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THE CINCINNATI ENQUIRER By Jackie Demaline Creation is part of the print exhibition "The Saint John’s Bible: Experience the Word Come to Life"  The Saint John’s Bible , the first handwritten and illuminated (illustrated) Bible commissioned by a Benedictine Monastery in 500 years, is featured in a print exhibition at the College of Mount St. Joseph’s Studio San Giuseppe Art Gallery, opening Tuesday and continuing through Feb. 26, as part of a national tour. The exhibit of contemporary biblical art includes 25 large-scale prints and accompanying text that highlights the creative process. In the tradition of medieval Bibles, The Saint John’s Bible is 2 feet tall and 3 feet wide when opened, with almost 1,150 pages bound in seven volumes. It took 15 years to complete. [ link ]

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HUFFINGTON POST By Susan Boynton and Diane Reilly The origin of the word "Bible" is in the Greek and Latin term for library ("bibliotheca"); in effect, a collection of biblical books comprised a small library. The exceptions were large, luxury manuscripts that contained all the books of the Bible in one volume and were often lavishly illustrated. A modern equivalent might be the Saint John's Bible . Commissioned by Saint John's Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota, in 1998, the Bible was recently completed through the collective efforts of a team of scribes and artists directed by renowned calligrapher Donald Jackson, Master of the Guild of Scriveners, London (http://www.saintjohnsbible.org/). Producing medieval luxury Bibles sometimes took as long as 50 years and the investment of considerable resources (including gold, paint and parchment made from the skins of hundreds of cattle or sheep). [ link ]

FOX NEWS 19 By K Kinley OHIO - The Saint John’s Bible, the first handwritten and illuminated Bible commissioned by a Benedictine Monastery in 500 years, will be featured in a print exhibition at the College of Mount St. Joseph’s Studio San Giuseppe Art Gallery from January 17 to February 26, 2012 giving the Greater Cincinnati community the rare opportunity to view this exhibit that is on national tour. The Saint John’s Bible Print Exhibition at the Mount is the first and only one scheduled in the Greater Cincinnati region. It is exhibited with support from the Skyler Foundation and the Robert H. Reakirt Foundation, PNC Bank, Trustee. [ link ]

FANDANGO | The Movie Blog By Derrick Deane HOLLYWOOD - The slow simmer between Steven Spielberg and Warner Bros in regards to a potential Moses biopic has been stewing for a while. It seems the a deal could be in place next week that would see Spielberg in the director's chair in spring 2013 for Gods and Kings . Deadline says the film would have "the gritty reality" of Saving Private Ryan, referring to Moses a "the warrior to beat all warriors." The site also quotes a source saying that the movie would be a Braveheart-ish version of the Moses story. Gods and Kings would follow Moses from his adoption in infancy and culminate with the Ten Commandments. Would you be interested in seeing a violent, modern, post-Braveheart version of Moses' life story? [ link ]

AOA NEWS By Tahlib "RELIGION FOR ATHEISTS" (above), a new book by Alain de Botton is the Talk of Week , at least in the United Kingdom where the book's promotion includes soaring images of Chrisitian church stained-glass windows. The book will be released in the United States on March 6th. Billed as a "non-believer's guide to the uses of religion," it offers lessons on creating great art, architecture and for building community.

AOA NEWS By Ernest O. Britton The nods for 2011 Oscar nominations came out this week including the A&O favorite "Tree of Life", but as usual, there is also a host of movies I didn't see. It's a great time to go back and think about the 48 movies I did see , versus the ones I'm sorry to have missed. The following is my list of 11 missed movies for 2011, the good, the bad and the truly ugly. What are your own? "Albert Nobbs" - Glenn Close, Michael Gambon, Janet McTeer, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers "Beastly" - Vanessa Hudgens, Mary Kate Olsen, Neil Patrick Harris, Alex Pettyfer "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" - Sandra Bullock, Tom Hanks, Thomas Horn, John Goodman "Hanna" - Saoirse Ronan, Eric Bana, Niels Arestrup, Cate Blanchett "In Time" - Amanda Seyfried, Justin Timberlake, Cillian Murphy, Vincent Kartheiser "Priest" - Paul Bettany, Cam Gigandet, Maggie Q, Karl Urban "Salvation Boulevar...

AOA NEWS By Tahlib "Call His Name Immanuel" - 9x12 Print by Chris Koelle SOUTH CAROLINA - In five days on February 2nd, Christians world-wide will celebrate the holyday known as the "Presentation of Christ at the Temple" ( Candlemas ) which is celebrated 40-days after Christmas, the birthday of Jesus Christ. To help illustrate the story ahead, today AOA NEWS features the work of Chris Koelle, an artist and illustrator in Greenville, SC. He has created thousands of illustrations for books, graphic novels, animation, including most recently completing all the art revisions for a series of illustrations based on the book of "Revelations" for his publisher. This piece, "Call His Name Immanuel" (above) is based on Isaiah 7:14 and appears along with almost 50 other illustrations in the book "The History of Redemption" published by Austin Stone (2010). For more on Chris Koelle, visit his site at http://www.chriskoelle.com/ .

