Programme of Events
The return of a copy of the iconic, Victorian-era, Imperial Family Bible owned by Samuel and Louisa Relf, who were married in St James’ Church, on April 24th 1872, has led to a, five-part, programme of events from September 16th -October 18th in St James’.
A new, and unique, photography exhibition, Drawn into your Presence, created by award-winning local social documentary photographer, Jim Grover, is the programme’s centrepiece. This will be the 5th photography exhibition professionally staged at St James’ in recent years.
“The world’s leading art galleries come to Clapham…one month only!”
Drawn into your Presence pairs 30 enlarged photographs of the Imperial Family Bible’s engravings of famous paintings by, amongst others, Titian, Raphael, and Da Vinci, held in the world’s greatest art galleries, with 30 black and white photographs, mostly taken over the last 10 years by Jim Grover, of contemporary church ministry and church life in south London. The set of photographs have never been exhibited before.
Whilst some of the pairings are obvious, some will (intentionally!) challenge the viewer.
The engravings, beautiful works of art in their own right, illustrate stories of faith, hope, and love that, millennia later, are embodied in the church today, and the everyday lives of priests whose inspiring ministry is featured in the exhibition.
The exhibition reveals the remarkable, rollercoaster, and spell-binding story of what became of Samuel and Louisa Relf, following their 1872 marriage in St James’ Church, and their descendants, the result of extensive research of archive material undertaken especially for the exhibition by Jim Grover.
The exhibition offers visitors the opportunity to experience the remarkable architecture of St James’ Church, which was reconsecrated in 1958 after the original church (consecrated in 1829) was destroyed by bombs in World War II. The Grade II listed building is regarded as one of the most important post-war examples of the work of the celebrated church architect, Nugent Cachemaille-Day FRIBA.
A new presentation of the church’s remarkable story, from 1829 to today, based on recently discovered archive material, will be shown throughout the exhibition.
The story of the Imperial Family Bible
The remarkable story of this bible will be presented at the exhibition, as will be the bible itself.
A programme of free film screenings and presentations accompany the exhibition.