Christian contemplative and essayist Arthur Aghajanian explores how images influence our understanding of reality and the sacred through conversations with thought leaders on art, visual culture, and religion. Each episode delves into a different area of visual theology, opening to spiritual wisdom while deconstructing an image-saturated world. Learn more at imageandfaith.com
Visually Sacred: Conversations on the Power of Images
Claim This Podcastby Arthur Aghajanian
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52 episodes
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Podcast Overview
Christian contemplative and essayist Arthur Aghajanian explores how images influence our understanding of reality and the sacred through conversations with thought leaders on art, visual culture, and religion. Each episode delves into a different area of visual theology, opening to spiritual wisdom while deconstructing an image-saturated world. Learn more at imageandfaith.com
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Publishing Since
12/28/2022
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Recent Episodes
July 7, 2026
Ryan K. Smith: Heritage and Holiness
<p>Ryan is a Professor of History at Virginia Commonwealth University. He specializes in American religious history, material culture, and historic preservation. His most recent book is Death and Rebirth in a Southern City: Richmond's Historic Cemeteries. He is also the author of "Gothic Arches, Latin Crosses: Anti-Catholicism and American Church Designs in the Nineteenth Century." Ryan is a founding member of the Richmond Cemetery Collaboratory and is the director of the Richmond Cemetery Project (richmondcemeteries.org). He has museum experience at the St. John's Church Foundation, the Winterthur Museum, the St. Augustine Historical Society, and the Castillo de San Marcos National Monument, among other institutions.</p><p>In this conversation, Ryan and I explore a rich array of subjects, from the Shaker aesthetic to the symbolism of lighthouses in Christianity. Ryan also explains the power dynamics involved in historical Christian burial practices, and how material religion and public spaces interact to reveal important societal values and beliefs.</p>
June 14, 2026
Lieke Wijnia: Galleries of Material Religion
<p>Lieke is a Senior Researcher at the Center for Art and Society at the Hanze University of Applied Sciences in Groningen, the Netherlands, and works as a freelance curator. She is the author of "Resonating Sacralities: Dynamics Between Art and Religion in Postsecular Netherlands" and "Beyond the Return of Religion: Art and the Postsecular." She co-edited with others the volume "Museums as Ritual Sites, Civilizing Rituals Reconsidered" and the (open-access) "Bloomsbury Handbook of Religion and Heritage in Contemporary Europe." She previously curated the exhibitions "Mary Magdalene" in 2021 and "The Genesis of Science" in 2024 at Museum Catharijneconvent, and edited their accompanying publications.</p><p>In this conversation, Lieke and I explore how contemporary art engages spirituality and can function as a form of material religion. We look at the challenges artists face in expressing the sacred within a largely secular culture, how migration shapes religious imagery, and what it means to curate exhibitions that take spiritual themes seriously. We also reflect on how the sacred continues to surface within modern visual culture.</p>
June 1, 2026
Cornelia Tsakiridou: Icons in the Postmodern Era
<p>Cornelia received a PhD in Philosophy from Georgetown University and holds MA degrees in Philosophy and History from Temple University. She is the author of three monographs, "The Orthodox Icon and Postmodern Art: Critical Reflections on the Christian Image and its Theology," "Tradition and Transformation in Christian Art: The Transcultural Icon," and "Icons in Time, Persons in Eternity: Orthodox Theology and the Aesthetics of the Christian Image." Her earlier work includes the edited volume "Reviewing Orpheus: Essays on the Art and Cinema of Jean Cocteau." She is also the translator with M. Spanos of "St. Paisios the Athonite, With Pain and Love for Contemporary Man."</p><p>In this episode, Cornelia and I explore how the material and relational dimensions of Orthodox worship—from the intimacy of confession to the tactile presence of sacred objects—mediate time, eternity, and divine presence. We also discuss how modernism and postmodern thought intersect with Orthodox theology, including the challenges icons pose to contemporary aesthetics and the ways photography can gesture toward the eternal present.</p>
52 total episodes available
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- What is Visually Sacred: Conversations on the Power of Images?
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This podcast updates monthly.
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This podcast is available on 9 platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. You can also use the RSS feed directly.
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Yes, this podcast regularly features guests.
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