The Lowe Art Museum’s collection of artistic treasures got a little larger. For one month, a glass case in the Lowe displays items of cultural or religious significance contributed by students. As part of Diversity Week, the Spiritual Treasures Showcase, which launched Tuesday and will run through Dec. 7, represents the variety of nationalities and religions present on campus.
Diversity Week celebrates the diversity of cultures and religions represented throughout the university community.
Featured in the display are four items contributed by senior Kamila Orlova, president of the Russian and Eastern European Club (REEC). The treasures, each pertaining to a different religion, belong to her and other members of the club .
Among those items were the Quran, Misbaha and Prayer Rug given to her by members of the club to represent the Muslim religion; the Menorah, Menorah Candles and Tallit (prayer shawl) for Judaism; the Black Madonna of Czestochowa, Poland to represent Roman Catholicism in eastern Europe; and to represent the Slavic Orthodox religion that she follows, she shared the Orthodox Cross, Bible, ceremonial candles, icons and the Communion Bread, called “prosvirkas.”
Through the presentation of her items, Orlova hopes to share the traditions and religions represented in those cultures.
“I am hoping to prove that regardless of all the differences in the religions and cultures, we all have something in common, and that is an inalienable feeling of belief and hope that we associate with something that we cherish, that is dear to our hearts and we are devoted to,” Orlova said.
This year the Unity Roundtable, a student group promoting diversity, hosted the Spiritual Treasures Showcase for the first time as part of Diversity Week, which is an annual event sponsored by Multicultural Student Affairs and the Unity Roundtable.
“Through Diversity Week, I think other students will be able to both recognize our similarities, and appreciate the differences that make us who we are, and embrace them both respectively,” said Mischael Cetoute, who serves as the chairperson for the Spiritual Treasures Showcase.