The Way of Sant James

The church at St John's  School & Sixth Form College, located in Bishop Auckland, in England's County Durham, will host the photography exhibition Hospitality on the Road to Santiago to Compostela through December 12. The show features the photography of Manuel García Vicente, depicting experiences shared with pilgrims on the Way of St. James.

Organized by Turismo de Galicia, this exhibition promotes the values of the Way of St. James in Great Britain, using images to show the experience of hospitality and solidarity along the Camino, in pilgrim hostels and at the end of the route in Compostela.

For centuries, the practice of hospitality, the welcoming of pilgrims, has been the cornerstone of the Way of St. James. It has been given visual expression by Manuel García Vicente in this collection of images, merging with the experience of coming together, solidarity, friendship and mutual understanding.

The photographs present experiences of different levels of communication along the Camino. Firstly, there is the pilgrim with him or herself, as individual interior language is essential to the pilgrimage experience.

Secondly, there is communication with the Camino itself, and lastly, with travelling companions, hostel volunteers and people who live in close proximity to the Way of St. James.

Part of the space evoked and recreated in this exhibition is formed by the emotional connection of those who live in towns, cities, historical locations and natural spaces, who adopt emotional values around the pilgrims. An appreciable framework in which fertile contact develops between the pilgrim and their natural and human surroundings.

Tradition of the Camino
This is the second time the Hospitality on the Road to Santiago to Compostela exhibition has visited Durham. Last summer, it was also on view in the parish church of Our Lady of Mercy and St. Godric, located near Finchale Priory, a Benedictine abbey, which has a long Jacobean tradition as a spot frequently visited by English pilgrims setting off on the Way of St. James.