Russian Cultural Center in Damascus holds second part of “Russia and the Christian East” Conference
On April 26th, the Russian Cultural Center in Damascus held the second part of the first international scientific conference under the title “Russia and the Christian East”.
This part was devoted to Syrian researchers, while Russian researchers followed up through the Zoom platform.
The conference began with a lecture on the Byzantine churches in Palmyra by Dr. Khalil Al-Hariri, then, Mahmoud Abdel-Qader Al-Ghafri lectured on the forgotten cities in Syria, the cradle of Christianity.
Dr. Shafiq Ashti completed the research works of the conference by talking about the art of mosaics in the early Christian religion.
Lina Deeb, Vice President of the Syrian Plastic Artists Union, talked about the murals in Mar Musa Al-Habashi monastery, then, Dr. Vlada Melnik lectured on the monastery’s architectural characteristics.
After that, Father Spyridon Fayyad talked about the influence of the Russian icon-painting tradition on icon painting in the Levant.
In conclusion, the researcher and visual artist, Talal Bitar,lectured on the Syrian icons, their features and their difference from the Russian, Roman, and other icons.
Bitar said that all icons are based on the Byzantine icon, but it differs according to the region.
In a statement to SANA, researcher Al-Hariri noted the importance of shedding light on the churches that existed during the Byzantine period between the fourth and sixth centuries AD in Palmyra.
O. al-Mohammad