Pedro Daniel Oliveira
On June 6, the Macau Ricci Institute (MRI) is holding the lecture “Sinicizing Church Architecture in the 1920s and 1930s,” by Professor Thomas Coomans, in Saint Joseph Seminary.
“The policy of indigenization launched by Pope Benedict XV in 1919, and implemented from 1922 in Republican China by Archbishop Costantini, attached priority to architecture because buildings are identity bearers in the public space,” the MRI statement send to us said.
This lecture examines the paradigm shift of Catholic churches in China, from Western traditional models to Chinese-looking buildings, including modern structures in reinforced concrete.
Moreover, it shows the crucial role of Father Adelbert Gresnigt, a Benedictine monk-artist active in China from 1927 to 1931, in defining the “Sino-Christian style” that had to express both Catholic Chineseness and Chinese modernity, and be different from what the Protestant did.
“It also reveals the style debate between the pros and cons of Western styles as well as the rhetoric of (French) conservative missionaries who argued against Chinese style by referring to the preference of the Chinese Catholics for Gothic,” the statement added.
The lecture is co-organized with University of Saint Joseph, and commences at 6:30 PM.
Follow
