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Culture Care: Reconnecting with Beauty for Our Common Life
"Culture is not a territory to be won or lost but a resource we are called to steward with care. Culture is a garden to be cultivated."
Many bemoan the decay of culture. But we all have a responsibility to care for culture, to nurture it in ways that help people thrive. In Culture Care artist Makoto Fujimura issues a call to cultural stewardship, in which we become generative and feed our culture's soul with beauty, creativity, and generosity. We serve others as cultural custodians of the future.
This is a book for artists, but artists come in many forms. Anyone with a calling to create—from visual artists, musicians, writers, and actors to entrepreneurs, pastors, and business professionals—will resonate with its message. This book is for anyone with a desire or an artistic gift to reach across boundaries with understanding, reconciliation, and healing. It is a book for anyone with a passion for the arts, for supporters of the arts, and for "creative catalysts" who understand how much the culture we all share affects human thriving today and shapes the generations to come.
Many bemoan the decay of culture. But we all have a responsibility to care for culture, to nurture it in ways that help people thrive. In Culture Care artist Makoto Fujimura issues a call to cultural stewardship, in which we become generative and feed our culture's soul with beauty, creativity, and generosity. We serve others as cultural custodians of the future.
This is a book for artists, but artists come in many forms. Anyone with a calling to create—from visual artists, musicians, writers, and actors to entrepreneurs, pastors, and business professionals—will resonate with its message. This book is for anyone with a desire or an artistic gift to reach across boundaries with understanding, reconciliation, and healing. It is a book for anyone with a passion for the arts, for supporters of the arts, and for "creative catalysts" who understand how much the culture we all share affects human thriving today and shapes the generations to come.
160 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2014
211 people are currently reading
2681 people want to read
About the author
Makoto Fujimura
48 books330 followersMakoto Fujimura, recently appointed Director of Fuller's Brehm Center, is an artist, writer, and speaker who is recognized worldwide as a cultural shaper. A Presidential appointee to the National Council on the Arts from 2003-2009, Fujimura served as an international advocate for the arts, speaking with decision makers and advising governmental policies on the arts. In 2014, the American Academy of Religion, named Makoto Fujimura as its ’2014 Religion and the Arts’ award recipient. This award is presented annually to an artist, performer, critic, curator, or scholar who has made a significant contribution to the understanding of the relations among the arts and the religions, both for the academy and for a broader public. Previous recipients of the award include Meredith Monk, Holland Carter, Gary Snyder, Betye & Alison Saar and Bill Viola.
Fujimura’s work is represented by Artrue International and has been exhibited at galleries around the world, including Dillon Gallery in New York, Sato Museum in Tokyo, The Contemporary Museum of Tokyo, Tokyo National University of Fine Arts Museum, Bentley Gallery in Arizona, Gallery Exit and Oxford House at Taikoo Place in Hong Kong, and Vienna’s Belvedere Museum. He is one of the first artists to paint live on stage at New York City’s legendary Carnegie Hall as part of an ongoing collaboration with composer and percussionist Susie Ibarra.
A popular speaker, he has lectured at numerous conferences, universities and museums, including the Aspen Institute, Yale and Princeton Universities, Sato Museum and the Phoenix Art Museum. Fujimura founded the International Arts Movement in 1992, a non-profit whose “Encounter” conferences have featured cultural catalysts such as Dr. Elaine Scarry, Dennis Donoghue, Billy Collins, Dana Gioia, Calvin DeWitt and Miroslav Volf.
Fujimura’s second book, Refractions: A Journey of Faith, Art and Culture, is a collection of essays bringing together people of all backgrounds in a conversation and meditation on culture, art, and humanity. In celebration of the 400th Anniversary of the King James Bible, Crossway Publishing commissioned and published The Four Holy Gospels, featuring Fujimura’s illuminations of the sacred texts.
In 2011 the Fujimura Institute was established and launched the Four Qu4rtets, a collaboration between Fujimura, painter Bruce Herman, Duke theologian/pianist Jeremy Begbie, and Yale composer Christopher Theofanidis, based on T.S. Eliot’s Four Quartets. The exhibition will travel to Baylor, Duke, and Yale Universities, Gordon College and other institutions around the globe.
Bucknell University honored him with the Outstanding Alumni Award in 2012.
He is a recipient of four Doctor of Arts Honorary Degrees; from Belhaven University in 2011, Biola University in 2012, Cairn University in 2014 and Roanoke College , in February 2015.
Fujimura’s work is represented by Artrue International and has been exhibited at galleries around the world, including Dillon Gallery in New York, Sato Museum in Tokyo, The Contemporary Museum of Tokyo, Tokyo National University of Fine Arts Museum, Bentley Gallery in Arizona, Gallery Exit and Oxford House at Taikoo Place in Hong Kong, and Vienna’s Belvedere Museum. He is one of the first artists to paint live on stage at New York City’s legendary Carnegie Hall as part of an ongoing collaboration with composer and percussionist Susie Ibarra.
A popular speaker, he has lectured at numerous conferences, universities and museums, including the Aspen Institute, Yale and Princeton Universities, Sato Museum and the Phoenix Art Museum. Fujimura founded the International Arts Movement in 1992, a non-profit whose “Encounter” conferences have featured cultural catalysts such as Dr. Elaine Scarry, Dennis Donoghue, Billy Collins, Dana Gioia, Calvin DeWitt and Miroslav Volf.
Fujimura’s second book, Refractions: A Journey of Faith, Art and Culture, is a collection of essays bringing together people of all backgrounds in a conversation and meditation on culture, art, and humanity. In celebration of the 400th Anniversary of the King James Bible, Crossway Publishing commissioned and published The Four Holy Gospels, featuring Fujimura’s illuminations of the sacred texts.
In 2011 the Fujimura Institute was established and launched the Four Qu4rtets, a collaboration between Fujimura, painter Bruce Herman, Duke theologian/pianist Jeremy Begbie, and Yale composer Christopher Theofanidis, based on T.S. Eliot’s Four Quartets. The exhibition will travel to Baylor, Duke, and Yale Universities, Gordon College and other institutions around the globe.
Bucknell University honored him with the Outstanding Alumni Award in 2012.
He is a recipient of four Doctor of Arts Honorary Degrees; from Belhaven University in 2011, Biola University in 2012, Cairn University in 2014 and Roanoke College , in February 2015.
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August 8, 2020
As a person who speaks frequently about remembrance I was entranced my Makoto Fujimura's concept of generative care. I suppose this is Wendell Berry for Art. In some ways this book was full of hope and in other ways it felt almost naively impossible. The older I get the less likely I am to throw around words like truth, goodness, and beauty, but this book put all of that into a new perspective for me. I will share my highlights.
"Generative thinking often starts out with a failure, like my failure to think and act as an artist. I have discovered that something is awakened through failure, tragedy, and disappointment. It is a place of learning and potential creativity. In such moments you can get lost in despair or denial, or you can recognize the failure and run toward the hope of something new."