AOA NEWS By Tahlib Epiphany III (Presentation at the Temple) 1998 210 cm x 310 cm, mixed media (oil and acrylic on canvas), Barry Friedman, New York GERMANY - Gottfried Helnwein's "Epiphany III (Presentation at the Temple)" of facially scarred war veterans grouped round the limp figure of a child lying on a table with her legs dangling down lifelessly from the knees. The controversial German artist has never run from explorations of difficult subjects, and shaped by the horrors of World War II is the work of an artist who struggles with the world of war crimes, Catholocism, disfiguration and the Holocaust. There is no sense of grand ceremony in Helnwein's Presentation , only an unemotional look at what mankind can do to innocence. The Holy Day of Candelmas , the Presentation of Christ at the Temple is celebrated on February 2, 2012.

AFP A photogravure etching by Saudi artist Ahmed Mater called "Magnetism" that depicts the Kaaba in Mecca (AFP/British Museum, Ahmed Mater) SAUDIA ARABIA - It is a rite that all followers of Islam are supposed to perform at least once in a lifetime, yet for the rest of the globe the hajj is veiled in mystery. Now the British Museum in London has opened the first ever major exhibition on the pilgrimage, to give non-Muslims a glimpse of the heart of this world religion. "This exhibition is for everybody, Muslims and non-Muslims, everyone who wants to know more about this extraordinary phenomenon, which is one of the great religious manifestation of the world," said Neil MacGregor, the director of the museum. "Hajj is the only part of the practice of islam that non-Muslims can't see. The hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam and must be performed at least once in a lifetime by all those who are able to. It takes place during the last month of the Isla...

MICHIGAN RADIO By Jennifer Guerra MICHIGAN - The current exhibition at the Detroit Institute of Arts is shaping up to be the museum’s most popular exhibit in recent history. Pam Marcil is director of public relations at the DIA. She says attendance at "Rembrandt and the Face of Jesus" has been "really overwhelming almost. We’ve had about 60,000 people to date." She says the “exhibit has brought in 3,500 new and renewed memberships to the museum. That’s good news for the DIA; five months ago we reported how the museum was going to temporarily divert funds to help cover operating costs. The Rembrandt exhibit closes February 12th. The museum has extended its weekend hours to accommodate the increased volume of visitors. "Rembrandt and the Face of Jesus" exhibit debuted at the Louvre in Paris, then traveled to the Philadelphia Music of Art. The DIA is the last stop on the tour. [ link ]

NBC SAN DIEGO By R. Stickney CALIFORNIA - The popular, yet controversial, mosaic called the "Surfing Madonna" has a home. The Encinitas city council voted unanimously to accept a long term loan of the mosaic and to place it near Moonlight Beach according to our media partner the North County Times. The 10-foot-by-10-foot mosaic appeared under a railroad bridge on Encinitas Blvd. in April 2011. City officials said that property is owned by the state parks system so they encouraged residents to lobby officials to allow the placement according to the paper. [ link ]

AOA NEWS By Ernest O. Britton Advertisement courtesy Alain de Botton on Twitter Another atheist is promoting a new book, but this time the advertising features spectacularly beautiful Christian church architecture. I know what you are thinking: church architecture for atheists? Really? Why in the world would atheists promote the seductive beauty of Christian churches? Think about it though, other than some thoughtful but dense books, with rather limited readership; and endless attacks on sacred displays like Nativity sets that only build ill-will, what better idea than this? Atheists, who are not even trusted by their fellow atheists now have one of their own, noted cultural critic Alain de Botton proposing that they steal what they consider the "best ideas" of religion to promote their way of thinking -- and one of those is to build their own  sacred temples for atheists . So is t...

DE ZEEN MAGAZINE Alain's TempleAlain de Botton and Tom Greenall's proposed Temple to Perspective, right foreground. Photograph: Thomas Greenall & Jordan Hodgson UNITED KINGDOM - Dezeen Wire: writer Alain de Botton has announced plans to build a series of temples for atheists in the UK. Books alone won’t do it.’ De Botton suggests that atheists like Richard Dawkins won’t ever convince people that atheism is an attractive way of looking at life until they provide them with the sort of rituals, buildings, communities and works of art and architecture that religions have always used. Why not just learn from religions and build similarly beautiful and interesting things right now?’The first will be a 46 metre-tall black tower designed by Tom Greenall Architects and constructed in London to represent the idea of perspective. "It’s time atheists had their own versions of the great churches and cathedrals’. Alain de Botton has laid out his plans in a new book, Religion ...

