Dolls bring the Bible to life

Handmade clay dolls brought biblical stories to life for visitors to a unique exhibition held at the LCANZ’s Churchwide Office in North Adelaide last week.

The captivating exhibition, The Stations of the Cross, is the creation of contemporary visual artist Hiroko Sugioka from Osaka, Japan. Hiroko’s husband, Rev Naoki Sugioka, is a pastor with LCANZ overseas partner church, Kinki Evangelical Lutheran Church. When Erin Kerber, from LCA International Mission, learnt that Hiroko planned to visit her son who has been staying in South Australia, she invited the artist to exhibit her ministry in Adelaide.

Stations of the Cross, which features 14 displays of the passion narrative and an additional display of an empty tomb, suggesting the resurrection, is one of several evangelisation exhibitions made by Hiroko. The dolls are dressed in fabrics produced by Hiroko in her hand-weaving studio in Japan and placed in compelling scenes created using simple materials such as polystyrene foam and toothpicks, along with gentle music and contrasting lighting.

Since 2001, she has been making small bespoke dolls from local materials, originally with fabrics spun in her studio. What started out as a way to teach children the faith quickly became something more.

‘The main character of each doll exhibition is the word of God’, Hiroko explains. ‘The dolls, lighting, and background music play supporting roles to help God’s word to reach the heart.’

Similar exhibitions have been held through Thailand and Japan, Germany and Norway, and some US states.

The Stations of the Cross display in Adelaide featured printed explanations of each scene in 12 languages: English, Japanese, Spanish, Hebrew, French, Chinese, Finnish, Thai, Russian, Arabic, Swedish and Korean – reflecting the true global reach of this project.

Hiroko is currently working on a Women in the Bible series, including the beloved figures of Mary, Mary Magdalene, Martha, the Samaritan woman, the woman healed by Jesus in Matthew 9, and more.

‘I am filled with gratitude to everyone who gave me the opportunity to hold an exhibition in Adelaide and everyone who supported me’, Hiroko said.

You can follow Hiroko’s ministry on her Facebook page, Bibledoll ministry.

Bethany Marsh is the LCANZ’s Communications and Engagement Officer.