Anna Mycyk (left) and Gisele Bauche are preparing for an iconography exhibit at the Musee Ukraina Museum in Saskatoon. (Kate O'Gorman / CCN)
SASKATOON (CCN)—Gisele Bauche and Anna Mycyk have collaborated as teachers of
iconography for nearly 20 years, and they say the spiritual practice of icon writing is thriving in Saskatchewan.
Saskatoon
"is a special area in Saskatchewan and in Canada where iconography is
taking off strongly," said Bauche. "Interest grows every year."
With
a week-long icon-writing retreat held annually, as well as two weekly
classes and a network of other local instructors with their own growing
pool of iconographers, Mycyk and Bauche decided it was an opportune time
for an exhibit.
"We want to bring together iconographers from
across the city and showcase the work of people who love this practice,"
explains Mycyk. "There is a mystery to icon writing. It's an ancient
form of expressing faith."
"Iconography is a spiritual
experience," Bauche said. "When working on an icon, we focus on
prayer – it's opening a window into eternity. When you're writing an
icon or gazing at an icon, sometimes nothing else exists but that
moment." The exhibit "will be a sharing of how people have prayed and
grown deeper in their spirituality through the process of writing their
icon," said Bauche.
"Each piece is a unique reflection of the
individual who created it," she said. "It's fascinating because
multiple people can be creating the same image, but because each person
has their own spiritual identity it's expressed in its own unique way.
Creating an icon affirms the uniqueness of each person."
According
to Mycyk, "Icons can take a long time to create. It is the opposite of
how our life is now – so much of the world is fighting for our
attention and what we take in with our eyes is very powerful. In
contrast, iconography is about focusing on heaven. We step back from
ourselves and look toward the eternal. It is a monastic experience; we
come together to share food, prayer and practice."
The exhibit,
entitled Iconography in our Time: The Power of Visual Prayer, will
launch Nov. 19 at the Muse Ukraina Museum in Saskatoon and will run
until Jan. 30, 2018.
The Prairie Messenger