Visual Theology

On September 29–30, 2021, Veliky Novgorod hosted the first International Scientific Symposium “Visual Theology. Themes and Horizons”. The Symposium was organized by the Department of Theology of Novgorod University and the editorial team of the “Journal of Visual Theology” with the participation of the Institute of World Culture of Moscow State University and with the assistance of the Scientific and Educational Theological Association.

Scientists from Russia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Greece, Armenia, and Ukraine participated in the Symposium. Russian researchers represented Moscow, St. Petersburg, Barnaul, Belgorod, Veliky Novgorod, Volgograd, Novosibirsk and Petrozavodsk. The Symposium supported both full-time and remote participation. The reports were devoted to the analysis of various forms and aspects of the visual presentation of religious experience in world culture. Great interest was aroused by the reports, which examined the philosophical and theological foundations of Christian art, the correlation of verbal and visual aspects of iconography, the image of Sophia the Wisdom of God in the icon and architecture, ways of forming the sacred space with the help of artistic means and techniques.

The participants discussed the problems of mutual relations between religious and secular art, the reflection of religious and theological doctrines in paintings and cinematography, the influence of religious ideas and practices on the formation of urban space, visual and expressive aspects of liturgical action.

The reports presented a wide range of studies of visual and theological issues in line with the modern multidisciplinary approach aimed at a multilateral, integral understanding of religious images.

On the first day of the Symposium, its participants visited the restoration workshops of the Novgorod Kremlin, where they met and talked with the famous restorer of ancient frescoes T. A. Romashkevich. Tatiana Anatolyevna showed the process of restoration of Novgorod frescoes, told the guests about the history of restoration of medieval monuments and provided an opportunity to examine the preserved fragments of the unique church art of Veliky Novgorod.

The Symposium is planned to be regular, involving leading experts in the field of visual and theological studies. The development of knowledge of visual theology will contribute to a deeper understanding of such humanitarian phenomena as the connection of image and meaning in semiotic practices, the cultural memory of the nation and the regional community, the visual code of the inhabited space, the presentation of socio-cultural and civic identity.

 

01.10.2021