Exploring 950 years of faith in Chichester Cathedral

SussexWorld

A fascinating story of faith through the centuries – and the way its expression has changed – is told in a new exhibition to mark 950 years of Chichester Cathedral and its diocese.

Transcript

00:00Good morning, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at Sussex Newspapers. Now, it's

00:06a massively significant year for Chichester Cathedral and the Diocese, this 950th anniversary,

00:12and to mark that, there's this fascinating exhibition, Religion, Rebellion and Reformation,

00:18in the Cathedral, opening on St Valentine's Day of all days, and it has been curated by

00:23the Reverend Canon Vanessa Barron. Now, how come this fell to you? What a monumental task!

00:30It's felt monumental and quite weighty over the last year. It fell to me simply because

00:35I'm the Canon Treasurer at the Cathedral, which doesn't mean that I have responsibility

00:39for the money, but rather that I have responsibility for the fabric of the Cathedral and the treasures

00:46within the Cathedral. So, when we were thinking of looking back over 950 years, obviously

00:53first of all we felt thinking about, well, what have we got here?

00:58And such an interesting project, isn't it? Because you're wanting not just to convey

01:02the history, but the fact that it's faith, but living faith.

01:07And that's been a challenge, actually, and I'm not quite certain how well we've succeeded,

01:12but yes, I wanted it to be much, much more than just a historical exhibition, but to

01:17look at the ways in which different themes and different people have come to prominence

01:23at different times, and how they've reflected their own Christian faith, a living Christian

01:29faith, in their day against the background of the sort of culture and the philosophical

01:36and political changes all around them.

01:38Inevitably, change is a big thing, the way faith is celebrated in different ways through

01:43the centuries.

01:44Yes, and the way in which faith has been understood and then enacted is obviously hugely different

01:50from age to age.

01:51There are other things that are constant, because we're also celebrating 1,700 years

01:56of the Nicene Creed, and that runs through the exhibition, that's a constant.

02:03But actually, just to take a precise example, how people have understood and responded to

02:08the death of Jesus down the centuries has changed, and that's something that's there

02:14in the exhibition.

02:16And obviously, it's the Cathedral's anniversary, but it's the Diocese's anniversary as well,

02:20and you were very keen from the outset to include the parishes as much as possible.

02:25We were, yes, because this is the Diocesan birthday as well, so right from the very beginning

02:32of the exhibition, I wrote to all the parishes and asked them to contribute ideas and artefacts,

02:40and many of them responded, and we've got a number of things in the exhibition that

02:43have come from parishes around the diocese.

02:46And the months of preparation, the months of research, you're just about to unveil it

02:51all.

02:52Is that daunting?

02:53Is that exciting?

02:54Is it both?

02:55What is it?

02:56It's both.

02:59It's quite exciting in that we've been very, very well served by our designers, so visually

03:05it's stunning.

03:06I'm thrilled to pieces with that, and we've got quite a few things on display that people

03:14may have seen before, but they've probably never taken any notice of, and because they've

03:18now been displayed properly, I think they'll attract attention.

03:23So visually, it's very beautiful.

03:25I hope that people enjoy reading about the items and reading some of the background,

03:31and obviously at the very end, we will be inviting people to make their own contribution,

03:37to have their say.

03:38We've got some questions that we will ask people, so that people can contribute to the

03:45exhibition themselves.

03:46Well, congratulations on achieving it.

03:49I can't wait to see it, and it's really lovely to speak to you.

03:53Phil, thank you very much indeed.

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