THE GUARDIAN By Steve Rose Book Cover UNITED KINGDOM - Alain de Botton is now proposing a series of temples for atheists to be built around the UK. "Why should religious people have the most beautiful buildings in the land?" he asks. "It's time atheists had their own versions of the great churches and cathedrals." Sounds great, Alain. But what are we worshipping?  De Botton's first monument will be the "Temple to Perspective", a hollow stone tower located in the City of London, that well-known hotbed of religious fanaticism. They come across like witty art installations, but would these follies – sorry, "temples" – convince any religious adherent to cross over? It's unlikely. What De Botton seems to be preaching is his own rather narrow definition of atheism, with its own unified philosophy, set of rules and even architectural brand identity. It feels rather like, er, a religion. [ link ]

BAPTIST PRESS By J. Gerald Harris Answers in Genesis president Ken Ham KENTUCKY - Ken Ham is convinced that if one wants to understand the doctrines of God's Word, Genesis is the place to start. Ham, president and founder of Answers in Genesis -- which runs the Creation Museum -- says Genesis 1-11 is foundational to the rest of the Bible. An Australian by birth, Ham moved to the U.S. in 1987 and has become one of the most in-demand Christian conference speakers and radio talk-show guests in the nation. He co-founded Answers in Genesis in 1994 with the purpose of upholding the authority of the Bible from the very first verse. The Creation Museum helps do that. Opened in 2007 near Cincinnati in northern Kentucky, the nearly five-year-old Creation Museum is a 75,000-square-foot facility that offers the visitor a high-tech, multimedia experience that shows how science affirms the Bible's account of history. The next major project for Ham and Answers in Genesis is the Ark Enco...

THE NEW YORK TIMES By Ed Rothstein Above left, Italian Book of Esther scroll; right, German Torah binder, both 18th century CALIFORNIA - The story of how the Judah L. Magnes Museum — whose collection of Judaica is the third largest in the country — became the Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life at the Bancroft Library of the University of California, Berkeley, might not seem terribly ripe with complication or implication. In recent years small private museums facing financial strain have often sought refuge by negotiating new lives within universities. Perhaps on Sunday, when the Magnes opened its doors to the public in a building it had long owned near the campus here, it was simply inaugurating another phase of its 50-year life. The [new] Magnes, we sense, is primarily a place for study, lectures and social gatherings, the main modes of university life. The museum aspect — the public display of artifacts and interpretations — is more muted. This may simply be the price...

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By Ernest Disney-Britton Captain Sam Britton, Dayton National Cemetery (OH) My uncle's tombstone arrived this week, and it's a beautiful memorial to a beautiful man. This occasion also prompted me to wonder about the differences in burial practices of the five world religions? While my uncle's tombstone and coffin are stately, much of the Christian tradition seems to focus on elaborate and expensive displays such as the $25,000, gold-plated coffin used for Michael Jackson. Not the Jews though. According to Blu Greenberg, author of How to Run a Traditional Jewish Household , Jewish law mandates a simple pine box. The Muslim practice calls for the corpse to be wrapped in a simple plain cloth (the kafan ) without a casket. The Hindu ideal is cremation, while Buddhists are not very particular regarding the burial or cremation of a dead body, or so I am told. They are certainly all beautiful memorials, but I like what we did for my uncle - a beautiful cas...

AOA NEWS By Ernest O. Britton CALIFORNIA - A religious film gets a nod. Director Terrence Malick's religious arts film "The Tree of Life" collected three nominations Tuesday for the 84th Academy Awards. Considered an unusual choice, for its inventive style it is joined by eight other films in this year list of nominees : "Moneyball," "The Artist," "Hugo," "The Descendants," "The Help," "Midnight in Paris," "War Horse," and "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close."

HUFFINGTON POST By Kittridge Cherry The gay and lesbian nativity scene at Claremont United Methodist Church, before it was vandalized (photo courtesy of the Claremont United Methodist Church). CALIFORNIA - A recent attack on a gay and lesbian nativity scene at a California church proves how much these liberating images are needed. Claremont United Methodist Church bravely re-envisioned the nativity scene as three couples -- gay, lesbian, and heterosexual. They stood on the church lawn in life-sized silhouettes built from 600-pound light boxes. Each pair held hands beneath the star of Bethlehem and the words "Christ is born." There was no baby Jesus, but a small tree of life grew atop a statement about Christ's "radical message of love." On Christmas Eve vandals knocked down the gay and lesbian couples, doing $3,000 in damage. Only the straight couple was left standing. [ link ]

AOA NEWS By Ernest Britton Tamir, a member of Nation of Islam INDIANA - In America, there are three categories of Muslims but most Americans lump them all together as one. Immigrants such as Zaki  from Pakistan; American converts such as Tamir , born in South Carolina but who joined the Nation of Islam; and those born to the first two groups such as Nushimia  -- all muslim, all different but part of the world's second largest faith, Islam. This winter, a museum on the campus of Indiana University in Bloomington is hosting a traveling exhibit featuring images of those three Muslims, and 16 others from a variety of backgrounds who worked with photographer Todd Drake to present themselves in the portraits (esse quam videri is Latin for "to be, rather than to seem"). For more information on the Mathers Museum of World Cultures, visit at 416 North Indiana Avenue Bloomington, IN, (812) 855-6873, or indiana.edu/~...

