The hidden geographies of religious creativity

Place-making and material culture in West London faith communities

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2406409
AutoresD Gilbert (0000-0002-2755-9221, Royal Holloway University of London, autor de correspondencia), Claire Dwyer (0000-0002-9966-440X, University College London, UK), Nazneen Ahmed (0000-0003-4274-801X, University College London, UK), Laura Cuch (University College London, UK), Natalie Hyacinth (Royal Holloway University of London)
Año2019
Volumen26
Número1
Páginas23-41
Fecha de publicación2019-01-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaCultural Geographies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1474-4740 • E-ISSN: 1477-0881
EditorialSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/1474474018787278
OpenAlexW2884729972
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas14

Religious activity, particularly as associated with what might be called everyday organized religion, has been unconsidered in recent discussions of the geographies and policies relating to creativity, and has been almost absent in the discipline of Geography's recent 'creative turn'. We argue both that religion has been given little or no attention in academic discussions of vernacular creativity, while arts policy as it developed in the United Kingdom in the post-war period has had a strongly secular focus. This continues in more recent policies and initiatives that have sought to promote the amateur and voluntary arts sectors. We explore the reasons for these absences, before turning to examples of strongly creative practice in a range of case studies, focused in a small area of suburban West London. These show a remarkable diversity of creativity including the design, construction and transformation of buildings and spaces for religious worship, but also in ritual, performance and the everyday practices of making sacred space. Our case studies include examination of performance and material culture in a Tamil-speaking Hindu temple, and in Roman Catholic, Anglican and Pentecostal churches. These include changes to architectural form, stained glass artwork, community craft projects, and musical performance and composition. We suggest that religious creativity has a hidden significance that has become more important in the United Kingdom's increasingly diverse cities and suburbs, and that significant population groups are marginalized in creativity debates and policies that focus on the secular arts. We also suggest that there are distinctive characteristics to what we describe as 'devotional creativity', particularly in different understandings of space, practice and experience

Aesthetics · Amateur · Art · Craft · Creativity · Media studies · Political science · Social science · Sociology · The arts · Visual arts · Worship · Diverse Aspects of Tourism Research · Gender Studies · Law · Place Attachment and Urban Studies · Religious Tourism and Spaces