"Generative thinking is fueled by generosity because it so often must work against a mindset that has survival and utility in the foreground."
...human beings are not “human doings,”
What if we assumed that relational and creative capital is infinite? What kind of effect would that have on our business practices?
"Generative thinking often starts out with a failure, like my failure to think and act as an artist. I have discovered that something is awakened through failure, tragedy, and disappointment. It is a place of learning and potential creativity. In such moments you can get lost in despair or denial, or you can recognize the failure and run toward the hope of something new."
"Generative thinking is fueled by generosity because it so often must work against a mindset that has survival and utility in the foreground."
...human beings are not “human doings,”
What if we assumed that relational and creative capital is infinite? What kind of effect would that have on our business practices?
March 3, 2023
“I am not a Christian artist. I am a Christian, yes, and an artist. I dare not treat the powerful presence of Christ in my life as an adjective. I want Christ to be my whole being” (83).
March 4, 2017
Summary: A call for a different kind of engagement with culture, one of care, of becoming generative, rather than engaging in war or battle, to foster beauty in our common life.
To read this book was a moving experience for me, one about which I wrote ("Culture Care Instead of Culture War") while reading the book. I found a voice that resonated deeply with my longing for alternatives to the banal, rancorous and ugly expressions of culture around us. Fujimura invites us to care for our culture rather than engage in war over it, to give our selves to a common pursuit of beauty to sustain and renew our common life.
He invites all who are creative in some way to exercise their creativity generatively. Often this involves "genesis moments" where failure and tragedy gives way to something new. It is generous in a world that often just thinks of survival. Becoming generative means thinking across generations, observing the work of those who have gone before us, working for a generation at our own creative work, and passing this along to future generations.
The rest of the book elaborates what a generative care of culture looks like. He begins by paralleling culture care with the creation care movement. He invites us to look at similar fragmentation in our communal life and the divide between technological efficiency and the love of beauty and art, or the divides between groups contending for their vision of culture, the culture wars. He proposes instead that, "Culture is not a territory to be won or lost but a resource we are called to steward with care." Such care may begin with care for our own souls, as we face our own brokenness and understand we are wounded healers. We then begin caring for culture by our efforts to bring forth beauty out of brokenness.
He proposes the idea of artists as mearcstapas or "border stalkers." Artists are often those at the boundaries of society, the liminal spaces between groups, an often uncomfortable place to be. They are like Aragorn, "Strider," in The Lord of the Rings, and capable of great leadership in reconciliation across the divides between groups. He shares the example of Mahalia Jackson, an artist sitting behind Dr. King at the Lincoln Memorial in 1963 as he gave a somewhat "set" speech until she called out to him, "Tell 'em about the dream!" Artists can call forth the "dreams" toward which we long and live, and which we sometimes suppress. He writes of Emily Dickinson and Vincent van Gogh, both at the margins of the church, who in their art challenged the rigidities that drove them to the margins where they struggled with faith.
This leads to a striking declaration of Fujimura's own calling that left me both breathless and saying "Yes! Yes!" He writes,
"I am not a Christian artist. I am a Christian, yes, and an artist. I dare not treat the powerful presence of Christ in my life as an adjective. I want Christ to be my whole being. Vincent van Gogh was not a Christian artist either, but in Christ he painted the heavens declaring the glory of God. Emily Dickinson was not a Christian poet, and yet through her honest wrestling, given wings in words, her works, like Vincent's, like Harper Lee's, like Mahalia Jackson's--speak to all the world as integrated visions of beauty against injustice.
"It is time for followers of Christ to let Christ be the noun in our lives, to let our whole being ooze out like a painter's colors with the splendor and the mystery of Christ, the inexhaustible beauty that draws people in. It is time to follow the Spirit into the margins and outside the doors of the church" (pp. 84-85).
The last chapters of the book suggest some helpful images and practical considerations of culture care that seemed to me a generative gift to young artists. Fujimura speaks of soil care, that art is nourished in the rich soil of the whole, expansive gospel of creation, fall, redemption, and restoration. He writes of estuaries, transitional habitats for apprentice artists. He commends business practices and gives practical advice for young artists, including his own example of "raising support" even while in art training. He then concludes with a vision that transcends the fear that drives culture war and asks "what if" a paradigm of culture care were to replace this.
At least part of why I resonate so deeply with what Fujimura writes is that I feel I've become increasingly uneasy hiding behind the evangelical culture war walls and have been drawn more to the boundaries as a "border-stalker" or mearcstapa. Like Fujimura, I haven't abandoned evangelical faith, but I find myself increasingly drawn to care for the culture (as well as the creation) rather than war on either. Perhaps it has been the discovery that I live with two artists.
A number of years ago, I woke up to the reality that one of my wife's deepest longings was to give herself to painting, and began to ask what it means to "husband" such a longing. The greater surprise was to discover that the other artist with whom I was living was myself as I found culture caring joy as a choral singer and a writer. I even joined my wife's artist friends in picking up sketchpad and paint brushes and entered into their world. Instead of polemical conflict I find myself increasingly exploring the common ground of beauty which seems one of the most conducive atmospheres to conversations about the "beautiful Savior."
My apologies for the biographical digression. What I hope this conveys is that Fujimura gave language and a clearer vision to my inchoate thoughts and images about a different engagement with culture. If that is where you find yourself, you might find this book as helpful as I did. At very least, you will know what is a mearcstapa!
______________________________
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
To read this book was a moving experience for me, one about which I wrote ("Culture Care Instead of Culture War") while reading the book. I found a voice that resonated deeply with my longing for alternatives to the banal, rancorous and ugly expressions of culture around us. Fujimura invites us to care for our culture rather than engage in war over it, to give our selves to a common pursuit of beauty to sustain and renew our common life.
He invites all who are creative in some way to exercise their creativity generatively. Often this involves "genesis moments" where failure and tragedy gives way to something new. It is generous in a world that often just thinks of survival. Becoming generative means thinking across generations, observing the work of those who have gone before us, working for a generation at our own creative work, and passing this along to future generations.
The rest of the book elaborates what a generative care of culture looks like. He begins by paralleling culture care with the creation care movement. He invites us to look at similar fragmentation in our communal life and the divide between technological efficiency and the love of beauty and art, or the divides between groups contending for their vision of culture, the culture wars. He proposes instead that, "Culture is not a territory to be won or lost but a resource we are called to steward with care." Such care may begin with care for our own souls, as we face our own brokenness and understand we are wounded healers. We then begin caring for culture by our efforts to bring forth beauty out of brokenness.
He proposes the idea of artists as mearcstapas or "border stalkers." Artists are often those at the boundaries of society, the liminal spaces between groups, an often uncomfortable place to be. They are like Aragorn, "Strider," in The Lord of the Rings, and capable of great leadership in reconciliation across the divides between groups. He shares the example of Mahalia Jackson, an artist sitting behind Dr. King at the Lincoln Memorial in 1963 as he gave a somewhat "set" speech until she called out to him, "Tell 'em about the dream!" Artists can call forth the "dreams" toward which we long and live, and which we sometimes suppress. He writes of Emily Dickinson and Vincent van Gogh, both at the margins of the church, who in their art challenged the rigidities that drove them to the margins where they struggled with faith.