THE WESLEYAN CONNECTION By Olivia Drake Beth Sholom Synagogue by Joe Siry. CONNECTICUT - Frank Lloyd Wright’s Beth Sholom Synagogue in Elkins Park, Penn., which was constructed in 1959 and is considered one of his greatest masterpieces. Beth Sholom is unique in its tetrahedral steel structure that creates a large main auditorium whose dome is almost entirely of translucent glass.  Wright had experimented with such an idea in earlier unbuilt projects, but Beth Sholom was his only synagogue and the largest free span that he ever realized, yet its seats on floors sloping toward the frontal platform create a communal space that developed from his earlier buildings for assembly. Joseph Siry, chair and professor of art and art history [at Wesleyan College]...book, Beth Sholom Synagogue: Frank Lloyd Wright and Modern Religious Architecture , was published by the University of Chicago Press in December 2011.[ link ]

CNBC By Michelle Lodge When you hear the words Islamic art, you may think it's strictly religious art devoted to the Muslim faith. “Islamic art is anything that was produced under Islamic rule from the dawn of Islam in 622,” says Sara Plumbly, director of sales for Christie's in London. It can be sacred items or architecture, such as the magnificent Alhambra palace and fortress in Granada, Spain; miniature Mughal Indian paintings, the size of a sheet of paper or smaller; or illustrated manuscripts or everyday kitchen and decorative ware, adorned with sweeping calligraphy, for which the art is known. [ link ]

ARTDAILY CALIFORNIA - Art enthusiasts meet in the China Pavilion that displays art by Chinese artist Tong Hongsheng at the 17th Annual Los Angeles Art Show in Los Angeles, California, USA, 20 January 2012. The LA Art Show is one of the largest art shows in the United States with several hundred artists being represented by 124 exhibitors. The annual art show runs from 18-22 January 2012. [ link ]

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THE NEW YORK TIMES By Kelsey Dake A social revolution began in Saudi Arabia this month, and it has little if anything to do with the Arab Spring. Women are going to work in lingerie shops. The Ministry of Labor is enforcing a royal decree issued last summer ordering that sales personnel in shops selling garments and other goods, like cosmetics, that are only for women must be female. In Saudi Arabia, where women have always been excluded from the public work force, it is a critical breakthrough. The lingerie shops are breaking that taboo. But social conservatives and the religious establishment objected, arguing that Islam prohibited women from working outside the home and that putting women in retail shops would expose them to the view of any passing stranger. [ link ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES By James Warren Bob Marley Since members of the African Hebrew Israelites of Jerusalem venerate the Old Testament, they probably know that the Book of Judges includes a reckless Samson telling Delilah that if his hair were cut, his strength would disappear. Bad move. It was probably stupid, too, for a prison guard to order the forcible shearing of the dreadlocks of an inmate, Omar Grayson, a member of the African Hebrew group. A federal appeals court has just ruled in favor of Mr. Grayson in a decision that includes an improbable visual reference to Bob Marley. To be protected by the First Amendment, religious belief must be sincere but not necessarily orthodox. “If freedom of religion means anything, it means you can’t discriminate among religions, and you can’t tell a religious believer that he’s wrong about what his religion requires.”

AOA NEWS By Tahlib CHINESE NEW YEAR, while officially tomorrow January 23rd is the Talk of Week in the Religious Art world (and the rest of the Art world too), and what better way to celebrate than with NYC artist Zhang Huan's "Confucius"(above) now on view in China. His exhibition at the Rockbund Art Museum in Shanghai entitled Q Confucius (runs through Jan. 29, 2012) asks where is the sense of spiritual belonging for contemporary Chinese? It is indicative (perhaps) of a change in attitudes inside China about its great religious past including Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism. Listed below is a curated selection of art news stories of the past week from the five largest world religions, plus an "other" mix of related news.

AOA NEWS By Greg Disney This weekend's “Underworld: Awakening” is the answer to loyal fans that have patiently waited for actress Kate Bekinsale's "Selene" to rise again from the dead for this fourth installment in the high action franchise . The good news is that the film, as with the previous versions is delivered amazingly, the bad news is that as with the previous versions, I hated it. Yes, it kept up with the franchise’s original theme of bloody survival and the explosive power struggles between the two warring species (vampires and werewolves), and “Awakening” also managed to reinvent the premise by not only introducing seductive 3D cinematography but also by employing a twist involving a new character, a child, and daughter of two worlds who may be the promise of peace for both Underworld and humanity too, but I just hate this kind of movie. Obviously, it waas not my week to pick.( ★★ )

THE GUARDIAN By Alain de Botton A detail of Descent into Limbo by Andrea Mantegna. Photograph: Sotheby's/AP You often hear it said that "museums of art are our new churches": in other words, in a secularising world, art has replaced religion as a touchstone of our reverence and devotion. The problem is that modern museums of art fail to tell people directly why art matters, because modernist aesthetics (in which curators are trained) is so deeply suspicious of any hint of an instrumental approach to culture. Christianity, by contrast, never leaves us in any doubt about what art is for: it is a medium to teach us how to live, what to love and what to be afraid of. This leads to a suggestion: what if modern museums of art kept in mind the example of the didactic function of Christian art, in order once in a while to reframe how they presented their collections? [ link ]

