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St. Olaf conference to feature worship, Chinese Christian art

By David Gonnerman '90
July 18, 2008

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Boe Memorial Chapel, which reopened in 2007 after extensive renovation (and shown here during the Honors Day celebration this spring), will be an ideal setting for this year's conference.
St. Olaf College will host the biennial Conference on Worship, Theology and the Arts July 21-25. Called "Fling Wide the Gates," the conference will gather -- from a variety of denominations -- nationally recognized musicians, artists, scholars and theologians who will examine their work through lectures, seminars and daily worship.

During the conference, worship services in Boe Memorial Chapel will be open to the public (Monday 1:30 p.m., Tuesday-Thursday 8:15 a.m., Friday 10:45 a.m.; evening worship will take place Monday, Tuesday and Thursday at 8:30 p.m.). In addition, all worship services will be streamed live and archived online.

"This year's theme will help us examine the many ways we are and are not open both as individuals and as the Church," says Janet Kringen Thompson '70, associate vice president for advancement and college relations. "And this is perhaps the only conference in the country where the pastor and the church musician are brought together to learn from each other, as well as from an outstanding faculty," she adds. Thompson also notes that attendees should enjoy worshiping in the chapel, which reopened in 2007 after extensive renovation, and listening to the new Holtkamp organ.

Chinese art
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"Finding Moses" by He Qi -- the first mainland Chinese individual to earn a Ph.D. in religious art after the Cultural Revolution.
The public also is invited to view an exhibit by He Qi, arguably China's most sought after contemporary Christian artist, who will talk about his colorful, contemporary paintings during a reception Tuesday, July 22, 4:30-6:30 p.m. in the Flaten Art Gallery of Dittmann Center. He Qi will discuss how he has blended together Chinese folk customs and traditional Chinese painting techniques with the western art of the Middle and Modern Ages to create his unique style. The artist hopes his work will help change the "foreign image" of Christianity in China and even supplement Chinese art as Buddhist art did in ancient times.

He Qi was the first mainland Chinese individual to earn a Ph.D. in religious art after the Cultural Revolution. The artist has exhibited throughout Asia, Europe and the United States, and his work has been featured in The Washington Post, the Far Eastern Economic Review, Christianity Today and on the BBC.

Contact David Gonnerman at 507-786-3315 or gonnermd@stolaf.edu.