Sacred Traditions and the Arts

The seminar on Sacred Traditions and the Arts is a joint venture between the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at King’s and The Courtauld. It seeks to place researchers in dialogue who are working on any aspect of the sacred and visual culture. It is open to all scholars and students who have an interest in exploring the intersections of religion and art regardless of period, geography or tradition.

Upcoming Events

Past Events

Research, Talks

Art and the Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Woman

5:30pm, 12 May 2025

In this meeting of the Sacred Traditions & the Arts seminar, Dr Heather Munro and Dr Karen Skinazi will give papers on the role that visual and performance art play in the lives of Ultra-Orthodox Jewish women

Research

Poetry and Politics in Buddhist and Hindu Visions of Self and Other

6:00pm, 7 Oct 2024

Join the Sacred Traditions & the Arts seminar as Dr. Sujatha Meegama explores kingship in early modern Sri Lanka through rare ivory carvings and Dr. Ankur Barua delves into the paradox of divine love in Hindu devotional poetry, with insights into the...

Research

Qohelet: A New Reading and a New Seeing

6:00pm, 20 Feb 2024

This meeting of the Sacred Traditions & the Arts seminar marks the fruition of a close and rare collaboration between a philosopher and visual artist in dialogue with a biblical book: Qohelet (or Ecclesiastes).

Photograph in black and white showing the installation of an exhibition in a white room

Research

Art Museums, the Sacred, and Theology

6:00pm, 6 Nov 2023

This meeting of the Sacred Traditions & the Arts seminar will explore the intersections of curatorial practice, museology, critical heritage studies, and art history.

Call to Holy Ground: Film Screening and Panel Discussion

23 May 2023

Sacred Traditions & the Arts Seminar is partnering with Art + Christianity and the Dean’s Office at King’s College London, who are hosting a film screening and discussion in the Chapel at King’s.

Image of the front cover of a book in which a drawn female figure holds up an empty square of space. The square is demonstrated by a series of white dashes which indicate the space.

Normativity and the Visual:
Art Historical and Theological Perspectives

5:45pm, 21 Feb 2023

King's College London and The Courtauld host this collaborative seminar as part of the Sacred Traditions and the Arts series.

Black and white photograph of the artist Rodin standing on a platform in his studio surrounded by parts of sculptures

Artist-as-Monk, Monk-as-Artist

6:30pm, 25 Oct 2022

Join James Hall and Lucy Newman Cleeve for two papers as part of the Sacred Traditions and the Arts seminar series.

Fragment of an ivory panel with a frontal face

Research

On the Framing of Women: Art Historical and Theological Perspectives

6:30pm, 27 May 2022

Following the recent opening of Reframed: The Woman in the Window at Dulwich Picture Gallery—to great critical acclaim—this seminar will offer an opportunity to hear from its curator, Jennifer Sliwka, about some of the religious traditions of depicti...

the philosophy of susanne langer book cover: an abstract background gold and red

Research

Susanne Langer: On Signs, Symbols and Embodied Meaning

5:30pm, 22 Mar 2022

Adrienne Dengerink Chaplin will discuss with Ben Quash some of Langer’s key influences and aims, revealing her to be one of the most insightful and fertile but also most neglected philosophers of the twentieth century.