Browsing by Author "Kundy, Revocatus Msokane"

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    The role of the catholic church in the patronage of visual arts in Tanzania
    (University of Dar es Salaam, 2015) Kundy, Revocatus Msokane
    This study was prompted by the very little knowledge the public has on the role that has been so far played by the Catholic Church for more than a century in the patronage of the visual arts in Tanzania. The study was conducted in Dar es Salaam and the Coast Region where twelve churches and other five non-religious institutions were selected. In the Coast Region two Catholic Churches at Bagamoyo and one at Kibaha were selected purposively, while those in Dar es Salaam with the exception of other none religious institutions were randomly selected. Data was collected using questionnaires, elite informants, interviews, observation and analyzing some relevant church documents such as church decrees, statements, principles and guidelines as well as artifacts themselves. The findings have demonstrated that the Catholic Church was among the giant stakeholders of visual arts in Tanzania and the world at large. She applied a variety of the genres of the visual arts available both locally and internationally and promoted them at the same time in a variety of ways and again in different contexts. She has devised some principles, decrees, statements and guidelines all aimed at safeguarding the value of the visual arts which are instrumental in the realization of the church’s mission. Despite the good work the church had done it was not without challenges. She had no museum to keep works no longer used in her services, commissioned very few artists to work for her and most of her followers seemed to have little knowledge about a number of forms of visual arts used in the church. The study calls for the church to render her followers artistic literate, establish visual arts museums and let a hundred artists compete in creating works for the church so that she can get best works instead of dealing with single artists over a long period of time. Judging from the magnitude of application of the visual arts in various religious scenarios by the church, it was concluded that the Catholic Church is a real patron of the arts, particularly the visual arts.