"I Can't Go On. I'll Go On"

Contemporary art allows us to get under each other's skin.

Through often thought provoking work, it encourages us the viewer to think more deeply about critical issues, and sometimes just pisses us off.

In the permanent collection of artist-run Chiostro del Bramante gallery here in Rome is a work by Chilean artist Alfredo Jaar: "I Can't Go On. I'll Go On". The large neon work is just around a corner and confronts the viewer as they make their turn with what the gallery describes as "colourful and unexpected visual checkpoints, creating multiple levels of reading of space...in dialogue with the viewer".

Moving into our last week of the Ecumenical and Interfaith Dialogue class, this art-work seems like a good lens to reflect on classroom presentations particularly on the 'why' portion of dialogue. For me, this class has been a fantastic experience and I will exit it with so much to reflect on as I continue my studies at Regis/St.Mike's, especially having met so many wonderful people.

The importance of Ecumenical and Interfaith Dialogue (especially the Interfaith part) for me is clear, as I choose to be a graduate student in Spirituality and the Arts at a Catholic College to deepen my own understanding of spiritual practice within the Catholic faith, a tradition which informed much of western art for millennia. I am therefore a willing participant in dialogue because of my own specific research and art-practice interests, but mostly because I like hearing other people's stories.

It's a curious thing for myself and older family I love, as we've gotten older we have become much less interested in our own voices and much more in the voices of others. Interpersonal conversations and dialogue is the key, with person-to-person conversation becoming an important part of listening and discovering.

But what about big dialogues? Dialogues which move beyond ourselves and simple one-on-one conversations and are tiered up to large conversations between organized religions?

From a Jewish perspective "I can't go on - I must go on" echos memories of past problems between Christians and Jews ('I can't go on with this conversation' because of our history) but the reality is Jews 'must go on with the conversation' because we have no other option: self preservation demands we show up to the table.

I'm not being critical of the Church's motivation in dialogue, but history and the contemporary world demand a healthy skepticism. Fingers-crossed dialogue will continue to foster deepening trust and friendship, but regardless Jews have no other options: 'we must go on with the dialogue'. Our future depends on it.

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