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Art exhibit will present versions of Jesus Christ’s image that don’t reflect colonial influence

Pantocrator in Black and Brown by Brian Behm, winner of Best in Show.

 Brian Behm, Chapel Hill NC

Pantocrator in Black and Brown by Brian Behm, winner of Best in Show.

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Airdate: Thursday, September 16, 2021

To many North American Christians, familiar depictions of Jesus Christ often reflect their own ethnicity: light skin tone, Caucasian hair and facial features.

Brian Behm, Chapel Hill NC

Pantocrator in Black and Brown by Brian Behm, winner of Best in Show.

But is this really what Jesus would look like? As a Palestinian Jewish man, he would likely have a darker complexion and different facial features than are typically conveyed in Western art.

A local group is hosting a juried visual arts exhibit called De-Colonizing the Christ, to explore the identity of Jesus in art that may better reflect his ethnicity.

Riverfront Gallery, in the Cathedral Church of St. Stephen on Front Street in Harrisburg, PA, will host the exhibit from September through December 2021.

Joining Smart Talk Thursday to share details are the Rev. Mack Granderson, exhibit chair; the Very Rev. Dr. Amy D Welin, dean of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Cathedral; and Carrie Wissler Thomas, president of the Art Association of Harrisburg and an exhibit committee member.

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