WORK FROM OUR FRIENDS
There is no formal affiliation to Sanctuary Gallery but we are thrilled to acknowledge our contacts with those referred to as Sanctuary People elsewhere on the website. It is a pleasure, when the opportunity arises, to bring their work to your attention.
We regret that we do not have the facility to stock this work at Sanctuary Gallery but we will be pleased to supply contact details.
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God's Candidate
by
Paul Spackman
Published by Gracewing. £12.99
From the publication announcement
"Few episodes in the history of the papacy have caused as much sensational commentary and wild speculation as the sudden death of Pope John Paul I after a pontificate of only thirty one days.
In this short time he had endeared himself to the world for his gentle charm, his humility and his simple and practical approach to the awesome responsibility of being Vicar of Christ on earth. His election had raised the hopes of millions - he was a man of such radiant friendliness and obvious humanity that the atmosphere of vitality and hope that he brought to the Vatican had set the world aglow. By popular acclaim he quickly became known as 'the smiling Pope'
His untimely death would send shockwaves across the globe.
Here is a thorough account of the extraordinary life of Albino Luciani (1912-1978); the first full analysis in English of his whole life - not merely another account of the circumstances surrounding his short papacy and death - which lays to rest many popular misconceptions and a great deal of false information.
By considering the Pope's whole life, in the context of change and continuity, it is possible to reach a much more mature and balanced view of his papacy and the legacy to the Church. This book presents important new material to an English-speaking readership for the first time."
Paul is a historian and writer from Corwen.
You can contact him about this book or about his current research, into twentieth-century Soviet and Italian political social history.
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"I'll come and get you….."
An encounter with the Baiga people of India
Myk Briggs
from the Editorial Preface
"Myk Briggs is a photographer who went to India and found plenty to photograph. Myk Briggs is a child of western civilization who went to India and found something extraordinary he could not photograph.
This book is the product of both these aspects of one man's experience; some of his photographs are here, a lot of his affection and respect for the Baiga people of central India is here.
He will not say it of himself but, as his editors, we will presume to share a couple of things about him because they help us realize what is possible for western people in general: Myk is an extraordinarily able physicist and mathematician; Myk is a wealthy man. He has the intellect, the scientific and technical ability to master the building blocks by which western society predominantly defines existence; he has the material resource through which western society seeks its security.
In India, in a land of vast and diverse humanity, in a land of burgeoning economy and technology, Myk was introduced to a forgotten, seemingly insignificant tribe of people, the Baiga. We might be tempted to describe their life as poor and primitive. Myk Briggs however describes his encounter with them as 'life-changing', as 'making the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end'. It is an intimate and personal encounter that we look into through these pages. This is not the record of a photographer looking and 'taking' pictures, it is one man assuring us that it is still possible to see and hear where we may fear that our life styles have made us blind and deaf.
'I'll come and get you…' is predominantly a book of photographs but this is no arbitrary selection from a collection exceeding five hundred images. The photographs, together with the captions Myk has provided, form a narrative of a significant part of his encounter with the Baiga. We follow a pictorial record of 'an outsider' gradually focusing on a new social and geographic environment. Step by step we share his attention being drawn by the patterns of family and social life before him. We notice with him the beauty and peace radiating around these people, their care for each other and for their world. We are taken closer and closer to their heart until, accepting the hospitality of the invitation, we are with them at the binding of their relationships - we are guests at a wedding. (To date, incidentally, Myk is the only photographer to record a Baiga wedding).
If you are wondering about the title of this book, it becomes clear as you prepare to leave for home at the end of the book……"
From the closing page of the book
"As the time to leave approaches a language barrier is crossed and the Baiga tell me what they see…..
I need to explain that none in my party who was allowed to speak could speak the language of the Baiga (one of the draw-backs of being a guest of the Maharajah). But as I was preparing to leave the man ……. brought two people who spoke to me through a lot of sign language and sequential interpretation. The conversation went like this :-
"You are going home?"
"Yes"
"To your palace made of marble?"
"No we have an ordinary house, not mud nor marble"
"Do you go in the big silver bird?" (an aeroplane of course)
"Yes"
"How long will it take?"
"All day"
"I hear your country is full of bad people, trucks and politicians" (a description based on a twenty minute linguistic experience)
"Yes, not so nice as here"
"When you get home, if you do not want to stay -
…….. LET ME KNOW, I WILL BRING MY OX AND I'LL COME AND GET YOU"
I left with tears running down my face ………."
I'll come and get you…… is not from Sanctuary Gallery but we are nevertheless pleased to be able to supply it, post free, at the normal retail price of £33. It is available through our online Book Shop
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