Sacred Arts 2026: Exploring the Spiritual Dimensions of Artistic Expression

May 16-17, 2026. Venue: University of Oxford and online

Sacred Arts 2026:
Exploring the Spiritual Dimensions of Artistic Expression and Ritual

University of Oxford
and online

May 16-17, 2026

Registration fees** (for both attendees and presenters):

• In-person participation: £180
• Virtual participation: £100
  Prices exclude eventbrite fees

Non-presenters are also welcome to attend the conference.

Call for Papers

Ever since the dawn of time, there has been an art-based approach to spirituality. People have created and developed ritualistic relationships with artefacts in order to help them understand, express, and communicate with the divine. From jewellery to iconography, music, garments, sculptures, architecture, incense, and more, these objects of art have encapsulated and preserved religious symbols and traditions over many generations.

This conference aims to bring together researchers, postgraduate students, and creatives interested in the role that religious artefacts and rituals can play in our perception of the sacred. In this transdisciplinary forum, we will be sharing ideas relating to all aspects of art and the divine, especially regarding matter, materials, and materiality in religious cultures throughout the ages. Art is associated with religious traditions around the world, and sacred objects/artefacts (such as icons, sculptures, jewellery, garments, architecture, etc.) have the capacity to depict and describe archetypal, spiritual concepts and religious content through matter. We would like to explore topics revolving around the connection between religions and material culture, especially in observing the relationships between people and sacred artefacts, whether these relationships are of spiritual, informative, creative, scientific or ekphrastic nature.

We would like to explore the following questions: How can religious artefacts shape our understanding of the divine? What type of ekphrastic responses may be generated between different mediums of religious art? What factors come into play in the making and development of iconography and other art of religious significance? How can archaeological findings tell us more about the history of the sacred in our psyche?

We welcome 15-minute presentations of either academic or creative form.

Central topics include, but are not limited to:

• Iconography: process, meaning, making, and using
• Calligraphy
• Ekphrastic responses to sacred art (such as icons)
• Art-based rituals in spiritual practice
• Cross-cultural interactions and influences
• Archaeological discoveries through these artefacts
• Modes of interaction between different cultures/faiths in the creation and use of artefacts with religious significance
• Spiritual architecture
• Special processes and techniques in iconography
• Renovation of artefacts
• Sacred music
• Food in religious practice
• Religious sculpture
• Classicism and neo-classicist approaches to religion through art
• The Renaissance
• Religious symbols in art of ancient civilizations
• The contemporary use of ancient religious symbols in art, fashion, and rituals
• Comparative religion
• Religious manuscripts
• Interdisciplinary conversations
• Consciousness and the imaginal realm
• Archetypal expressions
• Spiritual symbolism
• Mythology as methodology
• Alchemical symbolism

Held at the University of Oxford (as well as online), this two-day hybrid conference will take place on 16-17 May, 2026.

Presenters may either share academic papers and/or creative work (poetry, prose, photography, music, painting, etc.), as we highly encourage arts-based research, as well as research which stimulates reflection on creativity, image, symbol and archetype. Please fill out our proposal form on https://forms.gle/Go8CULxEBW15iUbd7 by February 16, 2026. We will be announcing our plenary speakers and the full programme of the conference will be ready after the presenters are selected.

We look forward to receiving your abstracts!