THE CINCINNATI HERALD  The King Legacy Breakfast Committee included, from left, Sondra Britton, Kay Smith-Yount, Paula Johnson, and Verneida Britton, co-chair. OHIO - The King Legacy Awards Breakfast at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center recognized Rabbi Gary P. Zola, Tracy Wilson and David Weaver (below) with the annual The King Legacy Awards. [ link ]

AOA NEWS By Tahlib "Birds Leaving Home" INDIANA - Three Journeys that Redefined Lives  opens tonight with  Sofiya Inger  at the  IIC Gallery , Indiana Interchurch Center in Indianapolis. In 1991, after leaving her home country of Russia, Sofiya immigrated the the United States, first to New York, then to Indiana. The Jewish artist's exhibition is the first in a series of three personal journeys by artists who have been enriched and transformed by experiences that took them far beyond their original boundaries. Inger was born in the northern Russian city of Kirov, a place steeped in ancient history, traditions, folk art, and surrounded by magnificent pine forests. Engaged at an early age in visual arts, Sofiya continued her education at Children's Art School, then at Kirov Art College. The artist's style and important themes can be traced from the beginning: human emotions, human connections, and ties to Nature, subtle energies permeating ou...

HINDU BLOG Photo courtesy of Daily Bhaskar A broom is a symbol of Goddess Lakshmi in Hindu Tradition. Goddess Lakshmi is associated with cleanliness. It is believed that she resides only in places that are neat and clean. Dirty places invite Alakshmi who brings trouble, insecurity, debt, anger and creates financial loss. Symbolically the broom is also used to clear ego, greed, avarice and anger from the mind. When ego, greed and anger are kept out, a man prospers. The popular belief is that Brooms should be kept in a place not frequented by people. It should be taken out only for cleaning. It is also considered inauspicious to stamp on a broom. ( Link )

DAILY MAIL By John Hutchinson 'The Burning Monk' by Sanna Dullaway (Original picture by Malcolm Browne, 1968) SWEDEN - Swedish artist Sanna Dullaway...has transformed some of the most famous black and white pictures ever captured into high resolution colour versions. [Above is] Dallaway's colour version of 'The Burning Monk' who was protesting against the Vietnamese President's pro-Catholic doctine (Original picture by Malcolm Browne, 1968). The Monk was carried from the scene by his compatriots, in a coffin, although it was said not all his limbs could be fitted in. He was then taken to Xa Loi Pagoda in central Saigon where his body was fully cremated. It is said that his heart did not burn and is considered holy and still preserved to this day. [ link ]

AOA NEWS By Tahlib NEW YORK - While it's not a Holy Day for Buddhists, or those who follow Confucianism or Daoism, it is still widely celebrated by Chinese of all religions, and non-Chinese too. I will be celebrating the " Year of the Dragon " on January 23 right here in NYC in Chinatown , and I'll begin with shopping for fake designer bags for my designing women aunties - maybe something in Chinese red. Yes, our mayor has made it a bit more difficult...but not really.

YOUTUBE By Brian Godawa This is a trailer for the Biblical fantasy novel I wrote about the time before the Great Flood. It's a new take on Noah for a new generation. See http://www.noahprimeval.com/ for details.

ASIA SOCIETY By Chris Livaccari Visitors to the Rockbund Art Museum in Shanghai, China, react to a sculpture of Confucius by artist Zhang Huan. (Rockbund Art Museum) CHINA - For the better part of two millennia, Confucius and his ideas of social harmony and responsibility have been venerated throughout China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam. A new exhibition at the Rockbund Art Museum in Shanghai by controversial artist Zhang Huan entitled Q Confucius (through Jan. 29, 2012) is perhaps indicative of a new direction in attitudes toward the great sage. He was born in Anyang, Henan Province in 1965 (China), and currently lives and works in Shanghai and New York. In the wake of China’s branding of its language and cultural institutes with the “Confucius” tag (we here at Asia Society have our own Confucius Classroom Network), it is clear that this reevaluation of the tradition exists at many levels.  Rather than attacking the Confucian past, many are rediscovering its relevance and v...

ARTDAILY X-ray of the Shiva statue in the lorry. The dark solid shading indicates solid bronze casting. DENMARK - Research recently revealed that the Rijksmuseum’s monumental bronze statue of Shiva was cast in solid bronze. The thousand year-old temple statue was X-rayed, along with the lorry transporting it, in the most powerful X-ray tunnel for containers of the Rotterdam customs authority. It is the first research of its kind on a museological masterpiece. The Rijksmuseum’s Shiva is the largest known bronze statue from the Chola Dynasty (9th to 12th century) kept in a museological collection outside of India. This solid bronze Shiva is evidence of a high level of mastery of bronze casting, as well as just how highly prized such statues were in the Hindu faith. [ link ]

ANDREIVENAL'S CHANNEL | YOUTUBE PHILIPPINES - Resplendor (the blinding light) is the 2011 photography exhibit created by artist/visionary Niccolo Cosme . Illustrated with a visual symphony of concepts and imagery, Cosme digs deep into the current realities of HIV and AIDS in the Philippines, especially those experienced by our modern-day heroes, the overseas Filipino workers (OFWs). Resplendor provokes the senses, inspire action, and envisions a world where people are empowered and informed to make safer choices about their lives and their sexuality. This exhibit is coordinated by Action for Health Initiatives (ACHIEVE), Inc., in partnership with the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Foreign Service Institute (FSI). It is supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Philippines. [ link ]

