Special evening viewing on Monday 11th Oct. from 7.30pm

This promises to be a stunning treat for the eyes! 25 banners hung all around St. Mike’s, plus some smaller, related works. We shall let the organisers explain the project….

'Restoring Paradise': an exhibition of banners on the theme of our responsibility and care for the world.

The environmental and global climate emergency afflicting our world has been well-documented.  Indeed, even in our own gardens or favourite green spaces there have been changes in recent years: habitats have shrunk and affected the numbers of our precious wildlife;  Summer seems to arrive earlier each year, often to peter out when it should be in full swing; and pollinators often seem scarce. 

Of course, the global events of the last year or so have given us extra food for thought.  The pandemic has caused, and continues to cause, not only huge suffering, but also individual, national and international contemplation on our relationship with one another and our relationship with the natural world.

When we were considering a response to the theme of 'Eden - Restoring Paradise', for the  Christian Arts Festival, we felt strongly that we should encourage our participants to think about these issues and use the banner format to draw attention to them.  All the banners contain messages of warning and hope. Hope seemed to be a key criteria for the banners;  it's easy to become disillusioned about how we, as individuals, can affect the global environmental and climate issues. What can one person do?  Well many of our banner-makers have considered this, which gives us hope. What can one nation do? With the UN COP 26 Climate conference in November, nations will come together to take a serious stock of the situation, make resolutions, encourage one another and, hopefully, try to follow through.  Hope in the face of crisis.

You will notice a repetition of four words, as you view the banners: destruction, restoration, care and beauty. Something for us all to think about.