THE STRUGGLE OF JACOB the-struggle-of-jacob | Page 7

Yvonne, after visiting my show, also wanted to invite me. How
wonderful! The subject was intriguing, the context prestigious,
meeting other international artists stimulating and the
professional occasion auspicious. The only uncertainty, in fact,
was on my part: I am a Buddhist monk... For me personally
there would have been no problem. Indeed, I would happily
have participated in a Jesuit spiritual retreat with real interest
and curiosity, but I was worried about the idea of being a rather
awkward guest in the context of a Catholic symposium. Yvonne
immediately reassured me: other participants were not Catholics
(at least not practicing), and the real purpose of the workshop
was to probe the “sacred” in Art beyond any specific religious
connotation. So the presence of a Zen monk artist was
absolutely welcome!
Beforehand, the artists were required to submit a preliminary
project on the subject of the Struggle of Jacob, each using their
own form of expression, to develop it during the retreat and
then to re-submit it at the end of the week, explaining the
ongoing creative process.
The week was extremely intense. The individual progress of the
invited artists was seamlessly integrated with spiritual practices,
specialized lectures, debates, personal encounters, role-playing
sessions and visits to see art locations, both ancient and
contemporary.
In essence, it was a tangible exploration of the role of the
creative spirit, especially when nurtured by a subject, by a
context, and by a religious practice, in order to assess the close
connection between Art and the ineffable.
In fact, personally, and by virtue of my own inner path, I have
no reservation in wholeheartedly attributing a “sacred”
significance to Art, no less so - paradoxically - in its more
profane manifestations. The way of beauty is manifested in the
senses, but begins always from mystery, from a most profound
intimacy with oneself and with the universe.
The epilogue of the event took place in Rome on the 15 th of
December 2016, with the presentation of the entire project at
the Vatican Museums, and on the 16 th of December 2016, with
a conference at the Pontificia Università Gregoriana, titled
The Struggle of Jacob as a Paradigm of Artistic Creation.