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BUDAPEST: Resurrection & Light
A Spring Residency with Dr. George Kordis · May 6–12, 2027
Held at the Fanarion Orthodox Center · Budapest, Hungary
Spend seven days immersed in icon painting with Dr. George Kordis at the newly opened Fanarion Orthodox Center, in the Palace District of central Budapest. Combining focused studio learning with the opportunity to encounter Kordis’s wall-paintings throughout the Center, this residency offers an inspiring setting for study, shared meals, and artistic exchange in a city rich in beauty and history.
Overview
The Spring Residency in Budapest offers an opportunity to study drawing and icon painting using the Byzantine visual system under the personal guidance of Dr. Kordis. Daily instruction will explore how line, rhythm, color, and light work together to create a living relationship between the painted figure, its surroundings, and the viewer.
The studio is the heart of the program. Sustained time for drawing and painting, demonstrations, discussion, and individual guidance will allow students of all levels to deepen their understanding of the Byzantine visual language and develop their own work.
A remarkable new home for Orthodox art and dialogue
Officially opened on September 5, 2026, by His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, Fanarion Orthodox Christian Dialogue Center brings new life to a historic palace beside the Hungarian National Museum. Following an extensive, multi-year renovation, the complex has been transformed into a place of worship, hospitality, learning, and cultural exchange in the heart of Budapest.
Our residency offers an opportunity to experience this remarkable Center during its first year—to study and paint within a setting where contemporary iconography forms part of daily life, and where shared meals, conversation, and worship bring people together.
The Fanarion Center hosts the stunning Three Hierarchs Church, housed in a converted barn belonging to the former palace, as well as two chapels and a refectory painted by George Kordis. A current retrospective exhibition: ICON. EIKONA. IKON features more than seventy of Kordis’s icons offering a further opportunity to encounter the breadth of his work and initiate conversation. Together, these spaces invite students to consider the relationship between portable icons, monumental painting, and the architectural and communal life they inhabit.
Two Writing the Light Students in the main courtyard of the Fanarion Center
Time for exploration and exchange
Shared meals and time together at the Center will extend the conversations begun in the studio. On Sunday, May 9, a free day following Divine Liturgy will offer students the choice of exploring Budapest independently, resting, or continuing their studio work.
With its emphasis on studio practice within a setting shaped by contemporary Orthodox painting, this residency invites students to learn through both making and looking—and to experience iconography as part of a living place of worship, hospitality, and encounter.
George Kordis and Sister Arsenia inside Three Hierarchs Church
Lodging and Meals
Students will stay at the Fanarion Orthodox Center and enjoy the convenience of living and studying together in the heart of Budapest. Accommodation options will include both shared and private rooms priced per person for single or double occupancy, subject to availability. Spouses and accompanying friends are welcome if not taking the residency and will enjoy exploring the many things that Budapest has to offer.
Lodging and meals cost are separate from tuition and paid directly to Fanarion.
Rates, meal arrangements, and booking instructions will soon be announced.
THE PROGRAM IS OPEN TO ALL LEVELS and held in English Language.
All materials are included. Students must bring their own brushes and drawing tools.
Tuition Cost: €1,250
Fanarion Lodging & Meals Cost: Soon to be announced
ADD YOUR NAME TO THE PRE-REGISTRATION LIST
(This is solely to assist us to notify you first should you wish to reserve your spot once registration opens)
A shorter 4-day residency in Church Design and Large-Scale Drawing will take place immediately following the first residency which is offered to students in the first program, whether as professionals wanting to glean fruitful information and insight or students curious to learn more about the design process and working in large scale.
Any immediate questions can be addressed to Writing the Light Director Keri Wiederspahn — keri@writingthelight.com.












