Union Presbyterian Seminary will host a free public exhibit, titled “Faith in India: Her Faces and Spaces,” March 25 through May 10, 2019, at William Smith Morton Library, 3406 Chamberlayne Avenue, Richmond, Virginia 23227.

The exhibit will feature photography by local artist Zacchaeus Katta along with books from Morton Library’s collection pertaining to Indian Christianity. The Syngman Rhee Global Mission Center will sponsor a free gallery talk by the artist at 4 p.m. on April 4.

While almost 80 percent of the population of India is Hindu, other faiths are also practiced. India’s small but vibrant Christian community is arguably one of the oldest in the world. Tradition tells us that they were first evangelized by the Apostle Thomas, and the 16th century Portuguese definitely found an active and worshiping Christian family when they first arrived in India. Today, irrespective of religious-cultural diversity, universal values are, ostensibly, shared and practiced with respect and dignity throughout the country.

However, India struggles with the oppression of its past, and how it informs and continues into its present. Women, children and those in poverty are at risk, as are many of those who are not Hindu. Hundreds of thousands of people now resist subjugation by the rigid caste system that has controlled them for over three millennia and, even today, renders them socially invisible.

Zacchaeus Katta is an ordained pastor as well as an award-winning artist currently pursuing his Master of Science in patient counseling at Virginia Commonwealth University. His exhibitions have been housed in Richmond institutions, churches, and galleries like VCU Health System, Cross Roads Art Gallery, and Art Works Studio. Before coming to the United States, his work was exhibited in his native country South India, at United Theological College Bangalore, National Council of Churches in India, Nagpur; Medak Diocese, Hyderabad; and Yashoda Hospital, Secunderabad.

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Contact:

Dora Byrd Rowe
Instructional Services Librarian
Union Presbyterian Seminary
drowe@upsem.edu