Ballarat Art Gallery
Saturday, October 18, 2014 – Monday, January 26 2015, 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Ian Potter Foundation Gallery
Admission: Adult $15, Concession $10, Gallery Member $7.50, Groups (10 or more) $9
The rich tradition of Eastern Christian spirituality and imagery will be celebrated with the special exhibition EIKON: Icons of the Orthodox Christian World.
Discover the extraordinary power of icons, which have sustained and shaped belief in different times and contexts, sometimes against significant odds. Icons are beautiful sacred portraits, glowing with rich colours and gold leaf, but for Orthodox Christians they also represent the Divine Presence – they have been referred to as ‘windows on Heaven’.
EIKON brings eighty high quality works, including some really sumptuous examples of Orthodox art. Most of the icons in the show originate from Greece and Russia, with examples as well from Cyprus, Syria and Palestine and range in time from the twelfth to the beginning of the nineteenth centuries.
Viewing the exhibition will be a special event, with dramatic lighting and a soundscape incorporating traditional chanting, bells and other sounds of an Orthodox service, recreating the original setting of the works.
The exhibition draws mainly from the magnificent private collection of former Australian diplomat John McCarthy, with additional loans from the National Gallery of Victoria, from the Abbey Museum of Art and Archaeology in Queensland and from Sir Richard Temple Bt, whose Temple Gallery in London is a leading centre for the study, restoration and exhibition of ancient icons and sacred art.
EIKON will be accompanied by a lavishly illustrated catalogue, as well as specially produced Christmas cards and other souvenirs. There will also be a schedule of education and public programs, including concerts of Greek and Russian-inspired music.
Join one of the Gallery’s dedicated Guides on a special tour through the exhibition to hear some of the stories behind the artworks. Tours will run at 11.30am from Wednesdays to Sundays during the run of the exhibition.
Tickets Adult $15, Concession $10, Gallery Member $7.50, Group (10+) $9 each, Child (U16) Free.