Art of the Creche Nativities from Around the World.

Art of the Creche Nativities from Around the World

WRITTEN BY James L. Govan PUBLISHED BY Merrell Publishers, New York, 2007, ISBN: 1-8589-4402-9, Hardcover, pp. 208, $43.00 CND 

I have recently discovered I am not alone in my fascination with Christmas Nativity scenes or creches. My first exposure to creche collections was in Germany's Oberammergau Creche Museum. Since then, I have discovered several more including that at Montreal's St. Joseph's Oratory and the Saguenay Region's collection at Riviere-Eternite. In fact, that entire village erects creches in front of its homes. There's a more modest exhibit at Toronto's Columbus Centre. Spain held an international creche collectors meeting in the '90s. However, none can equal the variety of expression that this book has achieved. It presents the beauty, devotion and richness of the creche world in an unparalleled manner.

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The author, James Govan, worked for most of his life as an international aid and development worker with the US Agency for International Development (USAID). He and his beloved wife Emilia (who died in 2000 and to whom this book is dedicated) bought their first creche after they were married in 1962. By 1974 they had owned three and decided to continue with a collection. This pursuit for the two of them became what Govan describes as a "wonderful journey" by him and his wife. "We were motivated by our shared Catholic faith, our interest in art--especially folk art--and the expressions of cultural diversity we encountered", Govan recalls. Eventually Govan became the founding president of the Friends of the Creche Society.

Today the Govan collection totals 450! Most are by contemporary artists, representing both traditional and modernistic interpretations. When the collection became larger, the Archdiocese of Washington DC where Govan lives invited him to exhibit there at the Paul VI Institute for the Arts in 1990. From 2001 until 2005 it was on exhibit at the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center, and portions of the collection can be viewed at Loyola University Museum of Art in Chicago from November until January of 2008.

It would be an insult to call this book a "coffee table book" because, even though in dimensions (9.5 by 11 inches) it is eligible, it is simultaneously a visual wonder and an illuminating engrossing text. The 200 photographs by Cade Martin of 115 nativities are stunning, some showing the entire creche scene, some being close-ups of certain figures. Govan has attempted to get creches from most countries in the world, even those not predominately Christian. Many of these he has commissioned from artists or artists' collectives, some have been gifts and others he has purchased on his travels. He relates a charming story of the sighting of rich wood figures of Mary and Joseph in a shop window in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. The shop was closed so he and Emilia went back next morning only to learn there was no Baby Jesus figure around. The shop clerk did not understand the significance of a missing figure from the scene; however, he allowed the two to search through the store. Eventually "after a considerable and intense search, we found the Christ Child in a corner, buried under many other objects. The Holy Family was reunited." Spoken like a true collector!

Govan also has included a biography of the artists (when known) involved, followed by a short discussion of the salient features of various creches. We also learn of the context of the creches, their historical and cultural heritage. This makes for fascinating reading of anomalies among the samplings. For example, I was not aware that St. Joseph was rarely depicted in the earliest creche scenes. These contemporary ones always include him, now. A couple of rare examples show him seated rather than standing, or depict him, rather than Mary, holding the Infant in his arms. In one creche, he's depicted as an older man with a balding head, the latter feature not usually envisioned.

We learn the most classical presentations of the creche (presepio) are continued even today by the Neapolitan Baroque tradition, possibly because the origins of the creche are Italian, attributed to St. Francis of Assisi in 1123. The stable scene is represented in a hundred different ways by artisans of other countries. An eastern German creche is in the shape of a pyramid with three levels. Candles on the bottom level create enough heat to turn a windmill atop the third level, causing each platform to rotate, showing off the different nativity figures. Another striking creation is from Texas. It shows a hand (symbol of prayer and of protection) bearing the Stigmata with fingers pointing upward. Atop each finger is an individual figure--the Infant, Mary and Joseph, St. Ann and St. Joachim, all painted in vivid colours. Mexico uses the Tree of Life, decorated with delicately carved leaves and flowers as a setting for some of its creches; that motif is suggested to be a remnant of the Spanish colonial era. (One added benefit of Mexican, Central and South American creche-making has been the revival among folk-artists of Spanish colonial carving). A beautiful Venezuelan creche has the Christ Child resting on a bed of hay atop a chalice. This creche has been carved inside one piece of a wooden log, which when opened lengthwise reveals the eucharistic symbolization of the creche, with two hinged side panels containing Mary and Joseph in adoration. House of Bread by Massachusetts artist Mary Fuller is carved into a hollowed-out oval loaf of pumpernickel bread lying sideways. She was inspired to do this interpretation because the word Bethlehem means " house" (bet) and "bread" (lechem) and she associates Christ with the Bread of Life.

The variety of creche interpretations is matched by the choice of materials used for their execution. They include clay, wood, potato clay, cinnamon paste, lava stone, ribs from saguaro cacti, fiber thread painstakingly made from an indigenous plant by the Wichi women of Argentina, bronze, bamboo, Nigerian thornwood, olive wood from the West Bank of the Holy Land--there is no end to the artisans' ingenuity. Each creche also expresses the types of clothing and manners of their originating countries. Govan reports it is rare to find a Navajo creche, because their spiritual beliefs do not usually use figures. However, he finally found an Arizona Navajo who depicted the Holy Family in typical Navajo "conch" hats, with Mary having her hair done up in Navajo buns. Very simple and most appealing!

Another interesting feature of these worldwide examples is the variety in the gifts presented to the Infant by shepherds and the Magi. Aside from the traditional gold, frankincense and myrrh, we see real grain, sorghum and millet, bananas, bags of sugar, gourds, ivory, chickens and roosters, turtles and monkeys--everything considered valuable in that part of the world which was home to the artist. Gifts of music are also prominent in many scenes--Mariachi musicians, flutes, xylophones, drums, singers delivering their songs with gusto. Even Mary and Joseph are shown joining in the chorus! The traditional animals in some have been augmented or replaced by elephants, warthogs, and dogs. Every so often there's a subtle trace of humour in a creche scene but everything is executed with impeccable reverence.

One of the unique creches comes from Maine, created by the Tewsbury family. It consists of 120 miniature clay pieces, each one an individual figure, the symbolism being that all of creation was present at the divine event.

These are a mere teasing sample of the book's contents. Govan sees the creches as representing hope, love and unity to their creators. He also views them as instruments of social change, since his search has resulted in the revival of ancient skills for artisans in less developed parts of the world, who now are making creches, some with fellow craftsman, stimulated by Govan's initial requests.

The creche has always had a universal appeal. It represents God becoming man, and thus inspires love and trust in those who view it. To have a sampling of creches from the cultures of seventy countries, all exposed to that great mystery within their own context, is to be filled with wonder. I cannot think of a better present than this book to give a loved one--an opportunity to adore the Christ Child in His various presentations by his human family.

(There is a bibliography regarding creches at the back of the book)

REVIEWED BY LORRAINE WILLIAMS