A sculpture by Constantin Brancusi and a polyptych by Giotto di Bondone, regarded as the father of modern Western painting, will be among the highlights of the first edition of the International Sacred Art Festival 'Sacrum Iasi Art Festival', scheduled for 4-30 October.

According to the organisers, Iasi will turn into a major European cultural and spiritual centre during the inaugural edition of the festival, which will showcase some of the most valuable exhibits.

The centrepiece of the festival will be the first-ever display in Iasi of a 14th-century polyptych by Giotto di Bondone from the collection of the National Pinacotheca of Bologna. The work is considered one of the fundamental testimonies of medieval European art and represents a rare opportunity for the Romanian public.

Equally spectacular will be the presence of Constantin Brancusi in the exhibition programme. Organisers announced that a sculpture by the artist who revolutionised modern sculpture, along with several of his personal belongings, will be displayed in Iasi.

Beyond these two legendary names, the festival will feature more than 50 cultural, artistic and scientific events. The theme of the inaugural edition, 'Creatio et Intelligentia - Between Divine Providence and Artificial Intelligence', proposes a contemporary debate on the relationship between creation, spirituality and the development of AI-based technologies.

The programme includes sacred and contemporary art exhibitions, concerts, performances, conferences, film screenings and meetings with cultural personalities from Romania and abroad.

The exhibition programme will also feature restoration plans for the Church of the Three Holy Hierarchs drawn up by architect Andre Lecomte du Nouy, exhibitions of paintings, sacred books, contemporary art inspired by Christian spirituality and works by contemporary icon painters.

Visitors will also have the opportunity to admire Stephen the Great's battle standard and the epitaph painted by Saint Arsenius of Prislop.

According to the organisers, the festival was inspired by Mircea Eliade's reflection that 'the essential element of the human condition is the sense of the sacred.'

Through this event, the organisers aim to create 'a meeting space between tradition and innovation, memory and imagination, spiritual experience and contemporary cultural expressions.'

'Iasi needs a major, elevated and visionary cultural event capable of highlighting the immense potential of its spiritual, academic and artistic heritage and projecting this legacy into dialogue with the great themes and challenges of the contemporary world. The Sacrum Iasi Art Festival will be the first festival in Romania to bring together spiritual heritage, contemporary arts, academic research and new technologies in an interdisciplinary dialogue, strengthening Iasi's status as a cultural hub,' festival president Adrian Stoleriu said.

Held during the Iasi Celebrations, when the city is visited annually by hundreds of thousands of pilgrims and tourists, the festival also aims to become an international cultural landmark.

'We hope that bringing these events together will create greater coherence. There will certainly be new events, some will continue and, we hope, others will be added. All this should bring joy both to our city and to those who visit it (...) to venerate the relics of Saint Paraskeva. Besides the pilgrims' main purpose, that of worshipping in the cathedral, we also wish to offer them other joys, because Iasi is rich in such resources,' His Eminence Metropolitan Teofan of Moldavia and Bukovina. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Daniela Malache; EN - writing by: Simona Iacob)