The Romanian Cultural Institute (ICR) in Beijing opened on June 24 the exhibition ‘Hurezi Monastery: Romania in UNESCO 70’, part of a programme dedicated to the Brancovenesc heritage.

According to a press release from the Romanian Cultural Institute, the exhibition brings together photographs from the archive of the monastery in Valcea County and from successive stages of the restoration process carried out under UNESCO auspices, icons created by the nuns, historical objects, documents and archival photographs from the monastery museum, as well as albums and heritage items from its library, presented to the Chinese public across several themes (architecture, iconostasis, ornaments, painting, wood and stone sculpture, etc.).

The exhibition highlights the role of Hurezi Monastery as an important centre of culture, education, spirituality and artistic creation in Romania.

Curated by Stavrophore Ambrozia Serban, Nun Macrina Avram and Andreea-Ema Stoian, and senior relations officer, the exhibition will remain open to visitors until September 24.

The academic component of the programme also includes two conferences dedicated to the Brancovenesc heritage and the conservation of cultural heritage.

The conference “Constantin Brancoveanu – Culture and Holiness”,  dedicated to the personality of the Romanian ruler – a martyr of the faith and a major patron of culture – was delivered on June 27 at the ICR Beijing headquarters by Stavrophore Ambrozia Serban and Nun Macrina Avram.

On Monday, June 29, also at ICR Beijing, the conference “Dialogues on Restoration: Hurezi Monastery and the Mogao Cave Complex (Dunhuang)” is scheduled, organised in collaboration with Peking University. Bringing together Nun Macrina Avram, visual artist and conservator of ecclesiastical art, and a Chinese specialist in mural heritage conservation, the event will offer a comparative analysis of restoration practices and methodologies applied to religious heritage in Romania and China, highlighting the contemporary challenges of cultural heritage conservation and the importance of international cooperation in this field.

Stavrophore Ambrozia Serban is the Abbess of Hurezi Monastery, coordinator of the heritage of the Hurezi monastic complex, and a conservator of mural painting and iconographer.

Nun Macrina Avram is a visual artist and conservator of ecclesiastical art, trained at the same academic institution as Stavrofora Ambrozia Serban, where she studied Theology, followed by a Master’s degree in restoration.

Hurezi Monastery in Romania, founded in 1690 by Prince Constantin Brancoveanu, is a masterpiece of the Brancovenesc architectural style, remarkable for the purity of its forms, the richness of its sculptural decoration, and the exceptional school of mural painting and iconography that flourished in the 18th century.

Considered by scholar Nicolae Iorga as “the unmatched monastery”, Hurezi is one of the most valuable monastic ensembles in South-Eastern Europe and one of the most representative creations of the era of Constantin Brancoveanu.

The ensemble was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List on July 15, 1993, under criterion (ii), recognising its outstanding contribution to cultural exchange and the development of a distinct artistic tradition.