Art, Kitsch or Tat?

Today I was in Glasgow for most of the day with one of my visits being to the St Mungo Museum of Religious Life & Art. For blip purposes I can recommend it very highly - I was spoilt for choice. There's the Peter Howson Crucifixion with the tortured agonised face of Christ, a wonderful dancing Shiva, loads of other great images - and right now a fantastic photography exhibition by a woman who spent two years in a poor Birmingham community which was nevertheless very diverse. She took a whole series of wonderfully relaxed photographs of people in informal religious & spiritual moments. Difficult to describe but for example there was one lovely image of two wee girls, friends; one, Hindu, playing her sitar with the other next to her wearing her First Communion dress. Both totally unselfconsciously expressing their own faith backgrounds in a completely natural way. If you're anywhere near Glasgow with half an hour to spare go and have a look. Well worth it.

Anyway, spoilt for choice. But in the end it was a no-brainer because in the middle of the room housing the exhibition there was a huge display case which contained the most extraordinary riveting collection of, er, art? kitsch? that I've ever seen! Trinkets and sweeties and beads and amulets and holy pictures and magic incense and teddy bears and...well, you get the idea....all jumbled together, heaped up in a rainbow of colours, impossible to capture in one photograph. Catholic, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, Jewish, pagan and probably many more.

It was a hoot!

Haha. Thanks to your comments I now know its my 200th blipday :-). Hadn't spotted that one coming up!