“I am here to save you. I am your mother.” (Amy Carmichael)
Agatha Gay Hellier was the granddaughter of Benjamin Hellier, a theological teacher who wrote and gave lectures on Methodist teachings. At the age of twenty-six, she travelled to South India as a Methodist missionary where she focused on teaching in schools and working in hospitals. This exhibition demonstrates the impact of female missionaries through Hellier’s artwork and the scenes she would have witnessed, whilst leading us to understand interactions between Christianity and India’s indigenous faiths.
We are grateful to Third Year History of Art students at Oxford Brookes University for creating this exhibition as part of their 'Curatorial Practice' module.
Triplicane, Madras 1923–1951
Agatha Gay Hellier (1897–1980)
Watercolour on paper
H 27.1 x W 34.7 cm
The Oxford Centre for Methodism and Church History
Going to the Temple, Mylapore, near Madras 1923–1951
Agatha Gay Hellier (1897–1980)
Watercolour on paper
H 41.2 x W 29.2 cm
The Oxford Centre for Methodism and Church History
Girls in the American Mission Boarding School, Chittor 1923–1951
Agatha Gay Hellier (1897–1980)
Watercolour on paper
H 35.5 x W 27 cm
The Oxford Centre for Methodism and Church History
On Trek in the Pulnai Hills 1923–1951
Agatha Gay Hellier (1897–1980)
Watercolour on paper
H 29 x W 34 cm
The Oxford Centre for Methodism and Church History
Illustrated Letter 1923–1951
Agatha Gay Hellier (1897–1980)
Ink & watercolour on paper
H 38.5 x W 28.7 cm
The Oxford Centre for Methodism and Church History
