The recent “Martin Luther: Art and the Reformation” exhibit at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts proved an overwhelming success, drawing more than 111,000 visitors, and proving one of the most popular collections in the museum’s history.
Mary Jane Haemig, Luther Seminary professor of Church History and director of the Reformation Research Program, played a key part in several portions of the event, along with Paul Daniels, archivist and curator for the seminary’s collection of artwork. Luther Seminary also loaned a copy of the book “Erbauliche Lieder-Sammlung” (Collection of Uplifting Hymns), compiled by Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, to the exhibit from the seminary’s library collection. The book was one of the first Lutheran hymnals published in the U.S., and the MIA positioned it at the end of the exhibit, demonstrating how Lutherans and Lutheranism migrated into the Americas with their art and music.
“This exhibit was obviously in the works for several years, and our involvement started during the negotiations between the MIA and the German museums,” Haemig says. “We were obviously very excited and very pleased, because the MIA is a major institution and for them to take an interest in this topic and make those connections was wonderful.”
Three exhibitions of Luther art and artifacts were held in Atlanta, Minneapolis and New York City, with the largest of those in Minneapolis. All of the exhibits were staged in honor of the upcoming 500th anniversary of the start of the Protestant Reformation.
“I thought the exhibit was spectacular,” Daniels says. “It was the largest of the three German-sponsored shows in the U.S. and clearly their ‘jewel.’ I thought it told the story of Luther and the Reformation in clear, human terms, while also packing some real ‘punch,’ especially with the large artifacts like Luther’s pulpit and lecture podium.”
In all, about 400 items contained in the exhibits came from several different German museums, with the support of the Luther Memorials Foundation of Saxony-Anhalt, Wittenberg; Deutsches Historisches Museum, Berlin, and Foundation Schloss Friedenstein Gotha, under the Leadership of the State Museum of Prehistory, Halle (Saale).
One of the more remarkable aspects of the MIA exhibit is that it presented many of these items in one location at the MIA, whereas visitors to Germany would have to visit all of the participating museums to see the entirety of the collection.
Visitors who listened to the accompanying audio portion of the exhibit heard Haemig, among other contributors, providing both context and understanding of Luther and his pivotal role in igniting the Reformation.
In addition, Haemig served on an interfaith panel along with representatives of the Jewish, Muslim and Roman Catholic faiths that was formed prior to the opening of exhibit. The group met several times, along with MIA officials, to explore and discuss difficult aspects of Luther’s personal beliefs. “Luther can be a controversial person, but I think the interfaith panel was able to see Luther as an historical person and appreciate him, while at the same time being critical of some of the things that he said,” Haemig says.
Haemig also authored an essay for the accompanying book published in concert with the event called “Martin Luther and the Reformation: Essays.” Her topic, “Luther and the Reformation in America. Minnesota, 1917 as Case Study,” explored how the Reformation was celebrated at its 400th anniversary in Minnesota, coming as it did at a deeply divided time when America was at war with Germany.
“We really have to be grateful to the MIA,” Haemig says. “They saw both the historical and the cultural value of this and we encouraged [the project] because we saw how important this would be for Lutherans and how it could give them a particular lens into their heritage and a real opportunity to think about some things in a very unusual way.”
More information on the exhibit, which ended on January 16, can be found here.