2B —Thursday, November 9, 2017
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

COURTESY OF KYLE PRUE

Intersections of art and religion can be seen across campus and students

“I find the best places that 

I can focus, and that I can 
worship, are places that have 
art or have artistic qualities. I 
don’t pray well in a little white 
box in a reflection room because 
it’s not really soothing.”

For Public Health student 

Nuha 
Mahmood, 
art 
and 

religion are intertwined. The 
addition of art in places of 
worship amplifies her prayer. 

“I’ll be really focused and 

really into it if I’m at the 
mosque that has calligraphy or 
art on the walls,” she said. 

It’s a sentiment that spans 

across continents; the interior 
of oldest mosque in the world, 
the Masjid al-Haram (or the 
Great Mosque of Mecca), has a 
forest of white pillars, gleaming 
marble arms that stretch up 
endlessly, crowned by stretches 
of calligraphy. The lines are 
graceful and exact, and their 
curves match the curved backs 

of the people as they bend down 
to pray. Their worship and the 
detail of the surrounding art 
reveal similar narratives: a 
story of dedication and devoted 
care. 

Across all faiths, religion 

and art have the potential to 
be easily connected. There 
already 
exists 
a 
sprawling 

history behind the portrayal 
of religion in art: paintings 

hung in the Vatican serving 
as the visual icons to religious 
stories and verses of the Qur’an 
turning melodic in recitation; 
on Lantau Island in Hong 
Kong, Tian Tan Buddha blots 
out parts of the sky; in Rio de 

Janeiro, Christ the Redeemer’s 
outstretched arms take flight 
30 meters above Brazil. 

Throughout the years, people 

have consistently turned to art 
as a platform for displaying 
religion. 

More 
expressive 
than 

written 
text, 
art 
makes 

religion more personable. It 
is, at times, a window into the 
interpretation of the artist — 
an invitation that is accessible 
to all. The method in which 
Diego Velázquez chose to paint 
Christ Crucified, a solemn 
figure with head lowered and 
eyes closed, induces a state of 
quiet contemplation no matter 
the religious affiliation (or lack 
thereof) of the viewer. 

The relationship between 

faith and art, however, is not 
solely limited to oil paintings 
and 
frescoes. 
Even 
more 

contemporary 
aspects 
of 

artistic 
performance 
that 

seem 
to 
stand 
completely 

independent of religion can 
share common themes. 

Both art and religion can 

SHIMA SADAGHIYANI

Daily Arts Writer

‘I was raised in the church’ 
reconciling faith and craft

take time to develop. Both art 
and religion can be used as 
forms of self-expression.

Music, Theatre, and Dance 

senior 
Grace 
Bydalek 
has 

always 
considered 
musical 

theatre a large part of her life. 

“I was probably six or seven 

when I started,” she said. “I 
started with A Christmas Carol. 
And then I kinda got bit by that 
bug and never went back.” 

Paralleling her art is her 

religion — an aspect of her life 
that has been as long-lasting as 
the musical theatre component.

“I was raised in the church,” 

she said. “so I was raised 
Presbyterian and Protestant. 
So I went to church all growing 
up with my family, it was a big 
family thing. We would go on 
Sundays and Wednesdays and 
do the whole conformation 
thing and do the whole Sunday 

school and bible school and 

vacation bible school and the 
whole thing.”

Music, Theatre, and Dance 

student Vincent Ford shared a 
similar story. 

“I’ve been working in the 

industry professionally since I 
was like six or seven,” he said. 
“I started off doing vocal work 
and a little modeling work and 
then, as I got older, I went over 
to the world of film and then I 
became heavy in theatre.”

Like 
Bydalek, 
Ford 
was 

raised in a religious household, 
spending time in church with 
his family as well as under the 
spotlight on stage or in front of 
the camera. 

“I’m a very southern man, 

so I was raised up extremely, 
strictly Christian,” For said. “I 
grew up in a Baptist religion. I 
come from a family of ministers 
and clergymen so I know what 
it is to be caught in religion.”

The 
commonality 
across 

COURTESY OF KYLE PRUE

Paralleling her 
art is her religion 

— an aspect of 
her life that has 

been as long-
lasting as the 
musical theatre 

component

More expressive 
than written text, 
art makes religion 
more personable

these distinct identities of art 
and religion is community — a 
concept Mahmood discussed 
when detailing her experience 
as a member of her high school’s 
Indian Students Association. 
Every year, Mahmood and the 
rest of the organization would 
put on a multicultural show, 
and, during her last two years 
of 
high 
school, 
Mahmood 

found herself filling the role of 
choreographer. However, more 
valuable than the actual dances 
themselves was the resulting 
interconnectedness throughout 
the group as a whole. 

“Just the skill of building 

community 
and 
building 
a 

pseudo-family for a lot of these 
kids that wouldn’t have found 
comfort anywhere else,” she 
said. “So, you get a lot of the 
people who tend to be loners, 
I felt like. They came and they 
would find people to support 
them there.”

A home built out of shared 

interests 
and 
countless 

rehearsals — the unity that 
Mahmood discovered within 
her cultural association is a 
concept holds true for Bydalek 

and Ford, as well. 

However, 
within 
religion 

and art, alongside cohesion, 
there can also exist conflict.

