In Christian theology, “dualism” describes a belief in the opposite forces of good and evil, whose struggle for dominion animates existence.
A simpler kind of dualism animates this year’s crèche displays at the Blessed Michael McGivney Center. One exhibition, Christmas in Africa, offers a material and cultural journey through 23 African nations (as well as a tribute to African Christians, who are reportedly increasingly persecuted across the continent). The show’s aesthetic is steeped in spice—turmeric, saffron, cumin—and stone, the latter chiseled, polished and posed in a central exhibit of Shona sculptures carved from Zimbabwean springstone.
The second exhibition, Away in a Manger, is awash in pale green walls and, thanks to a number of larger, more immersive displays conveying outdoor settings, streaks of airy blue sky. My favorite sky happens to be the outlier, its heavens dim and dusky over a scene that imagines New Haven as the site of Jesus’s birth. It’s set in the year 1882, when Father Michael McGivney, the Center’s namesake, founded the Center’s parent, the Knights of Columbus, right here in New Haven. In the expertly detailed crèche, which incorporates the facade of St. Mary’s Church, McGivney’s likeness reaches toward a cathedral-like manger where Mary and Joseph admire their newborn son. Dressed in elegant period garb, a handful of other historical figures alongside a cast of anonymous characters help flesh out the scene, as do lifelike animals, floating cherubs, glowing lamplights, stained-glass windows and the spindly leafless trees of the season.
It’s a lot to take in even by itself, and as these photos from across the two exhibitions demonstrate, there’s a lot more where that came from.
Written and photographed by Dan Mims.