AOA NEWS By Tahlib SPOT PAINTINGS (above) by Damien Hirst are the Talk of Week in the Religious Art world (and the rest of the Art world too). The British artist's main theme is to express ideas about mortality, life, and often spirituality and science. The Spot series is an arrangement of color spots inspired by pharmaceutical chemicals. Hirst, who is also known for his anti-religious series " The Last Supper " in 1999, has 1500 of these Spot Paintings  posted in galleries in eight cities around the world this month.  Listed below are the art news stories of the past week from the five largest world religions, plus an "other" mix of related news.

AOA NEWS By Greg Disney HOLLYWOOD - Mate " The Blindside " plus "Glee" and the result is the lively new gospel musical " Joyful Noise ," set in the postracial America dreamed about by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr ( View trailer ). It's the perfect movie for this holiday weekend. The bad news is that the storyline of an underdog gospel choir in an economically depressed Georgia small town is predictable and obvious, but audiences won't care because the music, and the laughs, fill-up this movie with plenty of joyful noise from a musical powerhouse team that includes Dolly Parton, Queen Latifah, Keke Palmer, and Jeremy Jordan. There's even a duet between Dolly and Kris Kristofferson. It's a feel good movie that film critics will hate (ie, The New York Times ), but that audiences of all races will adore. (★★★★)

AOA NEWS By Tahlib NEW YORK - Today is World Religion Day in the United States. Founded in 1949, it is an annual celebration where followers in the Bahá'í Faith celebrate the unity of all humankind. As one of the world's newest religions, it was founded in the 1800s when Persian-born Bahá'u'lláh , accepted the mantle of the preordained Messianic figure announced in the scriptures of all of the world's great religions. To start your World Religion Day celebration in New York City, head to the Baha'i Center at  53 E 11th St for an 11am Devotional service. For other US cities, visit the national center's website at: http://find.bahai.us/ .

THE NEW YORK TIMES By Roberta Smith Damien Hirst's "Urea-13C," at Gagosian at 522 West 21st Street NEW YORK - Thanks to the Gagosian art empire, a ludicrous number of paintings by Damien Hirst are on display right now: 331 of Mr. Hirst’s implacably cheerful “spot” abstractions spread among Gagosian’s 11 galleries in 8 cities on 3 continents. The show is titled “Damien Hirst the Complete Spot Paintings 1986-2011.” The good news, of course, is that they’re not all in one place. And none involve dead animals, maggots, encrusted diamonds or vats of formaldehyde. How bad can it be? Well, very bad at times, and yet, at others, not bad at all, in fact rather good. By far the best New York installation is at the Gagosian on West 21st Street in Chelsea, where a mere 14 paintings ring one enormous space and function as a kind of Hirst primer. [ link ]

BANGSTYLE Islamic Angel Gabriel , Courtesy of Wikipedia ISRAEL - Angels are found in Jewish, Christian and Islamic art and have always captured the attention of those who see beauty in the ethereal figures. A new exhibit entitled "Divine Messengers: Angels in Art" is making a wonderful debut at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. The exhibit is displaying 30 pieces of angelic art from around the world, however most pieces are coming from the museum’s own private collection. The beauty of this exhibit is the fact that the Israel Museum is displaying the angelic art in a way that pays respect to how each religion view angels without exercising any “religious bias.” For Shlomit Steinberg, curator of the Divine Messengers, she finds the Muslim cherubs the most fascinating and states,“The most fantastic angels I’ve seen are the Islamic ones. I have never in my life seen such creatures, they have pointy wings, they are full of humor they are mischievous.” Call them guardian ange...

SPEIGEL INTERNATIONAL By Juliane von Mittelstaedt ISRAEL - Veiled women, radical rabbis and gender segregation: Israel is facing a rise in the influence of ultra-Orthodox Jews. Naomi Machfud is sitting inside the self-built house, dreaming about making the world disappear. A black veil, without even a vision slit, one that swallows every glance and submerges the world in darkness. The veil is the pinnacle of zniut, or modesty, the closest a person can get to God. In Israel, the veiled women are referred to as the "Taliban," while they refer to themselves as women of the shawl. They are usually seen in Jerusalem's ultra-orthodox Me'ah She'arim neighborhood, black, shapeless figures, holding the hands of their daughters, who look like miniature versions of their mothers. [ link ]

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL By Diksha Sahni Hindu religious men gave final touches to a folk art piece shaped in the form of the Swastika on Oct. 24, 2011 NEW YORK - The Swastika, a Hindu and Buddhist symbol later associated with Nazi Germany, sparked fresh controversy as local authorities requested a store in a New York borough to stop selling Swastika-shaped earrings because they deemed them offensive. In an interview with Fox News, the store’s manager said the design of the earrings was “not a Nazi symbol.” “I don’t know what’s the problem. My earrings are coming from India as a Buddhist symbol,” she said. In Hindu culture, the Swastika is depicted as an equilateral cross with its arms bent at right angles. In the Nazi version, the Swastika is tilted. The earrings could’ve been either. Experts say that it is difficult to date the origin of the Swastika, with some of its earliest uses dating from the 3rd century B.C.[ link ]

