21st International Exhibition of Church Construction, Church Fittings and Furnishings and Religious Art SACROEXPO

The jubilee SACROEXPO has gone down in history

The was already the 20th International Exhibition of Church Construction, Church Fittings and Furnishings and Religious Art SACROEXPO The three days’ expo made the targi Kielce a full house - the offer of 280 exhibitors from 12 countries were on show

The trade show visited by 5,000 guests was accompanied with exhibitions and inspiring meetings.

Icons, prayer books, stoles and rosaries - a wealth of forms put on show at the exhibition

The exhibition offered its guests the opportunity to become familiar with the offer of companies which represented: Poland, the United States, Slovenia, Ukraine, Hungary, Italy, Spain, Germany, Romania, Croatia, Israel et.al. SACROEXPO abounded with products and services for churches - the trade show was the one-stop-shop presentation of the latest trends in spiritual art, devotional items as well as church fitments, new technologies for sacral construction and properties and heritage conservation. The expo visitors saw the abundance of liturgical vestments and vessels as well as a full range of religious publications. There were also paintings and icons as well as all kinds of rosaries made from coconuts
and Swarovski's crystals – these might have been less spectacular but closer to our hearts. Some of them were consistent with the philosophy of St. Hildegard - their healing effect is associated with precious stones they are made of. The African Mission expo stand showcased paintings from butterfly wings and religious gadgets - the latter are the ones to take
with a pinch of salt. Pilgrimage offices and church publishing houses also present their offer here. Following the many-year example there was the lottery which was the chance to win a pilgrimage to Israel - the Holy Land. The most interesting solutions earned awards, honours and expo medals. The list included MALATURA from Krakow for the murals in the church of Saint Jadwiga in Lublin, Artistic Publishing Laboratory PETRUS-LIBRI from Ciechocinek for the jewellery adornment of the grand book: "Thoughts, sentences, aphorisms of Saint John Paul II", the Donate Joy from Czaniec Foundation, 3K KRZYSZTOF KRÓL PROJEKT for the structural solution of a black steel window frame with a thermal inlay. The Medals of Honour: the Medal of HE Primate Senior Rev. Cardinal Józef Glemp, Primate of Poland, Rev. ARCHBISHOP Wojciech Polak and the Honorary Award of HE Bishop of Kielce Rev. Jan Piotrowski: Foundation of Saint Sister Faustyna from Borkowice for fabrics: tapestry of Saint Archangel Michael and the woven Image of Merciful Jesus, Andrzej Burkot Woodcarver's Workshop for a set of relief in linden wood - "The Stations of the Cross", and the "ARTMAD" Spiritual Sculpture Workshop for the “Way of the Cross” for Michalite Fathers Warsaw-Bemowo. The expo agenda also included training workshops on the fire safety in religious buildings as well as training for religious articles shops owners and first-line staff.

Find God in what has been made with human hands - Per Artem ad Deum 2019 gala awarding ceremony and the conference

 The Pontifical Council for Culture Medal “Per Artem ad Deum” has been traditionally awarded at SACROEXPO. The laureates fellowship has expanded to include Marcin Bornus-Szczyciński for “tradition promotion and dissemination, for creating the space where spiritual and secular element are brought together”, Tadeusz Boruta for “creativity which spurs today’s man search for an individual relationship with God”, and Alexander Kornoukhov for “fusion of science and tradition expressed inspired art forms”. The grand jubilee gala of the SACEROEXPO and EXPOSITIO and PER ARTEM AD DEUM awarding ceremony gained extra charm with the Bornus Consort lice concert and the spectacle "Brodzic po Wodzie [Water Wading] " prepared especially for this occasion. The performance of the Kielce Dance Theatre was set to the live-performed music by the Fermata Chamber Choir.

The Per Artem ad Deum Conference - Arts Dialogue enhanced the events programme. The conference continues a well-established tradition. The Per Artem Ad Deum Conference is the continuation of the the Pontifical Council for Culture's idea to award the Medal. The Medal laureates contribute to the culture and art development in a unique and lasting way, they deepen the dialogue between people of different nationalities and they through Art bring people closer to God. The conference moderated by Piotr Rosiński PhD. hab. Jan Kochanowski University Professor
 (Kielce) - an art historian was the arena for the Medal laureates to share their views and experiences with the participants
.The participants had the opportunity to talk about various fields of art: music. paintings and mosaics and then ask questions. - Provocation is not art - Aleksander Kornoukhov said during the conference. The trade show was also accompanied with the multimedia exhibition of the Per Artem ad Deum Medal laureates’ works.

Conference on "Dialogue on Religions"

"May we see the one who needs God's grace in man of a different faith..." - this is how the Dialogue on Religion conference may be recapitulated. The problem of persecution seems to be the phenomenon of religion. This has been the case since the beginning of time, of all times, places and religions.  This has been confirmed with the growing wave of discrimination, as evidenced by analyses published by international analytical organizations. The phenomenon is also illustrated by data on the world’s two largest religions. Christianity followers experience various harassments or even systematic persecutions in 130 countries, Muslims - in 117.The reports authors gained the data form the institutions which professionally analyse the human rights observance issue. They claim that as much as 70 percent of the world's population is persecuted for religious reasons. Faith in God seems to be increasingly dangerous. The discussion brought together representatives of international organizations which monitor religious persecution on a global scale. Konstanty Gebert (Judaism), Maciej Maliszak (Christianity), Andrzej Saramowicz (Islam) were the panel discussion participants. The Christian Dance Theatre performance entitled "In the Name of…” was staged after the conference end.

Great meetings within the expo’s scope

On the second day of SACROEXPO, the Orthodox Archbishop of Przemysl and Gorlice His Excellency Paisjusz presented the distinctions to exhibitors in recognition of their contribution to religious life.

Save the date for the next edition - 1 to 3 June 2020.