Evangelization Through the Arts

Catholic News India
February 16, 2011


Father Roy Mathew Thottam

INDIA - According to Jesuit Priest Roy Mathew Thottam, “From the beginning, the Christian community has made use of art forms to propagate the faith, and give expression to their belief in Christ,” he says. “Many of the Christian symbols originated from the catacomb paintings. From the beginning, there was a lot of encouragement and dynamic progress in the Christian community as far as the visual arts were concerned.” Father Thottam holds post-graduate degrees in Fine Arts from Christ Church University in Canterbury and Folklore from Palayamkottai. He spent a year with veteran Indian Christian artist, Jyoti Sahi, learning from and working with him. He has had five solo exhibition of his paintings and four group exhibitions. But after the Renaissance, says Father Thottam, “artists fell from the patronage of the Church and art became secular, especially after the World Wars.”In India, the history of Christian art was somewhat different, Father Thottam points out. The Church in India only ever showed a lukewarm interest in Christian art, because the development of indigenous theology was more “verbal” than visual. [link]