Panteism och religiös diskretion - reflektioner kring några exempel på nutida svensk kyrkokonst

Abstract

Over the centuries, official Church doctrines have influenced church art and changed its focus. The Byzantine Pantocrator revealed a stern, majestic religion in a surrounding non-Christian society, whereas the much more emotive Baroque style of the Counter-Reformation was a part of an ongoing inter-Christian propaganda war. It was by no means an accident that the Sermon on the Mount was the favourite »Protestant», motif in Swedish churches during the first half of the 20th century. The Word as preached was placed firmly in the centre, and the listeners gathered around Christ were of both sexes, all nationalities and ages and from different levels in society - very much in harmony with the democratic ideals of the Church of Sweden. However, all these different themes and styles had a common source: the Bible, and it was a highly Christological art.  

During the latest decades, however, this no longer seems to be the case in Swedish churches, where Pantheism prevails, and Christ has sometimes been exchanged for a Cloud, a Globe or the more or less enchanting view through a glass wall behind the altar instead of an altarpiece. This is a result of the »radical years», in the 1960s -70s, when many small suburban churches were built in Sweden with the ideal of creating a not so sacred, but sometimes even multi-functional church interior in accordance with the political views of the time.  

Prince Eugen initiated this development already in 1911/12 with his altarpiece for the church in Kiruna. Very distinctive sunbeams from above embrace a Swedish landscape with a cluster of trees in its centre, much like a crowd of people praying but without Christ or other allusions to the Bible. Just one year earlier, in 1910, he had painted a fresco for a school in the centre of Stockholm with a very similar motif, the only difference being that in the centre under the sunbeams we see the outline, not of trees but of a city. So little was needed to change a piece of art in a profane building into an altarpiece. This similarity was to be accentuated in later Swedish church art, as the examples mentioned in the article show. It has also been theologically confirmed in an official document called the »Communication Platform of the Church of Sweden» presented on June 22nd 2004 by its Board, where the emphasis is placed, not on the Christ of the Gospels but rather on a very general idea of »the God of life».

Edsberg Church, designed by the architect Lars Olof Torstensson, was consecrated in 1972. A woven picture in three parts by Elisabet Hasselberg- Olsson with shades of grey and white depicting a path of light leading up to the horizon, was first placed over the exit door and later moved to the altar wall. A very similar tapestry by the same artist called »The Memory of a Landscape», is - as a result of being placed in the Assembly Hall of the Parliament in Stockholm - the most exposed piece of art in the Swedish media.  

Trönö Church burnt down in 1998, and a new church was consecrated in 2002, designed by the architect Asa Flarup-Källmark. The National Public Art Council Sweden chose Ann Magnusson as their representative. No special religious theme was stipulated, and the artist selected, Signe Persson-Melin, made a screen behind the altar with a mosaic depicting a Cloud to signify the symbolic representation of God in the Old Testament (with references to the New Testament). However, it is hard to know whether the modern spectator with only a very vague knowledge of the Bible, especially the Old Testament, will really see this and not just a very decorative cloud.  

In 2003, the same councillor, Ann Magnusson, helped the chaplain at Södersjukhuset (a Stockholm hospital) to find a work of art for the chapel. A video projection by the Danish artist Eva Koch was chosen, showing intertwining pictures of the earth, the moon and the sun photographed by the American space organization NASA. At first it was proposed that it should be projected on the facade of an apartment building in a new Stockholm suburb. However, when initially rejected, it was then placed in the hospital chapel. An almost similar work can now be seen, projected as originally planned, on the building in the suburb.  

In the same newly built suburb, Hammarby sjöstad, we find Sjöstadskapellet (2002), a glass building with the chapel on the second floor designed by the architect Kjell Mejhert. This time the councillor from the National Public Art Council was Kjell Strandqvist and the artist chosen was Veronika Nygren. Sliding screens behind the altar open on to a view which is intended to be more of a landscape later on, and not just all the concrete shown today - a very urban landscape, one may imagine. An almost invisible Cross is encrusted in the wall right by the exit of the chapel room behind the rows of chairs. A very distinct relief in a naive style depicting Christ calming the storm has been added on one wall (as well as a reproduction of an icon) in sharp contrast to the original artistic conception.  

In conclusion, art for the new churches and chapels mentioned has been chosen by councillors from the Swedish National Public Art Council, which has also given substantial financial support. As a result, it had a great influence on the result, even if the clergy were entitled to reject a particular artist or work of art. However, in the course of its work the Council chooses high quality but specifically non-confessional art for public surroundings, and this total change of focus has been difficult to overcome. The artists chosen have a background as professors or students at the University College of Arts, Crafts and Design in Stockholm. They are highly respected for their design and art in public spaces such as the Stockholm Underground. However, they and the Council can hardly be expected to hold the ultimate theological responsibility for the art chosen.  

When a church interior is experienced as being too profane, examples of Christian kitsch art - in recent decades mostly modern icons of questionable quality - are often donated by members of the congregation or quite simply placed on a bare wall as a distinct, Christian hallmark.  

A continuous renewal of church art is both necessary - as has been shown over the centuries - and quite possible even today. The French Dominican Fathers Couturier and Régamey showed with great emphasis around 1950 that the very best contemporary artists would gladly agree to work for the Church if they were approached with knowledge and respect. The worldfamous churches at Assy, Audincourt, Ronchamp or Matisse's chapel at Vence are by no means non-confessional. On the contrary, the artists follow the long tradition of using the Bible as a source of inspiration for each and every generation.  

Vague expressions like »the God of all life» and »the presence of God in the world» used in the Communication Platform of the Church of Sweden invite pantheistic interpretations or just well-balanced design to be found in any other environment - not contemporary works of art evoking the profound existential/eschatological question based on the Gospels.