Patriarch Porfirije opens International Exhibition “The Light of the Logos”
Оn 26 August 2025, His Holiness Serbian Patriarch kyr Porfirije solemnly opened the international exhibition of sacred art and multidisciplinary event “The Light of the Logos” at the Gallery of the Kolarac Endowment in Belgrade.
The event was attended by His Grace Vicar Bishop of Moravica kyr Tihon, clergy of the Archdiocese of Belgrade–Karlovci, as well as numerous representatives of the cultural life of Serbia and the region, among them one of the most influential sacred artists in the world, Mr. Grigorie Popescu Mușcel.
Addressing those present, His Holiness said: – This evening, as always in the Church – the God-human community, we are gathered by the Light of the Logos; Christ the Lord – the true, gentle, all-joyous Light of the Father; the Light which is life for mankind and for all creation. Throughout history, no one has revealed to our Serbian people, nor enlightened, sanctified, and indebted it with this Light as much as Saint Sava, whose 850th anniversary of birth we celebrate. Therefore, he too, as a Christ-bearer and light-bearer, summons us here tonight, calls us to himself, and again and again directs us to Christ and to one another, so that by our lives we may be sons and daughters of Light and children of the Day.
When writing the Studenica Typikon, Sava instructed his monks to strive that their minds dwell in divine contemplation, in heavenly visions, in the beauties of Paradise… among angelic choirs, in that life beyond, that is, in the otherworldly life. He further instructed them to wonder: What will the appearance of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ be? What will Christ’s awesome Being be like, and His countenance more radiant than the sun…? When we read these words of Saint Sava in the post-feast atmosphere of the Transfiguration of Christ in heavenly glory and light, we cannot but see in them also his fatherly image and work, by whose blessing, I am firmly convinced, the magnificent Church of the Mother of God of the Studenica Monastery was inspired and painted in its time, and by which the great flourishing of the art of Old Raška, our medieval period, was set in motion, and no less this very exhibition tonight.
This exhibition is an expression of the desire that in our time, too, through artistic creation as a special form of ascetic endeavor, we may draw nearer to the Light of Christ the God-Logos, which Saint Sava extolled by his word and glorified by his life – not only to bear witness to Orthodoxy through artistic creation today, but also to confess and transmit by our personal lives Christ the Light that shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. With these words, I declare the exhibition The Light of the Logos open!
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Bishop Tihon of Moravica was a member of the exhibition jury and, on its behalf, distributed awards to the deserving authors. After the opening, an appropriate musical program was held.
This multidisciplinary event, under the auspices of UNESCO and including two masterclasses, is entirely dedicated to the commemoration of the 850th anniversary of the birth of Saint Sava. The exhibition presents to the public 125 icons by 97 authors from Greece, the USA, Cuba, Romania, Bulgaria, Italy, Belarus, Republika Srpska, Germany, Latvia, and the Philippines. The exhibition will remain open to visitors until September 11, 2025.
The event was attended by His Grace Vicar Bishop of Moravica kyr Tihon, clergy of the Archdiocese of Belgrade–Karlovci, as well as numerous representatives of the cultural life of Serbia and the region, among them one of the most influential sacred artists in the world, Mr. Grigorie Popescu Mușcel.
Addressing those present, His Holiness said: – This evening, as always in the Church – the God-human community, we are gathered by the Light of the Logos; Christ the Lord – the true, gentle, all-joyous Light of the Father; the Light which is life for mankind and for all creation. Throughout history, no one has revealed to our Serbian people, nor enlightened, sanctified, and indebted it with this Light as much as Saint Sava, whose 850th anniversary of birth we celebrate. Therefore, he too, as a Christ-bearer and light-bearer, summons us here tonight, calls us to himself, and again and again directs us to Christ and to one another, so that by our lives we may be sons and daughters of Light and children of the Day.
When writing the Studenica Typikon, Sava instructed his monks to strive that their minds dwell in divine contemplation, in heavenly visions, in the beauties of Paradise… among angelic choirs, in that life beyond, that is, in the otherworldly life. He further instructed them to wonder: What will the appearance of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ be? What will Christ’s awesome Being be like, and His countenance more radiant than the sun…? When we read these words of Saint Sava in the post-feast atmosphere of the Transfiguration of Christ in heavenly glory and light, we cannot but see in them also his fatherly image and work, by whose blessing, I am firmly convinced, the magnificent Church of the Mother of God of the Studenica Monastery was inspired and painted in its time, and by which the great flourishing of the art of Old Raška, our medieval period, was set in motion, and no less this very exhibition tonight.
This exhibition is an expression of the desire that in our time, too, through artistic creation as a special form of ascetic endeavor, we may draw nearer to the Light of Christ the God-Logos, which Saint Sava extolled by his word and glorified by his life – not only to bear witness to Orthodoxy through artistic creation today, but also to confess and transmit by our personal lives Christ the Light that shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. With these words, I declare the exhibition The Light of the Logos open!
***
Bishop Tihon of Moravica was a member of the exhibition jury and, on its behalf, distributed awards to the deserving authors. After the opening, an appropriate musical program was held.
This multidisciplinary event, under the auspices of UNESCO and including two masterclasses, is entirely dedicated to the commemoration of the 850th anniversary of the birth of Saint Sava. The exhibition presents to the public 125 icons by 97 authors from Greece, the USA, Cuba, Romania, Bulgaria, Italy, Belarus, Republika Srpska, Germany, Latvia, and the Philippines. The exhibition will remain open to visitors until September 11, 2025.
