wwp@yahoogroups.com:
Your essay is helpful.
jesselee 2004-Dec-03 09:25:00
Well done, Don,
Your essay would be much helpful!
Thank you!
Jesse Lee
www.chinavr.net
----- Original Message -----
From: G. Donald Bain
To: #removed#
Sent: Friday, December 03, 2004 4:46 AM
Subject: About the Next Theme - Sanctuary
I wrote this little essay to spark ideas on how to creatively approach
the theme for this season's World Wide Panorama. Discussion is
encouraged. We will be asking for more attention to captions in this
event, so think not only of how to make a memorable panorama, but of
how to describe and explain it.
Don
========================
Sanctuary - originally, a consecrated place, a place where sacred
things are kept.
The sanctuary was the part of a Greek temple and later a Roman
basilica where treasure was kept. In the Jewish Temple of Jerusalem it
was where the Ark of the Covenant was kept, the sanctum sanctorum or
holiest of holies. Roman basilicas evolved into Christian cathedrals
and churches and the meaning evolved. In churches the sanctuary is
defined as the part of the church where the altar is.
Sanctuary can thus be taken literally - churches, cathedrals,
basilicas, temples, mosques. Religous buildings are often of great
beauty, the focus of community pride and a showcase for its artistry
and wealth. They are repositories of history and art, sometimes the
site of historic events. Churches are among the best places for cubic
panoramas, often having elaborately decorated floors and ceilings.
By tradition fugitives could not be pursued into or arrested in a
sanctuary, providing another meaning: a place of safety and refuge.
This concept appears in various cultures. In Hawaii for example, the
famous Pu'uhonua O Honaunau (and others) offered refuge from the harsh
kapu system. The "Underground Railroad" in the pre-Civil War U.S.
sheltered slaves moving north to freedom. Entire countries have been
legal refuges for fugitives from persecution or prosecution.
A sanctuary can also be seen as a refuge not just from the law, but
from strife and turmoil. The Greeks and Romans recognized sacred groves
and forest clearings as sanctuaries. We now use the term to describe
areas where wildlife is protected from hunting and predation. Wildlife
refuges large and small exist all over the world, especially to shelter
migratory birds.
A sanctuary can be any place of refuge, a shelter from the pressures of
life, a refuge from stress and danger. It can be a library, a private
club, a corner of the garden, a lonely hilltop, a coffee shop, or a
friendly tavern. It could be a basement workshop, a tree-house, an
artist's studio, a vacation cabin, a favorite campsite, even a hotel
room or cruise ship cabin. People seek shelter in all kinds of places.
In the novel "Snow Falling on Cedars" a hollow tree is a personal
sanctuary for several of the characters - the real tree actually exists
in a park. To our ancient ancestors a cave would be a sanctuary. In the
Cold War years some Americans built backyard fallout shelters as
sanctuary in the event of nuclear war. Switzerland has an elaborate
system of underground shelters dating back to World War II. For
migrating birds a sheltered garden or thicket provides life-saving
sanctuary. For Howard Hughes it was a hotel in Las Vegas. For a house
cat it might be a cardboard box.
Sanctuary seems a topic appropriate to the time of year (at least at
higher latitudes in the northern hemisphere), when the weather turns
hostile and we looks inwards to the comfort of home and community. In
much of the world it is a time of religous observance and festivity, of
family reunion, and of giving.
We look forward to seeing all the interpretations of the concept of
sanctuary, from grand architectural masterpieces to unique personal
statements.
------
The World-Wide Panorama
For more information:
-Visit the web site at http://GeoImages.Berkeley.edu/wwp.html
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