Nativity gets a touch of modern
Source: Agencies |
December 16, 2011, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THERE'S a beautifully groomed Mary in a blue party dress, a fashionable Joseph gazing adoringly at the baby, and wise men carrying a Faberge egg, a crystal bottle of perfume and a decorated skull.
With only twelve days to go until Christmas, a British church group unveiled a poster yesterday to remind people of the religious aspect of the holiday - while making a statement about modern-day extravagance.
The poster, deliberately designed to look like a fashion photograph, has the words: "However you dress it up, Christmas starts with Christ."
Francis Goodwin, chairman of multi-denominational religious group ChurchAds that organized the poster campaign, said the image is meant to remind people of the origins of Christmas.
"We are not killjoys, we do not object to giving presents and having a good time," he said. "This is just a reminder that the real reason for Christmas is to celebrate the birth of Christ."
Goodwin said he hoped the poster would also modernize the traditional Christmas image. "We wanted to update the Christmas message, to put a new image out there," he said. "Most people outside the church think the nativity just means the traditional Victorian images we all recognize - it's not something that is relevant to many people."
The campaign is aimed at a country that has become, according to the European Social Survey, one of the least religious countries in Europe. A survey carried out in 2008 and 2009 found that slightly more than half of Britons had never attended a religious service - with only France and the Czech Republic having more secular populations.
But Christmas is still a hugely popular festival. Many shops put decorations up as early as October and families spend hundreds of pounds on presents for their children and friends.
In the poster, Mary and Joseph are an attractive couple in a mix of designer and high street clothes, while the wise men look more wealthy than wise.
The original shepherds may have walked across their fields to see the baby Jesus - here they are turned into trendy cyclists who might have ridden across city streets instead.
ChurchAds poster campaign officially began yesterday when the Bishop of Bolton Chris Edmondson unveiled a large billboard in Manchester, 324 kilometers from London.
With only twelve days to go until Christmas, a British church group unveiled a poster yesterday to remind people of the religious aspect of the holiday - while making a statement about modern-day extravagance.
The poster, deliberately designed to look like a fashion photograph, has the words: "However you dress it up, Christmas starts with Christ."
Francis Goodwin, chairman of multi-denominational religious group ChurchAds that organized the poster campaign, said the image is meant to remind people of the origins of Christmas.
"We are not killjoys, we do not object to giving presents and having a good time," he said. "This is just a reminder that the real reason for Christmas is to celebrate the birth of Christ."
Goodwin said he hoped the poster would also modernize the traditional Christmas image. "We wanted to update the Christmas message, to put a new image out there," he said. "Most people outside the church think the nativity just means the traditional Victorian images we all recognize - it's not something that is relevant to many people."
The campaign is aimed at a country that has become, according to the European Social Survey, one of the least religious countries in Europe. A survey carried out in 2008 and 2009 found that slightly more than half of Britons had never attended a religious service - with only France and the Czech Republic having more secular populations.
But Christmas is still a hugely popular festival. Many shops put decorations up as early as October and families spend hundreds of pounds on presents for their children and friends.
In the poster, Mary and Joseph are an attractive couple in a mix of designer and high street clothes, while the wise men look more wealthy than wise.
The original shepherds may have walked across their fields to see the baby Jesus - here they are turned into trendy cyclists who might have ridden across city streets instead.
ChurchAds poster campaign officially began yesterday when the Bishop of Bolton Chris Edmondson unveiled a large billboard in Manchester, 324 kilometers from London.
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