“This 
past 
year,” 
Ford 

explained, “I was in show 
called “Insurrection Holding 
History…” and my character 
was 
a 
slave 
who 
had 
a 

homosexual love interest… I 
remember telling my parents 
about it… [my father] wouldn’t 
come to the show because it’s 
just that far removed from our 
religious beliefs.” 

Contrasting 
his 
father’s 

actions, Ford approached this 
role with an open mind.

“The most important part 

about most religions is that 
we just are our best selves as 
human beings and that we love 
everyone equally,” Ford said. 
“I told the whole cast and the 
director as well that I grew 
as a person because of this 
production, because I was able 
to see the light of God through 
everyone.” 

Bydalek 
reconciles 
the 

occasional tension between her 
religion and her passion in a 
slightly different way. 

“I think of all the characters 

I’ve played as having important 
stories,” she explained. “Stories 
that were written for a reason. 
Stories that need to be told for 
a reason… it’s not necessarily 
about me, it’s more about telling 
a story.” 

And the stories that Bydalek, 

Ford and Mahmood share as 
they continue to balance art and 
religion have the capacity to 
inspire others; the interactions 
between 
art 
and 
religion 

prompt understanding: Ford’s 
dad might have purposefully 
skipped “Insurrection Holding 
History,” 
but 
Ford’s 
mom 

came, watched and had a 
life-changing 
experience. 

In religion, there is always a 
capacity for growth.

There 
is 
also 
always 
a 

capacity for art. 

Mahmood’s 
roommate 
is 

currently a member of the 
organization, “Redefine.” She 
pushes to re-introduce the 
component of art in religion; 
the significance it places on 
the synergy between art and 
religion is far-reaching. 

COURTESY OF MICHIGAN GOSPEL CHORALE

The Michigan Gospel Chorale is a student-led organization
Faith by singing: religious 
a cappella at the University

Organizations like the Michigan Gospel Chorale on campus 
are dedicated to musical, religious and spiritual growth

I keep promising myself I’m 

never going to start another 
piece with “Senior year of high 
school …” again, but, alas, here 
we are. What can I say? It was 
formative.

Senior year of high school, 

during my wild, wild Spring 
Break, I got a nasal septoplasty 
— not a nose job, but basically 
a nose job. I broke my nose in 
2012, and for various reasons 
(mostly my fear of pain and, 
ironically, 
painkillers), 
I 

decided to be a mouth-breather 
for four years before getting it 
fixed. The week following the 
surgery, my doctor put me on 
a lot of Vicodin. I mean, a lot. 
I ended up spending my days 
with 
milkshakes, 
watching 

“Sing it On” (a docuseries 
on 
collegiate 
a 
cappella) 

and 
carefully 
blotting 
the 

tragedy that was my face. 
The experience birthed this 
random, 
niche 
love 
for 
a 

cappella in me, and when 
I was presented with the 
opportunity to speak with two 
of the University of Michigan’s 
groups, I couldn’t help but be 
reminded of how charming the 
art form is.

Engrained 
within 
their 

respective faiths (Christianity 

and Judaism), the Michigan 
Gospel 
Chorale 
and 
Kol 

HaKavod 
work 
as 
spaces 

through which their members 
can flourish in their beliefs 
and musicianship.

“The 
Michigan 
Gospel 

Chorale 
is 
a 
student-led 

organization with the mission 
of 
aiding 
in 
guaranteeing 

the 
recruitment, 
retention 

and spiritual growth of its 
members,” 
wrote 
President 

Ja’naysha 
Hamilton, 

Engineering senior, in an email 
interview with The Daily. “Our 
goal is for the organization 
to act as a vehicle to promote 
unity through programs that 
encourage musical excellence, 
spiritual 
growth, 
and 

humanitarian development.”

Kol 
HaKavod, 
literally 

meaning “all the honor” and 
colloquially used to say, “Good 
job,” is rooted in Judaism. The 
coed unit of 11 undergraduates 
was founded in 1993 and 
rehearses weekly at Hillel.

“Being 
in 
KHK 
is 
one 

of 
my 
most 
important 

and 
meaningful 
college 

experiences,” wrote LSA senior 
Hannah Bruder, music director 
for KHK in an email interview 
with The Daily. “It has given 
me a community of friends 
who are extremely diverse but 
are similarly passionate about 
music and singing.”

While KHK is a smaller 

operation, 
MGC 
has 
four 

auxiliary groups in addition 
to the Chorale, which began 
in 1972. Hands Anointed ‘N’ 
Divine Signs is a sign language 
ministry, Images of Praise 
is a praise dance ministry, 
The 
Prophetic 
Interpreters 

a mime ministry and Taking 
Refuge 
Uttering 
Spoken 

Truths 
is 
a 
spoken-word 

ministry. These offshoots help 
maintain MGC’s goal of being 
inclusive of various identities 
while remaining a Christian 
organization.

Performing through gospel 

songs and holding weekly Bible 
studies (which are open to 
anyone and everyone), MGC 
members 
deeply 
integrate 

their faith into every aspect of 
what they do.

“My 
favorite 
part 
of 

performing together is when 
that one person comes up to 
us at the end (of a show) and 
says that we really touched 
them, or that they feel so much 
more relieved and free after 
hearing or seeing us perform,” 
Hamilton wrote. “We do our 
performances to spread God’s 
Love, and when people come 
up to us and say we did exactly 

ARYA NAIDU
Daily Arts Writer

B-SIDE SECONDARY

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Profiling devout students and their reflections on faith and art

