His Eminence Archbishop Makarios of Australia has officially opened Divine Thresholds: Icons and the Orthodox Christian World, a major exhibition showcasing more than 130 icons and sacred objects at Melbourne’s Hellenic Museum.

The exhibition, which opened on Friday, August 28, brings together religious treasures from private and public collections across Australia, spanning the 15th to the 19th centuries.

Several objects from Archbishop Makarios’ personal collection have also been loaned temporarily for the exhibition.

The Archbishop was welcomed to the museum by its President, Harry Stamoulis, and members of the Board of Directors before receiving a tour from Museum Director Sarah Craig.

In his opening address, Archbishop Makarios said the exhibition’s title reflected the Orthodox understanding of sacred icons as a connection between the earthly and divine.

“In the Orthodox tradition, the sacred icon constitutes a threshold that connects earth with heaven, the temporal with the eternal,” he said.

“As the faithful stand before an icon, they become aware that the Kingdom of God is not something distant or abstract, but is present and active within the life of the world.”

The Archbishop congratulated the museum’s administration and those involved in developing the exhibition, praising its focus on the religious meaning of icons alongside their artistic and historical importance.

“I am particularly pleased,” he noted, “that this exhibition does not seek merely to present icons as objects of artistic and historical value, but also to highlight their theological significance and the living role they play in the liturgical life and everyday experience of Orthodox Christians.”

“In a society that is often characterised by rapid change and uncertainty,” he observed, “icons continue to offer a powerful witness to beauty, holiness and hope. They remind us that human life finds its fulfilment in communion with God and in the transformation of the human person according to the model of Christ.”

Archbishop Makarios also commemorated the late Spiros Stamoulis, who established the Hellenic Museum in 2007 in memory of his daughter, Nafsika. He acknowledged the museum’s contribution to promoting Greek culture, art and history.

The exhibition will remain open until the end of August 2027 and aims to encourage greater appreciation of the spiritual and cultural heritage of Orthodox Christianity.

The opening was also attended by His Grace Bishop Evmenios of Chora, Victorian Minister Natalie Suleyman and Archon of the Great Church of Constantinople Tony Tsourdalakis.

Source: Greekherald.com.au