XAVIER MAGAZINE By Julie Irwin Zimmerman OHIO - Every item in Cockerill Gallery, Vickie Cockerill’s eponymous store on Hyde Park Square in Cincinnati, reflects its owner’s discerning taste, honed over a career in advertising and travels in the U.S. and abroad. Cockerill, a 1968 graduate, specializes in contemporary art jewelry and art glass, but the store is full of finds that happened to catch her interest: old African masks, Peruvian art, jewelry from Korea and Japan, all unified by Cockerill’s keen eye. Now the gallery’s customers and artisans provide an outlet and a purpose—to find and collect beautiful things into an exquisitely curated collection. [ link ]

GARETH'S ART BLOG By Gareth "The Last Supper" (1999) by Damien Hirst In this series of paintings, Hirst brings together his attacks on religion and science. I don’t know if you can see it, but there are thirteen paintings made to look like drug packaging. But the “drugs” are things like “Salad tablets,” “sandwich capsules” and “chicken.” And the title, the last supper, makes reference to the last meal of Jesus, and to Holy Communion. This is what keeps us alive – we eat and we drink. But we trust science and we trust religion to help us to cheat death. I think he’s both highlighting the mundane and basic things that keep us alive, but at the same time he’s poking fun at the might and power of both religion and science. [ link ]

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THE ART NEWSPAPER By Sophia Kishkovsky Perm’s art, religious and secular, could be rehoused RUSSIA - Perm’s art, religious and secular, could be rehoused The Russian Orthodox Church is attempting to reclaim the Holy Transfiguration Cathedral of Perm , which has housed the Perm State Art Gallery since the Soviet era, a move that has led to protests within Russia and abroad. Called “the Hermitage of the Urals”, the Perm art museum’s collection contains antiquities and folk art, paintings from the 19th century to the Russian avant-garde as well as rare, wooden sculptures of Christ that are indigenous to the Perm region. The stand-off between the church and one of the leading museums in the Urals is the latest in a series of disputes in Russia that have been simmering for years. A law passed by the Russian parliament in 2010 laid out a framework for the return to the church of religious property seized during the communist era.[ link ]

AOA NEWS By Tahlib The entrance to the tomb of Bahá’u’lláh in Israel. The inscription, an invocation in Arabic meaning “O Glory of Glories,” is a reference to Bahá’u’lláh. ISRAEL - The Shrine of the Prophet-Founder of the Baha'i faith is located in northern Israel, in the city of Acre. Acre is the holiest city of the Bahá'í Faith. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories. In the Bahá'í Faith, religious history is seen to have unfolded through a series of divine messengers, each of whom established a religion that was suited to the needs of the time and the capacity of the people. These messengers have included Abraham, the Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad and others, and most recently the Bahá'u'lláh. In addition to the sacred shrine, the faithful make pilgrimages to temples around the world , including the world headquarters which is also located in Israel, in the city of Haifa.

THE NEW YORK TIMES By Dave Itzkoff ENGLAND - In a onetime mess hall on a decommissioned Royal Air Force base outside London, Ricky Gervais was directing the 4-foot-6 star of a low-budget re-enactment of “The Passion of the Christ” on how to play the Crucifixion for more laughs. Gervais was filming his new comedy series, “Life’s Too Short,” created with his writing and directing partner, Stephen Merchant. The show stars Warwick Davis, a 3-foot-6 actor perhaps best known for playing Wicket the Ewok in “Return of the Jedi.” “Life’s Too Short,” which was shown on Britain’s BBC Two at the end of 2011 and will make its U.S. debut Feb. 19 on HBO, is framed as a documentary about Davis. [ link ]

AOA NEWS By Tahlib Three symbols of the Baha'i faith To Western eyes, Baha'i art including its most noted adherent & prominent American artist, Mark Tobey is not that different from Islamic art. The portrayal of the faith's most holy leaders including Abraham, Jesus, Moses, Muhammad, Buddha, etc is forbidden but calligraphic symbols are often used. This Sunday, January 15 as members of the faith throughout the United States celebrate the 63rd annual World Religion Day (founded 1949) that ceremony will include three very Islamic looking symbols: First, a simple nine-pointed star is generally used by Baha’is as a symbol of their Faith; second, Baha’i ringstones and other Baha’i identity jewelry serve as a visual reminder of God’s purpose for man; and thirdly, calligraphic forms of the word Baha known as the "Greatest Name", a reference to the Faith's Prophet-Founder Bahá'u'lláh (1817-1892), a former follower of Islam.

