Yesterday, under the glorious rays of the post-Resurrection celebration of Christ, our Monastery was the center of a magnificent cultural and artistic event – the children’s art colony “The Small Montmartre of Bitola.” This artistic manifestation was organized by the president of this international children’s art colony, Elena Hadzi-Antonovska, and the president of the Board of Directors of the Children’s Art Studio “St. Cyril and Methodius” – Bitola, Slavcho Nedelkovski. Hundreds of young artists from 20 countries around the world (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, India, Israel, Japan, China, North Macedonia, Malaysia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Turkey, France, Croatia, Czech Republic, Montenegro), with their easels, brushes, and palettes, and above all, their artistic talent and youthful creative spirit, adorned the monastery courtyard yesterday, transferring the architectural and natural beauties of the Monastery onto their canvases, each through their personal aesthetic perception.
The young artists were hospitably welcomed and blessed by our Elder and Abbot, Bishop Parthenios of Antania, who greeted the esteemed guests with heartfelt love at the official reception.
The event organizers sincerely thanked Elder Bishop Parthenios for his blessing and generous hospitality, and on this occasion, on behalf of all participants, presented him with three icons: The Most Holy Theotokos with the Christ Child, Saint John the Baptist, and Saint Parthenios of Lampsacus, crafted by the school of the Orthodox Theological Seminary “Veniamin Costachi” in Romania (Romanian Orthodox Church). They also presented the Elder with artworks from last year’s colony.
Subsequently, the young artistic souls immediately took up their brushes to experience and convey the beauty of the Bigorski Sanctuary in their own way. At the end of the day, participants were awarded certificates of appreciation, and the best drawings were chosen from participants from Portugal, China, the Czech Republic, and Serbia. The children truly achieved a great feat, as within a short working period of 8 to 10 hours, they had to start from scratch and fully complete a drawing. The jury was composed of: Teodolinda Pascoal from Portugal, Vsevolod Romanov from Russia, Maria Dima from Romania, and the Children’s Art Studio from Bitola.
As a token of gratitude for the expressed support and cooperation, “The Small Montmartre of Bitola” awarded Bishop Parthenios of Antania and Abbot of Bigorski Monastery an honorary Plaque for his contribution to the art of painting.
