Zulu woodcarving, had been limited to articles used in the household, spoons, mortars used for stamping mealies, meat trays, sticks and headrests. This art is practiced by men, and is usually done with a single piece of wood. African Christian Art is something new. When the Servite missionaries arrived in Ingwavum
a and introduced the crib with black figurines and a black figurines and a black Christ on a cross and a Madonna, carved by a Dutch artist, the people protested and they were removed from the church.
Fr Edwin Kinch, OSM discovered two young men, Bernard Gcwensa and Ruben Xulu whose names are today linked with Christian art in Southern Africa. He brought out the latent talents of the two men to provide sculpture which met the liturgical needs of the church he was building at Hlabisa. The most important elemetn in Bernard Gcwensa's and Ruben Xulu's work is the Africanization of Biblical stories their carving depict. The Biblical characters come alive.
Brian Anderso, an architect who had designed the church at Hlabisa, decided to incorporate carved basrelief panels into all the church doors. Neal Flangan, OSM, a Scripture scholar who was visiting at the time, suggested the biblical themes for the doors, but Bernard Gcwensa included several panels depicting topical local scenes. A twenty five foot large crucifix, which was carved from a Natal milkwood tree, hangs over the main altar.
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