This leads to a striking declaration of Fujimura's own calling that left me both breathless and saying "Yes! Yes!" He writes,
"I am not a Christian artist. I am a Christian, yes, and an artist. I dare not treat the powerful presence of Christ in my life as an adjective. I want Christ to be my whole being. Vincent van Gogh was not a Christian artist either, but in Christ he painted the heavens declaring the glory of God. Emily Dickinson was not a Christian poet, and yet through her honest wrestling, given wings in words, her works, like Vincent's, like Harper Lee's, like Mahalia Jackson's--speak to all the world as integrated visions of beauty against injustice.
"It is time for followers of Christ to let Christ be the noun in our lives, to let our whole being ooze out like a painter's colors with the splendor and the mystery of Christ, the inexhaustible beauty that draws people in. It is time to follow the Spirit into the margins and outside the doors of the church" (pp. 84-85).
The last chapters of the book suggest some helpful images and practical considerations of culture care that seemed to me a generative gift to young artists. Fujimura speaks of soil care, that art is nourished in the rich soil of the whole, expansive gospel of creation, fall, redemption, and restoration. He writes of estuaries, transitional habitats for apprentice artists. He commends business practices and gives practical advice for young artists, including his own example of "raising support" even while in art training. He then concludes with a vision that transcends the fear that drives culture war and asks "what if" a paradigm of culture care were to replace this.
At least part of why I resonate so deeply with what Fujimura writes is that I feel I've become increasingly uneasy hiding behind the evangelical culture war walls and have been drawn more to the boundaries as a "border-stalker" or mearcstapa. Like Fujimura, I haven't abandoned evangelical faith, but I find myself increasingly drawn to care for the culture (as well as the creation) rather than war on either. Perhaps it has been the discovery that I live with two artists.
A number of years ago, I woke up to the reality that one of my wife's deepest longings was to give herself to painting, and began to ask what it means to "husband" such a longing. The greater surprise was to discover that the other artist with whom I was living was myself as I found culture caring joy as a choral singer and a writer. I even joined my wife's artist friends in picking up sketchpad and paint brushes and entered into their world. Instead of polemical conflict I find myself increasingly exploring the common ground of beauty which seems one of the most conducive atmospheres to conversations about the "beautiful Savior."
My apologies for the biographical digression. What I hope this conveys is that Fujimura gave language and a clearer vision to my inchoate thoughts and images about a different engagement with culture. If that is where you find yourself, you might find this book as helpful as I did. At very least, you will know what is a mearcstapa!
______________________________
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
July 20, 2023
Cannot recommend this enough. Rock-solid encouragement for artists, and a message of hope to anyone interested in creative catalyzing for the good of culture. Beautiful, inspiring, brilliant, true. Written with love, and backed by Makoto's own sacrificial living out of the kinds of values and actions he recommends to readers. Asks about a million great questions. Provides dozens of powerful images and metaphors for a hopeful vision of generative work in the world. Thankful once again for the artist, thinker, and "mearcstapa" we have in Makoto. If you read it and want to talk about it, hit me up!
April 20, 2021
Stop me from underlining this entire book — if culture is a river, this book is a flood of inspiration for us to be its custodians, those who restore our river to health that life may flourish around it.
December 17, 2025
Makoto Fujimura is a gift to the world and the Church. One of the most celebrated artists of our times, yet a convinced Christian in the Reformed tradition (he went to Tim Keller’s church). His generative understanding of culture creation is one of the best things I’ve read on the topic. This is a truly positive vision for artists to latch onto, while beginning to clear the pollutants in the river of culture. He recognizes the challenges that Christian artists have today—as one himself—and shows how these can either be remedied or how they can work to the artist’s advantage.
I’d recommend this to any Christian interested in the arts, culture, and what to make of our world in the midst of “consumerism” and “utilitarian pragmatism.” His love for true beauty and his pursuit of a sanctified imagination, even a sanctified culture, is infectious.
I’d recommend this to any Christian interested in the arts, culture, and what to make of our world in the midst of “consumerism” and “utilitarian pragmatism.” His love for true beauty and his pursuit of a sanctified imagination, even a sanctified culture, is infectious.
April 13, 2020
Rarely have I written so much in a book, but Makoto Fujimura's words demand emphasis.
An acclaimed artist himself, Fujimura presents a solution to our dissatisfaction with today's culture: nourishing culture's soul by raising up those who by their Christ-given creativity introduce both beauty and healing. If I were to compare it to other books I've read, I would say this is the modern and artistic version of Tolkien's vision for writing; both belong on the sub-creator's shelf. He develops this fascinating concept of artists as Old-English mearcstapas, "border-stalkers" who walk between cultural camps and, belonging nowhere, bring others together. The image he establishes is of explorers, creative and courageous, wandering beyond the edges of what is accepted and so drawing the communities around them out of their ranges of comfort.
There are flaws, true: Fujimura suggests that all the light has gone out of the church today, and I think that statement is far too broad to be fair. I also dislike his adherence to the idea of the "lonely artist," the implication that the true artist is ill-suited to society. And stirring as his repeated call to creative action is, I find myself wondering exactly what it is Fujimura wants me to do.
But if the concrete details are a little lost in glorious prose and high ideals, I love this book for its unabashed probing of the challenges and privileges a Christian artist possesses. I think it is a necessary work to read for those of us who are too quick to divide creation between the sacred and the secular. And I wonder now how much the church would grow and flourish if its artists better understood the seriousness of their calling.
To make culture inhabitable, to make it a place of nurture for creativity, we must all choose to give away beauty gratuitously.
The wider ecosystem of art and culture has been decimated, leaving only homogeneous pockets of survivors, those fit enough to survive in a poisoned environment. In culture as in nature, a lack of diversity is the first sign of a distressed ecosystem.
Destruction and dissolution are far easier than creation and connection.
In the face of the undeniable and often unbearable human suffering all around us, we must still affirm beauty and work to make our culture reflect it.
I am not a Christian artist. I am a Christian, yes, and an artist. I dare not treat the powerful presence of Christ in my life as an adjective... It is time for followers of Christ to let Christ be the noun in our lives, to let our whole being ooze out like a painter's colors with the splendor and mystery of Christ, the inexhaustible beauty that draws people in.
An acclaimed artist himself, Fujimura presents a solution to our dissatisfaction with today's culture: nourishing culture's soul by raising up those who by their Christ-given creativity introduce both beauty and healing. If I were to compare it to other books I've read, I would say this is the modern and artistic version of Tolkien's vision for writing; both belong on the sub-creator's shelf. He develops this fascinating concept of artists as Old-English mearcstapas, "border-stalkers" who walk between cultural camps and, belonging nowhere, bring others together. The image he establishes is of explorers, creative and courageous, wandering beyond the edges of what is accepted and so drawing the communities around them out of their ranges of comfort.
