Artwork - Weekend of Prayer & Action Against Hunger 2023
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Each year, a piece of art has been created as part of the Weekend of Prayer and Action Against Hunger. In 2023 created this piece inspired by Isaiah 58: 6-12.
Bio: Ronald Abdou, often known as Ronald Ngum or Abdou Kiloh, is a young emerging multimedia artist from Cameroon, and completed his Bachelors in Fine Art at Michaelis School of Fine Art, South Africa in 2023. As a multimedia artist, his practice encompasses; paintings, photography, video art, film, sculpture and sculptural installations.
Predominantly, he explores the different forms of knowledge that define who people are and how they interact with the world. These reflections extend from his personal life experience to communal experiences and cultural tensions that exist within human spaces.
Instagram handle - @ron.abdou
Artist statement: Inspired by Isaiah 58: 6-12, This image juxtaposes ideas of oppression and oppressive food systems, with possibilities of liberation. As the prophet calls for active work against injustice, a reimagination of oppressive food systems today is depicted. Reading from the choice of plants which echo less overt geographies and histories of oppression (and the environmental impact) to a breaking of physical chains. Moreover, food here is suggested in different stages; unprocessed versus processed. This questions not only the types of food one eats but also the types of food one can access and eat.
Part of the Whole
Reflection by Bishop Rosemarie Wenner.
What a colourful image! There are many details to explore… signs of pain and signs of hope. Look at the chain: Will it be taken to shackle people? Or, are shackles broken and forever put aside? Look at the sun. It stands for the source of life, for light, a sign of hope after a dark night of fear and pain. Yet, the power of the sun is also hurting as we face terrible damages from global warming.
The future starts today, if we opt for justice, compassion, love, and togetherness. Basically, it is about realizing that I am part of the whole creation. Look at the illustration of Ronald Abdou: I depend on the sun that shines without me paying for it. I need the trees to produce oxygen and to provide fruits. The bird takes seeds of corn and vegetables from one place to the other. People whom I don’t know built the house I live in. I am, because there is this vital net of interactions in God’s creation and within humankind. I – together with others of good will - can honor God by sharing food with the hungry, by providing shelter for the poor wanderer, by setting the oppressed free and by seeing God’s image in the face of the other. This is the dawn of a bright new day. I wish to draw myself into the picture, come to the cross in repentance and thanksgiving, and realize how I am interwoven with God’s creation. I will invite others to make the choice towards a blessed life. By sharing what we received and by protecting God’s creation, we will live into God’s shalom.