanizing our world. Art and creativity are vehicles that God can use to do this.
There is a company in the Midwest that has done amazing things to intentionally rehumanize the corporate culture for their employees. They have an on-site day care so parents don’t have to choose between the jobs they need and the children they love. They also have a first-run movie theater so their employees can go to the movies with their families to promote togetherness. By helping families to thrive and relationships to grow, the company has devoted employees doing great work.
A pastor friend of mine once said, “Art is a gift from God to ultimately help us engage with our own lives.” We all have shutters on our hearts that keep us from being vulnerable. But music, dance, visual art, poetry, film and other forms of art have the power to resonate with us in ways other things cannot. Art flies under the radar of the rational, opening the shutters on our hearts so that we can see more clearly what is good and what is true and what is beautiful. Experience with art in this way can move us to action, to invest more deeply in seeing our culture renewed.
KC: Share a story from your partnership with IAM that will help our readers catch a glimpse of what God is doing through IAM.
Bryan: As an Arts Organization with a biblical framework, IAM encourages wrestling with deep questions at the intersection of art, faith and culture. Much of the work is sowing into culture a broader understanding of God’s kingdom. One encouraging story is from an artist in Japan who has been involved in the movement for years. She wrote:
“I really thank you for giving me a chance to be involved in IAM. It was great help for me to open the door to another phase in art community of my city. Some local artists started to collaborate with me and I had a very unique group exhibition with 4 young local artists.
Spiritually, I have been hesitant to share the gospel with my artist friends because I felt I’m not good enough to do it. God is faithful and He led me to pray for two of them who held an exhibition with me. At that time, God touched one of them very deeply and she cried. She later wrote on her blog “real prayer heals people’s hearts.”
KC: How have your views of culture changed as you have worked with IAM?
Bryan: I’ve learned that cultural renewal is a life-long process. I think of William Wilberforce, working in the sphere of governmental leadership. He was motivated by his biblical worldview of humanity and worked most of his career to end the slave trade, yet he didn’t see the fruits of his efforts until many years later.
I am continually reminded that we are part of a much larger story. Just looking at Genesis – at the creation story – we find that God gave humankind a mandate, and as I engage with culture more and more, I am reminded that all of humankind is still called to that mandate of cultivating.
Check out the IAM Facebook Fan Page or follow them on Twitter.
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