An exhibition of church ceramics opens at the Diplomatic Academy

AN EXHIBITION OF CHURCH CERAMICS OPENS AT THE DIPLOMATIC ACADEMY

On January 30, 2003, Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, vice-chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations, visited the exhibition of church ceramics held at the Diplomatic Academy under the Russian Foreign Ministry. He was introduced to the exhibition by the president of the academy, Mr. Fokin, and artists Vladimir and Viacheslav Zotov.

The Zotov father and son are engaged in producing ceramic icon-screens and icon-lamps for churches and domestic chapels as well as mantelpiece clocks. Icon-painting occupies a special place in their work, but they do icons not on wood boards but clay plates. They have developed a special technique for drawing images with ceramic dyes on relief surfaces. Ceramic icons are remarkably durable and resistant to environmental exposure.

The exhibitions also includes works by the Perezvon (chime) art workshop directed by Lidiya Zotova, in which children are taught to work with clay.

According to Mr. Fokin, several hundred people have visited the exhibition since its opening.