Global circulation of ‘The [national] Blessing’
Curated by: Candace Lukasik, Washington University in St. Louis; Lena Rose, Oxford University
Since its first release in March 2020, the song ‘The Blessing’ by Elevation Worship has been translated, adapted, reproduced, and circulated surprisingly quickly across the world. During the global Coronavirus pandemic of 2020, the simple lyrics of the Jewish priestly blessing asking for God’s favour on the listener seemed to strike a chord with Christians from all over the globe, resulting in more than 25 different language/national cover versions in less than five months.
In this installation, we examine the global circulations and translations of “The Blessing” and reflect on the power dynamics within the idea of “Global Christianity” as a whole.