There are flaws, true: Fujimura suggests that all the light has gone out of the church today, and I think that statement is far too broad to be fair. I also dislike his adherence to the idea of the "lonely artist," the implication that the true artist is ill-suited to society. And stirring as his repeated call to creative action is, I find myself wondering exactly what it is Fujimura wants me to do.
But if the concrete details are a little lost in glorious prose and high ideals, I love this book for its unabashed probing of the challenges and privileges a Christian artist possesses. I think it is a necessary work to read for those of us who are too quick to divide creation between the sacred and the secular. And I wonder now how much the church would grow and flourish if its artists better understood the seriousness of their calling.
To make culture inhabitable, to make it a place of nurture for creativity, we must all choose to give away beauty gratuitously.
The wider ecosystem of art and culture has been decimated, leaving only homogeneous pockets of survivors, those fit enough to survive in a poisoned environment. In culture as in nature, a lack of diversity is the first sign of a distressed ecosystem.
Destruction and dissolution are far easier than creation and connection.
In the face of the undeniable and often unbearable human suffering all around us, we must still affirm beauty and work to make our culture reflect it.
I am not a Christian artist. I am a Christian, yes, and an artist. I dare not treat the powerful presence of Christ in my life as an adjective... It is time for followers of Christ to let Christ be the noun in our lives, to let our whole being ooze out like a painter's colors with the splendor and mystery of Christ, the inexhaustible beauty that draws people in.
February 25, 2017
I respect Makoto Fujimura very much and his efforts to reclaim a properly hopeful view of culture has deeply influenced me as both teacher and writer. I find the culture war narrative so common amongst Christians to be very unhelpful when it comes to actually building a culture. We find ourselves condemning cultural artifacts (as we should) but ill-equipped to understand the purpose behind the artifacts and Ill-equipped to displace them with anything better.
I take issue with him on several theological points. He prematurely suggests that denominations and church buildings have largely lost the light and power of God. He also flirts with a pluralism I cannot condone, but his call to culture care is antithetical to the culture war that pervades evangelical circles and I applaud him for that. I also applaud his fight against pragmatism and his encouragement to artists who find themselves on the margins, both societally and within the church. His call to think generatively and generationally is too much neglected amongst Christians.
"Culture is not the territory to be won or lost but a resource we are called to steward with care. Culture is a garden to be cultivated."
"Well nurtured culture becomes an environment in which people and creativity thrive... at the most basic level, we call something generative if it is fruitful, originating new life for producing offspring, or producing new parts. When we are generative, we draw on creativity to bring into being something fresh and life-giving... it is constructive, expensive, affirming, growing beyond the mindset of scarcity."
"I am not a Christian artist. I am a Christian, yes, and an artist. I dare not treat the powerful presence of Christ in my life as an adjective. I want Christ to be my whole being... It is time for followers of Christ to let Christ be the noun in our lives, to let our whole being ooze out like a painter's colors with the splendor in the mystery of Christ, the inexhaustible beauty that draws people in."
I take issue with him on several theological points. He prematurely suggests that denominations and church buildings have largely lost the light and power of God. He also flirts with a pluralism I cannot condone, but his call to culture care is antithetical to the culture war that pervades evangelical circles and I applaud him for that. I also applaud his fight against pragmatism and his encouragement to artists who find themselves on the margins, both societally and within the church. His call to think generatively and generationally is too much neglected amongst Christians.
"Culture is not the territory to be won or lost but a resource we are called to steward with care. Culture is a garden to be cultivated."
"Well nurtured culture becomes an environment in which people and creativity thrive... at the most basic level, we call something generative if it is fruitful, originating new life for producing offspring, or producing new parts. When we are generative, we draw on creativity to bring into being something fresh and life-giving... it is constructive, expensive, affirming, growing beyond the mindset of scarcity."
"I am not a Christian artist. I am a Christian, yes, and an artist. I dare not treat the powerful presence of Christ in my life as an adjective. I want Christ to be my whole being... It is time for followers of Christ to let Christ be the noun in our lives, to let our whole being ooze out like a painter's colors with the splendor in the mystery of Christ, the inexhaustible beauty that draws people in."
March 6, 2025
So many living ideas in this book! He is great at crossing disciplines to illustrate his ideas. He pulled environmental, agricultural, literary, & historical metaphors just to name a few. The idea of artists as “border stalkers” (he used the term “Mearcstapa” from Beowulf) is helpful & captivating. I loved the chapter on Emily Dickinson & Vincent van Gogh. A few quotes:
“A great civilization is an art form of the highest order.”
“A parabola requires a center to spin out of. The further & more powerful the parabolic movement, the stronger the center needs to be.” (Speaking of the church as an anchor for artists)
“Nothing which is true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore we must be saved by faith. -Reinhold Niebuhr
“A great civilization is an art form of the highest order.”
“A parabola requires a center to spin out of. The further & more powerful the parabolic movement, the stronger the center needs to be.” (Speaking of the church as an anchor for artists)
“Nothing which is true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore we must be saved by faith. -Reinhold Niebuhr
March 21, 2021
The artist Makoto Fujimura's vision of society as earth/soil which needs to be carefully considered and tended as a gardener considers what she wants to grow and the needs of those plants, and continuously works toward replenishment, is inspiring and hopeful. The book was a bit dry, but the purpose behind it is vital especially today. I love Fujimura's work in the Japanese art of kintsugi.
February 25, 2017
In a world often driven by utilitarian or consumerist visions, culture is often understood as a commodity to be bought and sold. Unless it sells it's not productive, or it's understood to be an elitist pastime. As I write this review of Makato Fujimura's book "Culture Care," the new President's initial budget calls for the elimination of the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. These cost the tax payer very little, but they are often generative to the creation and preservation of art and culture. Here in Detroit, it took a great effort to preserve a world-class art museum. It got caught in the middle of a municipal bankruptcy. Many questioned the value of a building filled with art. Why not sell and pay down debt.
Makoto Fujimura is an artist who embraces the principle of "culture care." This is a religiously motivated embrace of the need for culture. Indeed, it is an embrace of the importance of beauty. That is, it's important that we feed our souls, and art and music and other forms of cultural content help feed our souls. The essence of this book is a call for Christians to embrace the importance of culture as a means of feeding the soul. By that the author does not mean being a "Christian artist," but being Christians who generate beauty through their gifts.
I only recently discovered the author, who came to Fuller Seminary to direct the Brehm Center, bringing the concept of beauty and art and culture care into the curriculum of the seminary (my seminary).
Standing at the center of his vision are what he calls the "three Gs." These are genesis moments, generosity, and generational thinking. A "Genesis moment" are moments generate creativity. One of those moments for him was the day his wife brought home a bouquet of flowers, even though they didn't have enough money to make dinner that night. That food for the soul led to a painting, and a realization of the importance of beauty. The idea of generosity serves to overcome mindsets of survival and utility. It is acts of encouragement that enable art to be generated. Finally, there is generational thinking, that is, culture is formed over time.
