Loading Events

« All Events

  • This event has passed.

Contemporary Art as/in Pilgrimage and Sacred Site: A Symposium

February 11 @ 8:30 am - 6:30 pm PST

$45

The symposium seeks to explore contemporary art as pilgrimage and sacred site as the foundation for a new interdisciplinary project that draws into relationship the wealth of research arising out of pilgrimage and ritual studies, contemporary art history and criticism, anthropology, and religious and theological studies, with a particular focus on how artists perceive and conceive notions of sacred journey.

We will explore such questions as: Are galleries, museums, art expos, and art installations the new “slow spaces” for spiritual sustenance and transcendent experiences? How are temples, churches and other “religious” sites transformed by artist installations intended to invoke deep spiritual encounter and healing? And how is the art of contemporary artists working in a diversity of media and practice seen through the lens of pilgrimage.

The symposium’s overarching theme will be presented by keynote speaker, Kathryn R. Barush. Barush’s research explores the idea of the perceived transfer of “spirit” from sacred spaces to representations through a critical examination of contemporary art (including assemblages of souvenirs, built environments, reconstructions of sacred sites, and–most recently–photographs as saintly relics) created after or during pilgrimages with the intent to engender the experience for others.  A pattern is emerging, Barush argues, in which artwork, experienced on pilgrimage, engenders (and–as a souvenir–helps to sustain) a sense of movement, connection, and communitas.

Attendees will also have the opportunity to build their own practice of intentional looking on a pilgrimage to St. John the Divine with Elissa Yukiko Weichbrodt, Associate Professor of Art and Art History at Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Georgia and author of Redeeming Vision: A Christian Guide to Looking at and Learning from Art (Baker, 2023).

Register Here

Details

Date:
February 11
Time:
8:30 am - 6:30 pm PST
Cost:
$45
Event Tags:
,
Website:
https://www.scholarschristianityhistoryart.org/upcoming

Organizer

The Association of Scholars of Christianity in the History of Art (ASCHA)
View Organizer Website

Venue

Faculty House at Columbia University
64 Morningside Drive
New York, NY United States
+ Google Map