Robert Knight, Associate Professor of Art Hamilton College, Art Department, Clinton NY
Award amount: $5,000 USD
This project will use the media of photography to document the relationship between contemporary life and religious devotional shrines, specifically the Madonelle, or sidewalk saints that are common throughout Italy. The “little Madonnas” feature an icon of the Virgin Mary and often include candles or a small oil lamp. I will explore the relationship between contemporary Italian life and these relics of a bygone era. They no longer serve the civic function of guiding wayward travelers, nor are they important religious sites in an increasingly secular society. Largely ignored by passersby, I hope my images will cause viewers to reconsider Madonelle and appreciate them for their idiosyncratic architectural beauty amongst an ever-increasing commercialized landscape.
Gonzalo Rios-Vizcarra Ph.D.
Universidad Católica de Santa María, Arequipa, Perú
Award amount: $5,000 USD
This project will research the ways in which the Sacred Valley of the Incas in Cusco, Peru, has been adapted in recent years by people from various parts of the world seeing spiritual and transcendent experiences The objective of this research is to understand and make visible the ways in which the natural and built environments are engaged to encounter the numinous. To do this, we will conduct qualitative research using a phenomenological approach that includes in-depth interviews with local and foreign visitors and residents. Consistent with theoretical approaches that document and analyze the interrelationship of spiritual and transcendent experiences and place, we intend to establish a baseline to understand the phenomenon of propitiatory spatiality for the spiritual practices of mixed communities.