Another term that Fujimura uses regularly is an old English word -- mearcstapas -- which can be translated as "border-walker" or "border-stalker." He speaks of artists in this way, for they live on the edges of society, moving back and forth, bringing enrichment to different sectors.
In an age of culture wars, when Christians, especially Evangelicals, often are at the center, it is good to encounter an evangelical who desires to create rather than deconstruct. Too often "Christian art" is little more than a Christianized knock off of what is perceived to be secular culture. Thus, "Christian music" is pop music with religious words. It's safe, but not very creative. In other words, it's a commodity. Such is not what Fujimura is after.
This is an intriguing book written to encourage Christians (and others) to discern a calling and embrace it, not because it will bring you money, but because it's who you are. That's part of the generational thing. He reminds us that Emily Dickinson and Vincent Van Gogh didn't make it big during their lifetimes. In fact, they were ignored by the wider culture and disdained by the the Christian community out of which they came.
That's another important message -- to the church and the Christian community -- a call to support and encourage people to pursue the arts. That's really what is at the center here -- a call to the church to value the arts and humanities, not as a commodity, but as a gift. Thus, the church will be blessed and the broader world will be blessed. Indeed, we share for culture and not fight wars.
This is a helpful book. A thoughtful book. I'm not an artist, though I am an author of sorts. So I appreciate what he is doing. I'm hopeful that the seminary that generated my own journey will be blessed by it as well.
Makoto Fujimura is an artist who embraces the principle of "culture care." This is a religiously motivated embrace of the need for culture. Indeed, it is an embrace of the importance of beauty. That is, it's important that we feed our souls, and art and music and other forms of cultural content help feed our souls. The essence of this book is a call for Christians to embrace the importance of culture as a means of feeding the soul. By that the author does not mean being a "Christian artist," but being Christians who generate beauty through their gifts.
I only recently discovered the author, who came to Fuller Seminary to direct the Brehm Center, bringing the concept of beauty and art and culture care into the curriculum of the seminary (my seminary).
Standing at the center of his vision are what he calls the "three Gs." These are genesis moments, generosity, and generational thinking. A "Genesis moment" are moments generate creativity. One of those moments for him was the day his wife brought home a bouquet of flowers, even though they didn't have enough money to make dinner that night. That food for the soul led to a painting, and a realization of the importance of beauty. The idea of generosity serves to overcome mindsets of survival and utility. It is acts of encouragement that enable art to be generated. Finally, there is generational thinking, that is, culture is formed over time.
Another term that Fujimura uses regularly is an old English word -- mearcstapas -- which can be translated as "border-walker" or "border-stalker." He speaks of artists in this way, for they live on the edges of society, moving back and forth, bringing enrichment to different sectors.
In an age of culture wars, when Christians, especially Evangelicals, often are at the center, it is good to encounter an evangelical who desires to create rather than deconstruct. Too often "Christian art" is little more than a Christianized knock off of what is perceived to be secular culture. Thus, "Christian music" is pop music with religious words. It's safe, but not very creative. In other words, it's a commodity. Such is not what Fujimura is after.
This is an intriguing book written to encourage Christians (and others) to discern a calling and embrace it, not because it will bring you money, but because it's who you are. That's part of the generational thing. He reminds us that Emily Dickinson and Vincent Van Gogh didn't make it big during their lifetimes. In fact, they were ignored by the wider culture and disdained by the the Christian community out of which they came.
That's another important message -- to the church and the Christian community -- a call to support and encourage people to pursue the arts. That's really what is at the center here -- a call to the church to value the arts and humanities, not as a commodity, but as a gift. Thus, the church will be blessed and the broader world will be blessed. Indeed, we share for culture and not fight wars.
This is a helpful book. A thoughtful book. I'm not an artist, though I am an author of sorts. So I appreciate what he is doing. I'm hopeful that the seminary that generated my own journey will be blessed by it as well.
February 3, 2018
Culture Care is a fantastic manifesto of the place of arts and artists within society. Fujimura outlines his hopes for how the arts can bring about a more reasoned, thoughtful public square, a society that mirrors the idea of an "estuary"--thriving on diversity and balance, respectful of one another even in the midst of differences. Artists have always been the people who swim upstream and bring pure, fresh water back to the rest of society that is choking on polluted water, but Fujimura worries that we've reached a point when all the water has become polluted--with cynicism, with sarcasm, with hopelessness, with despair. Is there fresh water left for the artists to find? There is, but in order to keep the fountain of good creativity going, we all have work to do. Culture Care is a call to everyone to come together and play their parts, so that the healthy estuary may form and thrive.
I like so many of the ideas Fujimura raises in this relatively brief, easy-to-read volume. One of my favorites is his concept of the artist as a mearcstapa, an Old English term meaning "border-stalker." A mearcstapa is someone who lives on the borders, and crosses those borders to bring good things from one group to another. Such a person is often misunderstood and sometimes alienated from all groups, but they also have a perspective that no one in any one group has. (One of Fujumura's examples of border-stalkers is Aragorn, from The Lord of the Rings--particularly evident in that moment at the Prancing Pony where he wishes that people would accept him just for who he is, without needing verification from someone like Gandalf. I love that example, and it made me see one of my beloved characters in a new light.) Artists tend to naturally fit into the role of border-stalker, but the rest of society doesn't know what to do with that. Part of Fujimura's challenge is for other leaders in society--in churches, especially, but also in other public offices--to recognize and value the border-stalkers, even commissioning them in their work of seeking and gifting.
Another theme in Fujimura's book is the same as appears in his book, Silence and Beauty: that good soil is created by things dying, and in the same way, a good, creative society is built on years of death and hardship. I admire Fujimura's fierce, compassionate optimism, where so many border-stalkers (me too, often) give in to despair. In interviews about the album Songs of Experience, Bono has talked about a sense of "defiant joy," and I see that in Fujimura, too. We all need that, and I hope that I can cultivate more of it in my life, and even share it with others. I don't do very well at defiant joy, but Culture Care is an excellent reminder to keep trying, day by day.
Culture Care is not nearly so complex and wide ranging as Silence and Beauty, but it is a good introduction to Fujimura's ideals. My only criticism its brevity; I could easily have read twice as many pages on these topics from Fujimura. But it is intended merely as a conversation-starter, the first of many books that engage with this topic. I hope it will be read and discussed in many churches and other groups. I know it's been very useful with my students, and I look forward to teaching more of the book this year.
