The Kentucky Gateway Museum Center recently opened “Nativities, Near and Far,” an exhibit showcasing several renditions of nativity scenes, as interpreted from different countries.
According to Executive Director C.J. Hunter, more than 330 nativities are on display in the Calvert Gallery. The nativities were donated for display by the Trinity Lutheran Church and Barb Clarke.
Hunter said the nativities used to be displayed at the church itself, but only over the span of a weekend. Now at KYGMC, the nativities can be viewed throughout the month of December.
Education Curator Tandy Nash said the first live nativity scene was created by Saint Francis of Assisi, a man born into money turned disciple who formed the eponymous Franciscan Order under an oath of poverty.
“He (Saint Francis) decided, he had gone on a trek, that he was going to celebrate the birth of Jesus, because Jesus was poor like most everybody else, and he wanted to show that the ‘king of kings’ was the same as every man,” she said. “So he took all of the stuff to a cave an put on a nativity scene with wooden figures, and he played all of the parts, and then eventually the other monks joined in and portrayed the parts.”
Each nativity scene shows differences between the country of origin, mainly in the use of materials or animals depicted in the scene.
“If you look around these specific nativities, you’ll see different animals,” Nash said. “You’ll see elephants, I think there’s a peacock, you’ll see turtles, a lot of them place lions — and they all have different meanings, but more times than not they’re animals that are indigenous to the area.”
Many visitor come into the museum to view the nativity exhibit, Nash said, especially since Christmas is coming ever closer and families are visiting. Despite the obvious religious theme of the exhibit, ultimately it’s goal is to educate on history and culture.
“So many people are coming in for Thanksgiving and for Christmas, and I think the nativity gives you an idea of family,” she said. “Of course Christmas is when Christ was born, so the nativities will always have, Mary, Joseph and the baby — they might not have the three wise men, they might not have the animals but they will always have those three key features. I just think that it’s a reminder that Christianity has spread so far. Should a museum have something like this — Christian artifacts, because there’s atheists? Ours is not to sway people’s opinions or anything it’s just to teach; and that this is a custom, a culture, a religion and I think it’s important for a museum to show all of the different customs.”
