Brasov County Council, the County Center for Conservation and Promotion of Traditional Culture Brasov, along with the Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese of Sibiu, Protopopiatul Fagaras and Romanian Orthodox Parish of Victoria organized an exhibition of icons on glass, entitled ?The Icon Path?. The exhibition was held at the Orthodox Church 'St. Constantin and Elena?. The parish priest is Octavian Smadu, renowned for the national and international ecumenical events he has organized. Icons makers of all ages, from many parts of the country, along with the youngest icon creators of Victoria, attended the event.
Centenary Icon Painter
?The idea of an annual exhibition entitled The Icon Path was born in 2006, when we celebrated the Centenary Timforea Matthew, the greatest icons painter of Tara Oltului. I've arrived today at the third edition, which gathered icon makers from Sibiu, the well-known artists of Scheii Brasovului, artisans of Nicula Monastery of Cluj County, Fagaras, Cartisoara, Arpas and Victoria, priest Octavian Smadu stated.
Basil of Romanian Soul
The annual exhibition ?The Icon Path? and the Toaca Festival are already registered marks. But parish priest Smadu also registered an assortment of basil created by himself. The priest always carry with him the mark ?Basil of Romanian soul?.
The Icon as Mediator
For the Orthodox Christians, the icon is not just a plastic representation of the saints' faces, but, above all, it is a mediator between the sensitive and the intelligible world, as a medium of dialog whiting the cult, between believers and divinity. In metaphorical terms, the icon is a real window through which man and God can look each other in the face. The icon painters studied the lives of saints, have depicted the most important moments of the life of the Savior, ?The Nativity?, ?The Resurrection?, the Mother of God with Baby Jesus, drawing inspiration from old paintings on wood.
The Oath with the icon
The young artists attending the third edition of the exhibition confessed that when they paint icons on glass they experience a transformation, arriving to make an oath with the icon. They feel very connected to the artifacts they created and refuse to sell them. Many of them give up television and computer and dedicate their time to icons painting.
The Icon chooses its Painter
Nicoleta Suciu teaches iconography and leads the painting circle of Scheii Braşovului: ?I guide 27 children; we are not selecting those children ? they come to us. Many of them regularly attend the religious service and discover deep inside them unsuspecting values. We offer alternative to the so-called computer generation. Children always experience profound emotions when they paint an icon?.
A strong relationship sets between children and the icon; many of them believe they are protected by the saint they have painted.
