Thirty years of the St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art

The Dali painting was an established favourite in the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum before it was transferred, that March day in 1993, to its new home, the St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art, across from Glasgow Cathedral.

The Dali remained at the new museum until it was returned to Kelvingrove in May 2006 in time for the art galleries' high-profile reopening following an extensive refurbishment.

Salvador Dali with Dr Tom Honeyman in Spain (Image: PR)

Named after Glasgow's patron saint who brought the Christian faith to Scotland, the St Mungo museum was the first permanent public gallery in Britain devoted to art inspired by the world's religions.

Its opening 30 years ago attracted considerable publicity at home and abroad. One London-based magazine said of it: "No hierarchical ranking of the paintings and objects it contains is attempted; each is there to be contemplated on its own terms. But certain images are seen to be universal, such as that of the holy mother and child.

"The setting of the St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art symbolises this eclectic approach", the magazine added. "Its courtyard contains a Japanese Zen garden, with exquisitely positioned rocks, moss and raked sand, and it is overlooked by Glasgow's 14th-century cathedral and by the Necropolis, a sombre collection of blackened Christian mausoleums and monuments".

The museum, photographed by Gordon Terris as it reopened to the public in September 2022 after closing due to the pandemic (Image: Newsquest)

Julian Spalding, the then director of Glasgow museums, said he did not want to "create just a museum of Christianity, because that would be of limited appeal and too narrow in range." He did not want a drily academic museum of the history of religion either.

His aim instead was "to emphasise the art, because most religions communicate to non-believers through the objects they make. The aesthetic qualities in a Buddhist sculpture, or in an Indian Shiva sculpture or in Salvador Dali's 'Christ of St John of the Cross' communicate to people who don't believe in that individual religion".

The launch of a museum devoted to religious life and art predictably aroused some criticism. No sooner had it opened than the then Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland criticised its exhibition and guide book for having made what he claimed were serious theological and historical errors. Others made different criticisms too.

Billy Connolly met a Buddhist monk, Lama Yeshe, at the museum in February 1994. The comedian was presenting prizes in a contest to design a retreat centre on Holy Island, off Arran (Image: Edward Jones, The Glasgow Herald)

The museum weathered such criticisms, however, and over the last three decades, it has gone from strength to strength and remains hugely popular with visitors.

Last September it was reopened after having been closed in March 2020 as the country went into pandemic-related lockdown.

Duncan Dornan, head of museums and collections with Glasgow Life Museums, which manages the museum, said at the reopening: “Since St Mungo Museum opened in 1993, we have worked with the local community to create imaginative displays, ground-breaking educational programmes, interfaith dialogue, and interesting topical exhibitions.

“Together this has established the museum’s popularity and reputation as a neutral and safe space for encouraging dialogue and understanding, often of challenging topics".

Glasgow's St Mungo museum reopens for first time since before pandemic

In a recent interview with a Sunday newspaper Mr Dornan spoke of the museum's many attributes.

"The museum is unique in that it explores the importance of faith in peoples' lives across the world and across time. It aims to promote mutual understanding and respect between people of different faiths and of none.

Phillip Mendelsohn, Chair of Interfaith Glasgow, left, and Duncan Dornan, Head of Glasgow Museums and Collections, at last September's reopening of the museum (Image: Gordon Terris)

"It allows people to reflect and look at where conflict arises and work that through, something that is at the heart of a successful society and St Mungo's is at the heart of the origins of the city of Glasgow".

Asked why the museum had received such international acclaim, he responded: "Many visitors wish they, too, had a museum like St Mungo's in their city, one that celebrates the religious diversity of their people past and present. Right from the beginning, the museum has been a welcome space to focus on interfaith dialogue and debate".

Kelvingrove's Salvador Dali masterpiece to leave city

Much of the popularity of the museum is reflected in websites such as TripAdvisor. "What a treasure, well worth the walk up High Street", said one contributor. "An Oasis of peace, knowledge and beauty. Awesome is overused but not in this instance, you will be amazed, inspired, moved by the glorious exhibits and the air of peace and calm as you move through the gallery".

Added another: "To be fair, we only popped in here because we were cold after visiting the cathedral and the Necropolis. It was lovely and warm inside but also had lots to see". 

Said a third: "You cannot miss the most recent acquisition - Peter Howson's huge painting 'The Massacre at Sbrenica' . This is a stark reminder of the danger that religious intolerance can bring".

Writing in The Scotsman last September as the museum reopened its doors, Rina Arya, professor of visual culture and theory at the University of Huddersfield, noted: "Unlike many museums of religion, [St Mungo's] does not present religion academically, and is instead a reflection of the multitude of ways in which religion informs and shapes lives.

Professor Rina Arya says one of the richest aspects of the museum is the collection of objects from different religious traditions and time periods (Image: Gordon Terris)

"The collaboration with religious communities, the inclusion of oral testimonies, photographs and video footage of local people, and ‘talk-back boards’ helps to create the dynamic experience of religion. The curators were very clear too that the museum was not a finished project, implying that it could evolve to meet the needs of an ever-changing society".

Professor Arya concluded: "The contentiousness of religion reinforces the importance of St Mungo’s, to bravely take on the many issues surrounding religious identity and beliefs, from sectarianism to the practices of female genital mutilation.

"Where others may have retreated, it stands as a symbol of contemporary Britain, committed to its mission statement to promote understanding and respect between people of different faiths and those of none".

https://www.glasgowlife.org.uk/museums/venues/st-mungo-museum-of-religious-life-and-art