I like so many of the ideas Fujimura raises in this relatively brief, easy-to-read volume. One of my favorites is his concept of the artist as a mearcstapa, an Old English term meaning "border-stalker." A mearcstapa is someone who lives on the borders, and crosses those borders to bring good things from one group to another. Such a person is often misunderstood and sometimes alienated from all groups, but they also have a perspective that no one in any one group has. (One of Fujumura's examples of border-stalkers is Aragorn, from The Lord of the Rings--particularly evident in that moment at the Prancing Pony where he wishes that people would accept him just for who he is, without needing verification from someone like Gandalf. I love that example, and it made me see one of my beloved characters in a new light.) Artists tend to naturally fit into the role of border-stalker, but the rest of society doesn't know what to do with that. Part of Fujimura's challenge is for other leaders in society--in churches, especially, but also in other public offices--to recognize and value the border-stalkers, even commissioning them in their work of seeking and gifting.
Another theme in Fujimura's book is the same as appears in his book, Silence and Beauty: that good soil is created by things dying, and in the same way, a good, creative society is built on years of death and hardship. I admire Fujimura's fierce, compassionate optimism, where so many border-stalkers (me too, often) give in to despair. In interviews about the album Songs of Experience, Bono has talked about a sense of "defiant joy," and I see that in Fujimura, too. We all need that, and I hope that I can cultivate more of it in my life, and even share it with others. I don't do very well at defiant joy, but Culture Care is an excellent reminder to keep trying, day by day.
Culture Care is not nearly so complex and wide ranging as Silence and Beauty, but it is a good introduction to Fujimura's ideals. My only criticism its brevity; I could easily have read twice as many pages on these topics from Fujimura. But it is intended merely as a conversation-starter, the first of many books that engage with this topic. I hope it will be read and discussed in many churches and other groups. I know it's been very useful with my students, and I look forward to teaching more of the book this year.
June 6, 2021
This excellent book is a foundational resource for Christians, offering invaluable wisdom. Read it.
March 17, 2025
This was a L’Abri read and a very digestible one. I really appreciated all of the images in this book and the term “border stalker” for artists is one I will take with me and continue to think about.
Would recommend for sure!
Would recommend for sure!
February 6, 2025
4.5 stars. This book makes the case for the importance of art and beauty in our current cultural climate. Many inspiring concepts are presented, though most seem rather unlikely. I appreciated the argument that beauty is food for the soul and was ultimately encouraged to lean into cultivating more beauty in my life.
January 30, 2023
I really wanted to give this book a 4, as I feel it has many important principles in it, specifically about what it means to treat our culture as though it were the soil that nourishes us (and our future grandkids). But so many times, the question “What are we actually talking about?” plagued me as I read this book. I couldn’t tell if it was not written tightly or clearly enough, or if it was just too deep for me, or if I wasn’t its intended audience, or if it is just a work of art (which shouldn’t be treated in a utilitarian manner, to borrow an idea from the book).
I’m not sure if it was a good book, but it had some great ideas in it.
I’m not sure if it was a good book, but it had some great ideas in it.
June 6, 2020
This book is generative. That’s what Makoto Fujimura is promoting in Culture Care so it is fitting that his book sparks those questions localized to me - my life and my place. How can I live my life to cultivate the soil around me? How can we live with hope of the gospel’s renewing power and the strength of our shepherd to guide us to go in and out safely - not in fear of “culture” but looking for its renewal. These questions individually weren’t new to me, but he took me from what I know and believe and wrapped these questions cohesively into a book I intend to read again.
April 18, 2017
I've read a few books on art and culture care. This is the one I've been looking for. I'm sure different aspects will strike me on successive readings, but for now, these are the questions that landed: 1) "What if artists became known for their generosity rather than only their self-expression?" 2) "What if we committed to speaking fresh creativity and vision into culture rather than denouncing and boycotting other cultural products?" 3) "What if we saw art as gift, not just as commodity?"
April 29, 2023
Wow I truly cannot get enough of what Mako has to say. This book hit so many things on the head for me, like the role artists have the play in our culture and how we are specially crafted for being caretakers of it. Comparing our culture to soil is so seemingly simply and simultaneously profound. Seeing the ways God already told us to care for the earth as also being an intentional key for how to care for others souls still blows my mind. The description of artists as “mearcstapas” or border stalkers only makes 110% sense. If you’ve ever felt isolated in your gifting and wonder what role you have to play in society and your community, this is a great book for you!
September 12, 2024
I’ll give this a generous four stars. A solid book and there was a lot that I really liked: the metaphor of border stalkers, the stress on the need for beauty and art in culture, the idea of generative care. But I think this book is best read in conversation with other works, particularly anything by James Hunter, or Wendell Berry, or even Every Good Endeavor by Keller, for a more fully formed vision of what it means to care for culture.
For a vision of what it means to be a Christian and an artist, this is a good starting point but I fear you may need other works in addition to this one to build a solid understanding of what that means and looks like.
For a vision of what it means to be a Christian and an artist, this is a good starting point but I fear you may need other works in addition to this one to build a solid understanding of what that means and looks like.
August 18, 2022
Fujimura persistently and effectively argues that beauty is essential to human flourishing, the arts are not only relevant but indispensable, and we are called (commanded?) to contribute to this flourishing. His vision for this is consistently Christian, and he advocates replacing culture wars with culture care. “Culture is not a territory to be won or lost but a resource we are called to steward with care. Culture is a garden to be cultivated.” He moves deftly between theory and practice.
Based on the number of highlights saved in my kindle version of this book, I should probably give this 5 stars, and considering the timing and what I needed to hear, it is.
Based on the number of highlights saved in my kindle version of this book, I should probably give this 5 stars, and considering the timing and what I needed to hear, it is.
March 31, 2017
I grew up with a brand of Christianity which saw culture as a threat. We engaged in culture wars to combat secular humanism and political correct pluralism. We were suspicious of cultural decay—immorality, socialism, science, heavy metal, the new-age, permissive poitical policies, guys with baggy pants and other pernicious attacks on our Christian worldview. Artists, for their part, were engaged in a culture war of their own— iconoclasts deconstructing institutions, tearing down conventions, destroying the status quo. When my tribe of Christians engaged in the arts, they either imitated secular artists with a thin Christian veneer or produced syrupy, saccharine Christian images (à la Thomas Kinkade). Neither artists or the Christians I knew were doing much to 'care for culture.'
Makoto Fujimura is a new breed of Christian artist. He is deeply steeped in Nihonga (traditional Japanese painting with specialized pigments and dyes). He is renowned for his artwork hanging in galleries around the world. He also founded the International Arts Movement and is currently the Director of Fuller's Seminary's Brehm Center. Fujimura's art is more icon than iconoclast. In fact, one recent project of his is an edition of the King James Version, illuminated by Fujimura's paintings. Fujimura's newest book, Culture Care: Reconnecting with Beauty in Common Life, exemplifies his approach to Arts & Culture, one decidedly different than that of a culture war. Instead, Fujimura looks for ways to steward culture, nurture beauty and generative creativity.
This book consists of nineteen short chapters which give a framework for artists and creatives, advice and encouragement. The first chapter, On Becoming Generative ( previously released as an ebook), gives an overview of what he calls 'generative thinking.' He describes a scene from 1983. Fujimura was a near-starving artist struggling to make ends meet, his wife Judy was in grad school. One day when Fujimura was worried about where their next meal came from, his wife walked in with a bouquet of flowers. Fujimura was indignant, but his wife's response was, "we need to feed our souls, too" (15).
