Passion: Histories of the Heart.

Passion: Histories of the Heart tells some of the many histories of our most intimate muscle. The heart pumps blood and oxygen. It serves as the seat of our passions and emotions. It also gives life to Catholic symbolism, mysticism and devotion. The heart’s two symbolic functions are teased out in two complementary events: an exhibition in the St Paul’s Church and an interactive walking route in the historic city centre.

The stories in the exhibition connect these Catholic meanings of the heart to the rich emotional life that developed around it in the nineteenth and twentieth century. In this period, the devotion to the Sacred Heart took flight, thanks to the support of Rome and a number of important shifts in the devotion’s emphasis: it became more overtly political and demonstrative. The burning, pierced heart symbolized pain and love. Carefully crafted devotional images and small faith objects that people kept close to the heart (sometimes literally) are shown side by side with life-size Christ and Mary statues that share their burning, pierced hearts, and with the majestic frayed flag of the Leagues of the Sacred Heart. Many of the objects in Passion have never been exhibited before. They show how the many meanings of the heart take centre stage in Catholic culture.