CONFERENCE 2025
Friends of Sophia conferences are a unique blend of academic conference, arts event and retreat.
Friends of Sophia conferences are a unique blend of academic conference, arts event and retreat.
Seeing Wisdom: Wisdom and the Visual Arts
(Annual Conference of the Friends of Sophia)
Saturday 4 October 2025, 10.30am to 5.00pm
Ealing Abbey Benedictine Institute,
Maurice Fowler Hall,
1, Montpelier Avenue
Ealing, W5 2KP
DRAFT TIMETABLE
(9.15 am - Plainchant mass in the Abbey for those who want to attend.)
10.00 am - Welcome and Introductions.
10.15 am - Iain McKillop: Can Christian Art Ever Be 'True'? - An exploration of meaning and metaphor in painting about faith.
11.15 am - Break.
11.30 am - Tom Bree: Geometry as contemplated through the spiritual imagination and how it can be symbolically understood as the 'Incarnation' of number'.
12.30 pm - Lunch
1.30 pm - Presentation on the work of the Benedictine Institute with Fr Peter Burns.
2.00 pm - Julienne McLean: Remembering Sophia - Divine Wisdom and Spiritual Transformation.
3.00 pm - Break.
3.30 pm - Maxine Studnik: exhibition tour.
4.30 pm - Fr Dominic White: Reflections and Future Plans.
5.00 pm - Close of Conference.
5.15 pm - Vespers in the Abbey.
(6.00 pm - First Mass of Sunday for those who want to attend.)
Maximum: 50 people
(Annual Conference of the Friends of Sophia)
Saturday 4 October 2025, 10.30am to 5.00pm
Ealing Abbey Benedictine Institute,
Maurice Fowler Hall,
1, Montpelier Avenue
Ealing, W5 2KP
DRAFT TIMETABLE
(9.15 am - Plainchant mass in the Abbey for those who want to attend.)
10.00 am - Welcome and Introductions.
10.15 am - Iain McKillop: Can Christian Art Ever Be 'True'? - An exploration of meaning and metaphor in painting about faith.
11.15 am - Break.
11.30 am - Tom Bree: Geometry as contemplated through the spiritual imagination and how it can be symbolically understood as the 'Incarnation' of number'.
12.30 pm - Lunch
1.30 pm - Presentation on the work of the Benedictine Institute with Fr Peter Burns.
2.00 pm - Julienne McLean: Remembering Sophia - Divine Wisdom and Spiritual Transformation.
3.00 pm - Break.
3.30 pm - Maxine Studnik: exhibition tour.
4.30 pm - Fr Dominic White: Reflections and Future Plans.
5.00 pm - Close of Conference.
5.15 pm - Vespers in the Abbey.
(6.00 pm - First Mass of Sunday for those who want to attend.)
Maximum: 50 people
£44.04 - Full Day Ticket
£22.38 - Concession
(Please note that the prices
include the booking fee)
include the booking fee)
The Friends of Sophia is a collaborative, international project of people united by a common search for Sophia, Wisdom. We are rooted in a Christian centre, from which we engage in conversation with other spiritualities and faith traditions. Our approach is strongly holistic, involving the body and the performing arts as well as the intellect.
Also in collaboration with the centre for initiatives in Spirituality and Reconciliation (InSpiRe) at St Mary’s University, Twickenham (www.stmarys.ac.uk/inspire) and the Dominican Order of Preachers www.english.op.org
Also in collaboration with the centre for initiatives in Spirituality and Reconciliation (InSpiRe) at St Mary’s University, Twickenham (www.stmarys.ac.uk/inspire) and the Dominican Order of Preachers www.english.op.org