His wife's bouquet became a metaphor for the generative—a fruitful generating of new life and hope. He describes how that experience was a genesis moment, a simple act which fed his soul and renewed his conviction as an artist (17), and generousity in valuing beauty over the worries of the day-to-day and scarcity (18). However, Fujimura also sees the need for generational thinking—"the inspiration to work within a vision for culture that is expressed in centuries and millennia rather than quarters, seasons or fashions" (19-20). In other words, our conception of arts and culture is shaped by the generations before us.
Fujimura goes on to describe what culture care is, "Culture care is to provide care for the culture's 'soul,' to bring to our cultural home a bouquet of flowers so that reminders of beauty—both ephemeral and enduring—are present even in the harshest environments where survival is at stake" (22). Fujimura's generative approach set him on a journey to 'create and present beauty' against the harsh, cynical backdrop of the New York city art world (26).
While Fujimura is not 'cultural warrior' he does stand in opposition to trends that are destructive to culture. He identifies two major pollutants in the river of culture as fragmentation and reductionism. "They are what I call overcommodification of art and utilitarian pragmatism" (34). They have the effect of causing artists in our 'stressed ecosystem' to sell short their artistic vision and output and become bottom feeders of culture for their own personal survival(36). Fujimura's encouragement is to enlarge our vision for the arts. The answer is not culture war but intentional stewardship of our cultural ecosystems. "Destruction and dissolution are far easier than creation and connection. We need vision, courage and perseverance" (43).
Fujimura discusses the need for personal soul care for artists, how beauty feeds our soul, working from the margins ('border walkers,' the meracstapa). calling and the ways business leaders, patrons, and investors make generative art and tending beauty possible. There are tons of practical advice, inspirational stories, and thoughts about culture, aesthetics, and theology. Fujimura illustrates his approach through opening up parts of his own journey as an artist and curator for the arts, and the wisdom he learned from philosophers, pastors, theologians, and fellow creatives.
Fujimura is one of my favorite contemporary artists (my wife was lucky enough to take a class with him at Regent College one summer). I cherish his thoughts on the creative process and culture care. While his focus is on culture care for artists (broadly defined), his discussion of beauty needs to be recovered by the whole church (artists lead the way). I give this book five stars and recommend it for artists, poets, musicians, pastors, business leaders and anyone else that has a stake in shaping culture. ★★★★★
Note: I received a copy of this book from InterVarstiy Press in exchange for my honest review
Makoto Fujimura is a new breed of Christian artist. He is deeply steeped in Nihonga (traditional Japanese painting with specialized pigments and dyes). He is renowned for his artwork hanging in galleries around the world. He also founded the International Arts Movement and is currently the Director of Fuller's Seminary's Brehm Center. Fujimura's art is more icon than iconoclast. In fact, one recent project of his is an edition of the King James Version, illuminated by Fujimura's paintings. Fujimura's newest book, Culture Care: Reconnecting with Beauty in Common Life, exemplifies his approach to Arts & Culture, one decidedly different than that of a culture war. Instead, Fujimura looks for ways to steward culture, nurture beauty and generative creativity.
This book consists of nineteen short chapters which give a framework for artists and creatives, advice and encouragement. The first chapter, On Becoming Generative ( previously released as an ebook), gives an overview of what he calls 'generative thinking.' He describes a scene from 1983. Fujimura was a near-starving artist struggling to make ends meet, his wife Judy was in grad school. One day when Fujimura was worried about where their next meal came from, his wife walked in with a bouquet of flowers. Fujimura was indignant, but his wife's response was, "we need to feed our souls, too" (15).
His wife's bouquet became a metaphor for the generative—a fruitful generating of new life and hope. He describes how that experience was a genesis moment, a simple act which fed his soul and renewed his conviction as an artist (17), and generousity in valuing beauty over the worries of the day-to-day and scarcity (18). However, Fujimura also sees the need for generational thinking—"the inspiration to work within a vision for culture that is expressed in centuries and millennia rather than quarters, seasons or fashions" (19-20). In other words, our conception of arts and culture is shaped by the generations before us.
Fujimura goes on to describe what culture care is, "Culture care is to provide care for the culture's 'soul,' to bring to our cultural home a bouquet of flowers so that reminders of beauty—both ephemeral and enduring—are present even in the harshest environments where survival is at stake" (22). Fujimura's generative approach set him on a journey to 'create and present beauty' against the harsh, cynical backdrop of the New York city art world (26).
While Fujimura is not 'cultural warrior' he does stand in opposition to trends that are destructive to culture. He identifies two major pollutants in the river of culture as fragmentation and reductionism. "They are what I call overcommodification of art and utilitarian pragmatism" (34). They have the effect of causing artists in our 'stressed ecosystem' to sell short their artistic vision and output and become bottom feeders of culture for their own personal survival(36). Fujimura's encouragement is to enlarge our vision for the arts. The answer is not culture war but intentional stewardship of our cultural ecosystems. "Destruction and dissolution are far easier than creation and connection. We need vision, courage and perseverance" (43).
Fujimura discusses the need for personal soul care for artists, how beauty feeds our soul, working from the margins ('border walkers,' the meracstapa). calling and the ways business leaders, patrons, and investors make generative art and tending beauty possible. There are tons of practical advice, inspirational stories, and thoughts about culture, aesthetics, and theology. Fujimura illustrates his approach through opening up parts of his own journey as an artist and curator for the arts, and the wisdom he learned from philosophers, pastors, theologians, and fellow creatives.
Fujimura is one of my favorite contemporary artists (my wife was lucky enough to take a class with him at Regent College one summer). I cherish his thoughts on the creative process and culture care. While his focus is on culture care for artists (broadly defined), his discussion of beauty needs to be recovered by the whole church (artists lead the way). I give this book five stars and recommend it for artists, poets, musicians, pastors, business leaders and anyone else that has a stake in shaping culture. ★★★★★
Note: I received a copy of this book from InterVarstiy Press in exchange for my honest review
November 13, 2023
There is so much to think about in this book. It made me think about the intersection of faith and art in a new way. I would love to think more about these ideas and develop more of an understanding of some of the things he is proposing.
Read
March 16, 2021Wow. Did not expect so much goodness to be packed in such a small book. I want to live in Mako's world. Will definitely be revisiting this often, and planning to implement these ideas into my everyday life.
January 1, 2025
“Culture is not a territory to be won or lost but a resource we are called to steward with care. Culture is a garden to be cultivated.”
A great read to end the year, especially for all the artists and creatives of the world. A needed reminder that the beauty we can cultivate through our expressions should be preserved, celebrated, and championed in a society that is in desperate need of it.
A great read to end the year, especially for all the artists and creatives of the world. A needed reminder that the beauty we can cultivate through our expressions should be preserved, celebrated, and championed in a society that is in desperate need of it.
