Oct 4, 2026 - Last weekend, our associate, Dr. Ivana Lemcool, had the honor of participating in a two-day symposium that took place at Princeton University: Athonite Collections and Their Challenges. Scholarly Access and Digital Surrogates. The event was organized within the multiyear project Connecting Histories. The Princeton and Mount Athos Legacy, which aims to bring awareness to the holdings related to Mount Athos on the Princeton University campus. Papers delivered at the symposium were particularly focused on the digitization efforts within monastic communities.

Dr. Lemcool presented her paper, From Reclusive Spaces to Global Audiences: Digitizing Artwork within Monastic Communities, offering an inside look at the BLAGO Fund team’s workflow in creating its digital collections. She outlined the administrative and logistical demands of documenting sacred spaces and the heritage preserved within them, detailing the varied aspects and challenges of conducting fieldwork across different types of ecclesiastical monuments. In closing, she highlighted several effective examples of how monastic communities themselves are using digital media and tools to support preservation and outreach.

The symposium was an exceptional opportunity for participants to acquaint themselves with rich material relating to Mount Athos at Princeton University, and to exchange ideas and experiences concerning their efforts in digitization. The speakers were introduced to archival documentation on Mount Athos, as well as valuable manuscripts, drawings, photographs, and prints produced in Athonite monastic centers. They also had a chance to see a film on the 1929 expedition to Mount Athos that was discovered in the Princeton University Department of Art and Archaeology in nine canisters placed in a barrel.

Many thanks to Dr. Maria Alessia Rossi and Julia Gearhart for organizing this wonderful and engaging conference and for bringing together professionals from different fields devoted to exploring and promoting Eastern Orthodox heritage.