Forget the adage that “cleanliness is next to godliness”. Graffiti – of a sort – is now welcome at the spiritual home of global Anglicanism in southeast England, much to the ire of US Vice-President J.D. Vance.
Featuring eternal human queries like “Why all the suffering?” and “Are you there?”, they mark the pillars and walls of the crypt of the sixth-century cathedral in Kent, southeast of London.
The scrawls, some black and white and others brightly coloured, contrast with the grand stone edifices and stained-glass windows.
Poet Alex Vellis poses inside Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, southeast England, where graffiti-style artworks posing the questions of ordinary people to God are displayed. Photo: AFP
Exhibition curator Jacquiline Creswell says she would love visitors “to spend some time looking at the questions, trying to understand the questions”.