November 2, 2023
4.5 stars
I felt so seen and understood by the author - and am learning to lean-in to my artistic bent.
I felt so seen and understood by the author - and am learning to lean-in to my artistic bent.
December 28, 2017
In Culture Care, Fujimura sets forth a vision for a different kind of cultural engagement for Christians. Instead of winning a culture war, Fujimura suggests that we are agents of culture care, stewards of the culture, and those who make contributions to the culture. Fujimura, an accomplished artist and director of the Brehm Center at Fuller Theological Seminary, particularly focuses on culture care from an artistic perspective, though he has excellent insight and application for non-artists as well. One of the more helpful discussions relates to what Fujimura calls mearcstapas, border stalkers, who dwell on the outskirts of Christian society but are making inroads into the culture. He says that mearcstapa is not a comfortable position, “but mearcstapa can be a role of cultural leadership in a new mode, serving functions including empathy, memory, warning, guidance, mediation, and reconciliation. Those who journey to the borders of their group and beyond will encounter new vistas and knowledge that can enrich the group.” I was so impressed by this book that I will be using it with my BSU leadership team next spring.
August 12, 2015
Most artists feel as if they're living on the fringe of culture. Christian artists especially feel this disconnect between the church and their work. Fujimura explores the reasons for this disconnect and begins to outline a plan to overcome it. As an artist, himself, the author offers insight into the value that artists provide to communities. One of the things I particularly like about the book is the discussion concerning how we define value. The author stresses that an economic perspective is only one value criteria, and often a poor one for determining the full value of something. The things that matter most in life are often unrelated to money.
Recommended for artists of any faith who struggle with how to fit into contemporary culture.
Recommended for artists of any faith who struggle with how to fit into contemporary culture.
April 21, 2024
“Culture care emphasizes that God cares for the whole of the creation (as his own artwork) and for history (as God’s own story lived through our fallen reality), and that there is not one hair of our head or one moment of our journey that God does not pay close attention to (Luke 12:7). Culture care takes Jesus himself, who cared for people, his surroundings, and his culture, as a model for us all.”
In the above paragraph, Makoto Fujimara sets up his premise in Culture Care: Reconnecting With Beauty For Our Common Life. He establishes the link between faith, viewed from a Christian lens, and culture, emphasizing their interdependence and shared ability to prosper.
In the last fifty years, American Culture has experienced a significant separation between secular and sacred aspects of life. In terms of politics, there is a clear distinction between the left-wing and the right-wing. Additionally, there is a significant contrast between the majority (white) society and minority (people of color) society. Despite progress, those dividing lines have not completely disappeared over the years. In many instances, those lines continue to stand strong, unwavering.
Fujimara, as an artist, proposes an alternative to those dividing lines and culture wars. Furthermore, in a world where reductionism is hailed as the holy grail of cultural importance, the necessity of art becomes even more apparent. He argues in this paragraph:
Most of us recognize the shortcomings of reductionism at a deep level: we know that we are more than what we produce and that efficiency is not the point of education, religion, art, play, or many other aspects of human culture. Most people are dissatisfied with the reductionist viewpoint, yet not enough of us have or can articulate viable alternatives because reductionism has taken over not only how people define success but also what we value in society. Many in our culture no longer value a bouquet of flowers because beauty contributes neither to the machinery of production nor to an advantage in the latest cultural battle—and because the pressure for continued consumption warps our capacity to appreciate and enjoy.
Makoto hits a home run with that paragraph. Beauty is often disregarded as if it doesn’t contribute to practically or efficiency. Despite this, art has always transcended reductionism, and the God of the Bible possesses a greater understanding of this concept than any human being ever could. It seems that Evangelical Christianity either misses or completely ignores that point. Culture Care aims to find a harmonious balance between its significance within a Christian framework and its role in nurturing a thriving faith.
This is the second book by Makoto Fujimara I’ve read, and I’m equally impressed with it as I was with Art and Faith: A Theology of Making. At last, I’ve discovered an artist who grappled with these matters and aimed to integrate their art and faith into a holistic framework. Believers and non-believers alike who care about culture should read Culture Care for an alternative viewpoint that transcend today’s divisive culture wars.
In the above paragraph, Makoto Fujimara sets up his premise in Culture Care: Reconnecting With Beauty For Our Common Life. He establishes the link between faith, viewed from a Christian lens, and culture, emphasizing their interdependence and shared ability to prosper.
In the last fifty years, American Culture has experienced a significant separation between secular and sacred aspects of life. In terms of politics, there is a clear distinction between the left-wing and the right-wing. Additionally, there is a significant contrast between the majority (white) society and minority (people of color) society. Despite progress, those dividing lines have not completely disappeared over the years. In many instances, those lines continue to stand strong, unwavering.
Fujimara, as an artist, proposes an alternative to those dividing lines and culture wars. Furthermore, in a world where reductionism is hailed as the holy grail of cultural importance, the necessity of art becomes even more apparent. He argues in this paragraph:
Most of us recognize the shortcomings of reductionism at a deep level: we know that we are more than what we produce and that efficiency is not the point of education, religion, art, play, or many other aspects of human culture. Most people are dissatisfied with the reductionist viewpoint, yet not enough of us have or can articulate viable alternatives because reductionism has taken over not only how people define success but also what we value in society. Many in our culture no longer value a bouquet of flowers because beauty contributes neither to the machinery of production nor to an advantage in the latest cultural battle—and because the pressure for continued consumption warps our capacity to appreciate and enjoy.
Makoto hits a home run with that paragraph. Beauty is often disregarded as if it doesn’t contribute to practically or efficiency. Despite this, art has always transcended reductionism, and the God of the Bible possesses a greater understanding of this concept than any human being ever could. It seems that Evangelical Christianity either misses or completely ignores that point. Culture Care aims to find a harmonious balance between its significance within a Christian framework and its role in nurturing a thriving faith.
This is the second book by Makoto Fujimara I’ve read, and I’m equally impressed with it as I was with Art and Faith: A Theology of Making. At last, I’ve discovered an artist who grappled with these matters and aimed to integrate their art and faith into a holistic framework. Believers and non-believers alike who care about culture should read Culture Care for an alternative viewpoint that transcend today’s divisive culture wars.
February 24, 2021
This books is basically a rejection of the "culture wars" in the US. Instead of the culture wars, Fujimura offers what he calls "culture care" as an alternative. He talks a lot about the importance of being a "border stalker"; i.e. someone does not stand at the center of his/her camp but someone who understands and walks in and out of different worlds. This book is mostly written to artists and creators. He even includes practical advice on how resist giving into the commodification of art but still being able to afford to feed yourself. I do not consider myself at all an artist or creator type, but I found his insight helpful and useful.
I wouldn't call it a must-read, but it is certainly not a waste of time. It's nice and short too, so it's not a huge commitment.
I wouldn't call it a must-read, but it is certainly not a waste of time. It's nice and short too, so it's not a huge commitment.
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