YAHOO! SPORTS By Doug Farrar If you were ever of a mind to "remember the 1980s," we have something that might have you thinking twice. Two-hit wonder John Parr, who wrote the "Man in Motion" song that became the theme to noted Brat Pack movie "St. Elmo's Fire" in 1985, has changed the lyrics of the song to reflect the singer's admiration for one Tim Tebow. [ link ]

APP BRAIN By Roma Vita VATICAN CITY - This app is a Multimedia guided Tour of the Vatican's Sistine Chapel Roma. Experience the grander of Michelangelo masterpiece developed by veteran Roman tour guides. Over 35 minutes of content rich audio presentation, includes hi-res photo's and diagrams. Tour covers the ceiling of Michelangelo explaining the 6 days of creation and the last judgment. Once loaded no need for access to WiFi or Internet. Installation is free: [ download ].

FOX NEWS By Jo Piazza What do young superstars Justin Bieber, Demi Lovato, and Tim Tebow have in common? They believe in God, and they don't mind sharing. So are these young, hip and very public Christians in the worlds of music, television and sports are making it cool for the highly connected Generation Z to embrace Christianity? “It’s not bad brand marketing,” explains Ann Neuman, the editor of The Revealer website at New York University’s Center for Religion and Media. “Bieber’s godliness makes him particularly safe and acceptable to tweens and their parents.” [ link ]

ANSA | med New Book, "When love for the Prophet becomes art" TURKEY - In connection with a pioneering exhibition having taken place in Rome last October, a book was published in Turkey about the spiritual meaning of two great Islamic traditions: Hilye-i Serif (a form of classic calligraphy used to portray Prophet Muhammad) and the use of Tesbih, the rosary used for praying in the Muslim tradition. The book, whose title is "When love for the Prophet becomes art" is promoted on Islam-oriented daily newspaper Zaman website and is aimed at celebrating Rome's exhibition on examples of classic and contemporary Turkish art: indeed, on the exhibition's occasion a collection of Hilye-i Serif was exhibited in Europe for the first time. The book is available in English, Turkish and Italian at the publishing house Matbaacilik, based in the Kagithane district of Istanbul. [ link ]

Thanksgiving Leaf , aquatint by Mark Tobey, 1971 WISCONSIN - Mark Tobey was an American abstract expressionist who practiced the Baha'i Faith tradition, and whose works are included in the faith's national center in Illinois. According to Baha'i tradition, all art is a gift of the Holy Spirit, because it is the outcome of the light of truth coming into the mind of the painter. It is a form of worship and prayer. Tobey is perhaps the most prominent of painters and visual artists who have embraced the Baha'i teachings, but his style influenced others including Jackson Pollack. According to scholar, Rob Weinberg, there is no Baha'i Art style but a way of thinking which embraces universality. Baha'i art may be non-pictorial, as in the case of Mark Tobey but it may also be pictorial as long as it does not portray the faith's most holy leaders including Abraham, Jesus, Moses, Muhammad, Buddha, etc. Mark George Tobey (December 11, 1890 – April 24, 1976) was b...

FAITH AND THE ARTS By Rob Weinberg Bahá'ís believe the arts are not at the periphery of our existence but rather are at the very heart of it. There are numerous references to the arts in the writings of the Faith's Prophet-Founder Bahá'u'lláh (1817-1892), as well as in the expositions of Bahá'u'lláh's teachings given by His son, 'Abdu'l-Bahá (1844-1921). Through his extensive correspondence with Bahá'ís around the world, Shoghi Effendi (1897-1957), the grandson of 'Abdu'l-Bahá and Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith (1921-1957), also answered many questions related to the arts. Since 1963, an internationally elected governing body, the Universal House of Justice, has guided the growth and development of the worldwide Bahá’í community. Through study of the sacred scriptures of the Bahá'í Faith as well as the guidance of Bahá'u'lláh's successors, general principles and guidelines can be found that can be applied to numerous ...

BIKYAMASR By Colleen Gillard EGYPT - Vigilante gangs of ultra-conservative Salafi men have been harassing shop owners and female customers in rural towns around Egypt for “indecent behavior,” according to reports in the Egyptian news media. But when they burst into a beauty salon in the Nile delta town of Benha this week and ordered the women inside to stop what they were doing or face physical punishment, the women struck back, whipping them with their own canes before kicking them out to the street in front of an astonished crowd of onlookers. The conservative Salafi sect promotes the strict segregation of the sexes, with many Salafi women wearing the all-enveloping black nikkab gown with eye slits. [ link ]

THE LOS ANGELES TIMES By Susan Spano, Special to the Los Angeles Times Mt. Merapi rises in the distance behind the forest of stupas at Borobudur,… (Susan Spano / For The Times) INDONESIA - Borobudur could be the keyhole to nirvana, one intrepid American traveler figures, as she contemplates the state of being from atop the majestic ancient temple. Reporting from Yogyakarta, Indonesia — — Four a.m. is a terrible time of day, too late for night owls, too early for early risers. The exception is 4 a.m. at Borobudur, waiting for the sun to rise over the Kedu Plain in central Java with 504 figures of Buddha. The temple is one of three great religious sites in Southeast Asia, but it's older and more esoteric than Bagan in Myanmar and Angkor Wat in Cambodia. It was begun in the 8th century by the Sailendras, a dynasty of Buddhist kings who ruled central Java for almost 200 years until their power waned and the temple was abandoned. [ link ]