One important aspect of CAN is that we collaborate with churches, and many other groups. For our June event we worked with the English congregation of a church in Tokyo called MCC (an Evangelical Free Church).
Below is a video by John (MCC leader):
Last evening when I was talking with the mother of the little girl who played violin at this event she told me several interesting things: this girl has been begging to play violin since she was two, this was her debut — her first time to play in public, she herself asked the pianist to play for her, she enjoyed it a lot and wants to do it again. The Mom also conveyed that this was an important opportunity for her daughter to do what she loves to do.
Why do we hold events like this (by Yu Shibuya)?
Artists, because of their dedication to craft, aren’t always social or skilled at connecting with the world outside of their imagination. Christians in the Arts Network (CAN), as its name implies, specializes in forming and maintaining a network of Christian artists around the world. Based in Tokyo, CAN holds retreats, open-mics, seminars and conferences to constantly provide a place where artists from various backgrounds can meet, inspire, and collaborate with one another. We believe that the crosspollination of ideas among artists and the exploration of the human mind’s capacity to imagine are ways to become intimate with our Creator, who is the Artist.
Gathering for events is vital, not just for the creative process. A gathering, for the artist, means having an audience, a group that might appreciate his work. Since an artist spends a lot of time alone facing an empty canvas or a blank screen agonizing over details, receiving live feedback of emotion replenishes his soul in indescribable ways. Also, we’ve discovered over the years that artists aren’t always supported by their families or understood by their churches, intensifying their solitude. “You can’t make a living like that.” “We don’t ‘get’ your stuff.” These are voices that often cripple their gifts. CAN seeks to offer a safe place where, if an artist’s passion has been damaged somehow, it can heal by expressing what it must.
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