Pacific Travel
Pacific Travel
The Murals Of Jean Charlot
| In the village of Naiserelagi in the northwest corner of Fiji's Viti Levu
island, is a pilgrimage well worth making, whether you are a believer or
not. Naiserelagi is home to the "Church of the Black Christ," a site of
religious, cultural and artistic significance, unique in the Pacific Islands.
Known formally as St. Francis Xavier Catholic Mission Church, it showcases the work of French artist and long-time Hawaii resident Jean Charlot. A prolific artist, Charlot created over 70 public artworks, including murals and monumental sculptures, over 1,200 oil paintings, 772 original prints and 51 illustrated books, in addition to many final drawings, cartoons, watercolors, carvings, metal castings and ceramics. He painted fresco murals at 45 different sites in Mexico, the United States and Fiji. - ADVERTISEMENT -
Most of Charlot's murals in the Pacific Islands are public artworks, with about half of them being liturgical murals. The Fijian murals are the only monumental fresco murals he completed outside of the Hawaiian Islands. St. Francis Xavier's church houses three of Charlot's murals. A triptych "The Black Christ and Worshippers," measures 10 by 30 feet and features a crucified black savior wearing masi (tapa) in the central panel. The triptych includes a procession of "worshippers" who approach Christ with various offerings of services and local goods-such as a mat, tabua (whale's tooth) and a yaqona (kava) bowl. Each portrait is sensitively rendered, with careful attention to the facial details and the position of the hands. Most of the figures illustrated in the triptych are people Charlot had met. These figures include a Fijian girl, man and woman, Fijian priest and current Archbishop of Suva, Peter Mataca, an Indo-Fijian woman presenting a garland to Christ, and a cane farmer who approaches with a pair of yoked oxen. St. Francis Xavier, the patron saint of India, China and Japan, is featured, as is Fiji's first martyred saint, St. Peter Chanel, who holds a war club symbolizing the instrument of his martyrdom.
Charlot's Black Christ is situated in a lush tropical landscape that harmonizes the fresco with the natural environment and also illustrates the close relationship of Fijians to their land. His Black Christ faces north: when the church's main doors are open the figure looks directly north towards Viti Levu Bay. Jean Charlot's Fijian frescoes were commissioned by the Catholic Monsignor Franz Wasner, best remembered as the private chaplain of the Von Trapp family, made famous in the film, "The Sound of Music." After his service with the Von Trapps, Monsignor Wasner asked to be sent to Fiji, where he was stationed at St. Francis Xavier's Catholic Mission. The church at Naiserelagi was built by the Marist Missionaries, part of the French Order of the Sacred Heart, which was known for its integrative approach. Priests learnt the local language and studied local customs, and the church took on a distinctive island flavor. The existing church building was begun in 1908 to replace the original wooden church, which had been destroyed in a hurricane. It took four years to quarry the stone to build the church and the foundation stone was laid in 1912.
Charlot's Fijian murals are unique artworks in the Pacific Islands and in the artist's portfolio. It is quite likely the murals are the only examples of the fresco technique in the South Pacific Islands, partly because, in the words of Samoan muralist Mataumu Alisa, "Pacific Islanders have no walls." A quick glance at the comments in the guest book illustrates how the Fijian frescos have become a final destination for both art lovers and Catholic religious pilgrims from all over Fiji and the world. Getting there:
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