‘Holy Beauty: The Art and Iconography of Mount Athos’
- Region: East of England
- Type: Conference
- Cost: Free
A residential and online conference featuring the Orthodox art and iconography of Greece’s Holy Mountain, Mount Athos, is taking place from 16-18 October 2026 at Madingley Conference Centre in Cambridge, UK. Organised by the UK-based charity, the Friends of Mount Athos (FoMA), (www.athosfriends.org.uk) , the conference features a distinguished panel of experts on such themes as monumental, panel and icon painting in the past and present, the theology of the icon, and the influence of sacred art on the world today. The conference will feature eight illustrated sessions aimed at a non-specialist audience, including a lecture and practical icon painting demonstration by the celebrated British iconographer and former Athonite Aidan Hart. Expert speakers include Mount Athos iconographer and monk, Father Loukas of Xenophontas (online presentation); Markos Kampanis who currently serves as curator of the Mount Athos Art Archives of the monastery of Simonopetra; and Thanasis Semoglou (online presentation), a member of Greece’s UNESCO Memory of the World Committee, Associate President of the European Centre of Byzantine Monuments and a member of the Committee for the Preservation of the Athonite Heritage. Joining the conference from the UK are Professor Marcus Plested, the 1643 Chair of Divinity at the University of St Andrews; and distinguished historian, Robin Cormack, Emeritus Professor in the History of Art at the Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London. The conference is being co-chaired by The Very Revd Archimandrite Maximos Constas, Distinguished Professor of the Humanities at the University of Austin, Texas, who himself was for many years a monk on Mount Athos; and author and publisher, Dr Graham Speake, a founding member and former Chairman of FoMA. Residential and day places are still available together with online registration to view the conference’s livestream over the weekend. For further details and to find out how to register please see the conference brochure in the events section of www.athosfriends.org which gives prices and registration details.