Orthodox Arts Journal
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The Orthodox Arts Journal publishes articles and news for the promotion of traditional Orthodox liturgical arts. The Journal covers visual arts, music, liturgical ceremony and texts, and relevant art history and theory. For the revival of traditional liturgical arts in the Orthodox Church.
Orthodox Arts Journal
1M ago
Resuming my photojournalism series highlighting Balkan churches, this post features an especially interesting and beautiful church in North Macedonia – The Church of Saint George in the village of Staro Nagoričane.
The church bears a unique form and history. It was originally built in the 10th century, almost certainly as a three-aisle basilica. It was likely later abandoned and ruinous, if indeed it had ever been completed. The monastery was refounded and rebuilt by Serbian King Stephan Milutin in 1312 or 1313. At that time the church was rebuilt as a domed cross-in-square plan – typical fo ..read more
Orthodox Arts Journal
2M ago
(Editor’s Note. This essay builds upon our earlier article about Fr. Zinon by Aidan Hart. This article explores Fr. Zinon’s often original and controversial beliefs about the Church, and how his independent thinking inspired his art. By posting this article, the OAJ does not mean to imply endorsement of Fr. Zinon’s ideas, but rather to explore the motivations of this highly influential iconographer. It is well worth considering that many of the recent archaizing fashions in Orthodox liturgical do not exist in isolation from ecclesiology.)
Fr Zinon (Teodor)
Fr Zinon (Teodor) is widely ..read more
Orthodox Arts Journal
3M ago
After a fantastic tour of the Balkans last June, the Orthodox Arts Journal is sponsoring a second art and architecture package tour.
This tour will last 2 weeks, and will visit all the key sites for medieval architecture, frescoes, and liturgical art in the Republic of Georgia. It will begin in Tbilisi on June 3rd, 2024, and end on June 15th.
Price for the tour is $2,700 per person (shared accommodations), or $3,100 for single-room accommodations. Transportation to Tbilisi is not included.
Leading the tour will be Andrew Gould, American church designer and liturgical artist, and founder ..read more
Orthodox Arts Journal
5M ago
The subject of this article — the “Znamenny Chantlet Database Project” — is a continuation of a proposal[1] initially unveiled by the author at the 2014 Pan-Orthodox Symposium on Orthodox Composition, held at Northern Kentucky University, and in a paper[2] given in 2015 at the Conference of the International Society of Orthodox Church Musicians in Joensuu, Finland, titled “Creating Liturgically: Hymnography and Music.”
Introduction
When modern-day Orthodox church musicians in North America gather, the subject often turns to the question of the future directions that liturgical singing in th ..read more
Orthodox Arts Journal
6M ago
I would like to introduce you to my new project, Katrusya Studio, which was established to teach people Medieval ecclesial pictorial embroidery.
What is pictorial embroidery?
The term “pictorial embroidery” refers to any embroidery depicting faces and figures of people. Ecclesial pictorial embroidery encompasses figures of saints, scenes from their lives, and famous historical events. The roots of this type of embroidery go back to very ancient times. We know of its existence not just from surviving embroideries, which, being perishable, are very rare, but also other art forms–sculpture, carv ..read more
Orthodox Arts Journal
6M ago
This talk was offered as part of the Fall Retreat at Holy Annunciation Orthodox Church in Rolla, Missouri. It explores the theme of community life being expressed through liturgical art – a sort of do-it-yourself guide to building an artistic culture of worship and hospitality in church, village, and home:
Annunciation Fall Retreat – October 7, 2023 from Rolla Creative on Vimeo ..read more
Orthodox Arts Journal
7M ago
An exciting centre for training liturgical artists and inspiring commissioners was officially launched on the September 14th, 2023. It is called the Chichester Cathedral Workshop for Liturgical Art. It is based at the ancient cathedral in the south of England,which stems from a monastery founded by St Wilfrid in 681. You can learn more about the Workshop and view the first seven of its video discussions on liturgical art at www.chichesterworkshop.org.
By virtue of its foundation by an Anglican cathedral, except for myself the Workshop is currently operated and supported mainly by and for Ang ..read more
Orthodox Arts Journal
7M ago
I’m very pleased to announce that I’ve partnered with the Sacred Arts Institute at Saint Vladimir’s Seminary to produce a major book featuring the best of North America’s Orthodox Liturgical Arts.
This will be a high-quality art book focused on presenting excellent color images. We will feature historic and contemporary churches, icons, furnishings, metalwork, textiles, manuscripts, and more. The focus will be on works of great beauty that adapt Old-World Orthodox tradition to New-World culture and contexts.
We need your help! With this announcement, we are making a continent-wide call for su ..read more
Orthodox Arts Journal
8M ago
The iconostases of Dečani Monastery are of such overwhelming interest that they warrant their own post in my photojournalism series. Dečani was built in 1327-1331. Among the hundreds of monasteries built by the medieval kingdom of Serbia, it was the tallest and grandest. Today, it is also, miraculously, the best preserved, with an extraordinary collection of artworks and treasures.
The central iconostasis is of the templon-screen type – it consists of stone columns and a stone lintel. This type of altar screen emerged in early Christian times and remained ubiquitous for about 1000 years. It ..read more
Orthodox Arts Journal
8M ago
Joseph Masheck, photo by Tom Warren
…I looked at Russian icon painting with new eyes, that is to say, I “acquired eyes” for the abstract element in this kind of painting.
–Wassily Kandinsky[i]
For better or for worse the traditional icon painting revival is indebted to modernism, in particular its development of abstraction. Although, as a traditional liturgical art, the icon is often hailed as the bulwark against modernist tendencies within the liturgical context of the Orthodox Church, nevertheless, it cannot be completely disentangled from the history of modernist paintin ..read more