"THE PURPOSE AND VALUE OF ICONOGRAPHY IN OUR TIME" - LIVE DISCUSSION"
Live YouTube Talk with Dr. Giorgos Kordis, Aidan Hart, Rev. Igumen Silouan (Justiniano), Dr. Todor Mitrovic, and Philip Davytov.
"...What is the relevance of Christian art in 2022? Is it part of the beautification of a church, public building, house or a room, a mechanism to stimulate the faithful or something deeper? Byzantine iconography, Russian iconography, Coptic iconography, modern or Christian religious art?" These are some of the topics that will be discussed by some of the leading Iconographers of the twenty-first century during the ORTHODOX ARTS FESTIVAL 2022 Live in YouTube on the 13 of October 2022 at 18:00 UK time (GMT+1). Dr. Giorgos Kordis, Aidan Hart, Rev. Igumen Silouan (Justiniano), Dr. Todor Mitrovic, and Philip Davytov will comprise the panel. Ioannis Antoniadis serves as the panel facilitator.
About the Panel
1. Aidan Hart: He's a member of the Orthodox Church and has been a professional iconographer for over thirty years. He has commissioned works in over twenty-five countries of the world. He works in a variety of mediums, including egg tempera, fresco, mosaic, and stone and wood carving, as well as being design consultant for church refurbishments. Aidan has had two books published, Techniques of Icon and Wall Painting and Beauty Spirit Matter, with a new volume Festal Icons: History and Meaning due to appear in 2022. An ordained Reader of the Orthodox Church, Aidan lectures widely and has had numerous articles published. As well as apprenticing select students, he is director and tutor for the icon painting programme of The Prince’s Foundation School of Traditional Arts. He is a fellow of the Temenos Academy and Honorary Patron of the British Association of Iconographers. As someone passionate about sharing the joy of God’s life through the beauty and power of liturgical art, he has featured in numerous television and radio programmes, most recently the five-part BBC Radio 4 series The Creation of an Icon.
2. Giorgos Kordis: The Athens based iconographer George Kordis may perhaps be considered as one of the most important representatives of the revival of the icon. Born in Greece in 1956, George Kordis studied theology at the University of Athens. He then pursued his studies in theology and the aesthetics of Byzantine painting at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Boston, gaining an MA in theology. In 1991 he was awarded his Doctorate in Theology at the University of Athens, where he was appointed to the post of Lecturer and served as assistant professor in Iconography (Theory and Practice). In addition to his academic work, Dr. Kordis periodically lectures as visiting professor and teaches icon painting courses in the US (Yale University & University of South Carolina), Romania (School of Theology of Bucharest), and Ukraine (Pedagogical University of Odessa), among others.
3. V. Rev. Igumen Silouan (Justiniano): Originally from Puerto Rico, V. Rev. Igumen Silouan (Justiniano) obtained a BFA from the School of Visual Arts, NY, and later an MFA in painting from Hunter College, CUNY. He is Deputy Abbot of the Monastery of Saint Dionysios the Areopagite (ROCOR) on Long Island, NY, where he dedicates most of his time to serving the daily cycle and painting icons. His articles have appeared in various publications in the US and abroad. Fr. Silouan is also an editor and contributor to the Orthodox Arts Journal.
4. Dr. Todor Mitrovic: Born in Belgrade, Serbia, 1972. Graduated from the Faculty of Fine arts (FLU) at the University of Arts in Belgrade, 1997. Awarded Doctor of Arts degree, from the same Faculty/University, 2015. Theoretically researching Church art through the fields of art theory, art history (byzantine), theology... Published numerous papers and one book (2012), which was later translated and published in two European languages. Exhibited artworks at ten solo exhibitions, and at numerous group exhibitions throughout Europe. Active engagement in the Belgrade art scene with abstract paintings (awarded for the exhibition in 1999). Painting icons since 1993. Having experienced diverse modes of artistic expression (portrait, abstract, and icon painting), Todor Mitrović is trying to make a bridge between the Church and contemporary art in his icons. Through artistic and theoretic postgraduate researches he achieved to exhibit icons as an academically recognized development of contemporary art scene (magisterium: “Iconography as a contemporary painting”; doctorate: “Icon – Between the Imprint, the Picture and the Word”). Teaching different courses about (portable) icon painting, on bachelor and master level, at the Academy of Serbian Orthodox Church for Fine Arts and Conservation in Belgrade, in status of (full) Professor.
5. Philip Davytov: Philip holds an M.A. in State Fine Art from the Academy of Saint Petersburg, faculty of Theory and History of Art. He is a professional, second-generation iconographer with more than 15 years of teaching experience. He is also a professor at the Institute of Theology and Sacred Arts and the head of The Sacred Murals Studio in St. Petersburg, Russia.
