By Miona Kovačević / Photos: Marko Rupena, Kaleidoskop media
International exhibition of the Kaleidoskop Cultural Center under the auspices of UNESCO in Belgrade, featuring one of the greatest living icon painters as a guest
On Tuesday evening (August 26), the exhibition “The Light of the Logos” was opened at the Gallery of Kolarac Endowment.
This international, juried multimedia event dedicated to contemporary sacred art was inaugurated by His Holiness Serbian Patriarch Porfirije, in the presence of numerous domestic and foreign artists, members of the diplomatic corps, and prominent cultural figures.
In a dialogue between iconographic traditions and personal poetics, the exhibition presents 125 works by 97 artists from 12 countries. It will remain open until September 11, organized by the Kaleidoskop Cultural Center under the auspices of UNESCO and with the blessing of the Patriarch, and is also dedicated to marking the 850th anniversary of the birth of Saint Sava.
Exhibition guest Grigori Popescu-Mușcel, one of the greatest icon painters of our time, and Patriarch Porfirije
The Fatherly Figure as Inspiration
“Throughout history, no one has revealed more to our Orthodox people, nor illuminated and indebted us with the light of the Logos, as much as Saint Sava,” said Patriarch Porfirije.
Writing the Studenica Typikon, he instructed his monks to strive so that their minds would dwell “in heavenly visions, in the beauty of paradise, in the angelic palaces, in the life beyond,” to contemplate the appearance of Jesus Christ, “what Christ’s being would be, His face terrifying and brighter than the sun,” noted the Patriarch.
“When we read these words of Saint Sava, we cannot but see in them his fatherly figure and the work inspired and blessed by him, including the magnificent Church of the Virgin in Studenica Monastery, the great artistic flourishing in Old Raška, and no less tonight’s exhibition. It is an expression of the desire that, in our time as well, through artistic creation as a special kind of spiritual endeavor, we may draw closer to the light and holiness of Christ the Logos—whom Saint Sava magnified with his words and glorified with his life—not only to bear witness to Orthodoxy through art today, but also to confess and offer with our lives the light of Christ that shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome it,” the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church concluded.
Patriarch Porfirije, Grigori Popescu-Mușcel, Mihai Coman, Bishop Tikhon Rakićević, Luka Novaković, and Todor Mitrović during the exhibition tour
Following his address, performances were given by Ljiljana Popović and the group Živa voda, as well as the Choir of the Church of Ružica and the Chapel of St. Petka.
Awards and Commendations
Bishop Tikhon of Moravica, one of the members of the Art Council that juried the works and selected the best among them, presented the awards and commendations to the artists.
⊕ The Grand Prize for the quality of the depiction of a saint was awarded to Mara Ognjenović for her work The Meeting of Joachim and Anna.
⊕ The Prize for overall quality of iconographic expression went to Milica Mišić for Heavenly Liturgy.
⊕ The Prize for originality of the painted icon was awarded to Todor Lepčević for The Golden Eagle – St. John the Evangelist in Gold.
⊕ The Prize for excellence in color composition went to Emanuel Berk for Paul, Apostle of the Nations.
Special commendations for their original works were given to: Anđelija Lepčević, Goran Rakić, Đina-Marija Pilipović, Suzana Parenta, Marija Vukosavljević, Adela Alekse, Alkis Papas, Alin Bogdan Pater, Martin Ribacki, and Megan Elizabeth Gilbert.
As part of the accompanying program, two master classes will be held.
The greatest living icon painter, Grigori Popescu-Mușcel from Romania, together with professors from the Bucharest Academy—Dr. Mihai Coman and Dr. Andrei Mușat—and Serbian representatives Prof. Dr. Todor Mitrović and M.A. Luka Novaković, will paint icons live for two days. These works will be displayed on easels at the Kolarac Endowment Gallery starting Friday, August 29, and will then become part of the Kaleidoskop Cultural Center’s legacy.
The second master class, The Art of Gilding: Tradition and Innovation, will be led by iconographer and gilder Todor Lepčević.
The authorial concept of the exhibition The Light of the Logos was developed by M.A. Luka Novaković, painter-conservator and PhD candidate at the University of Belgrade in the multidisciplinary doctoral program in History and Philosophy of Natural Sciences and Technology, while the curatorial setup was designed by art historian Vera Vitorović.
Supporters of the exhibition: His Holiness Serbian Patriarch Porfirije, UNESCO, Kolarac Endowment, ComputerLand, Wiener Städtische Insurance, the Office for Cooperation with Churches and Religious Communities, Iviron.
The exhibition will be open until September 11. The gallery is open on weekdays from 10 AM to 8 PM, and on Saturdays from 10 AM to 2 PM. Closed on Sundays.
See more photos in the gallery above.
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