Host an Exhibition
The Mount Athos Foundation of America (MAFA) offers traveling exhibitions that bring the spiritual, historical, and artistic heritage of Orthodox Christianity to audiences across the United States. Designed for museums, universities, libraries, cultural centers, churches, and educational institutions, these exhibitions provide a rare opportunity to host a meaningful and visually compelling experience rooted in faith, history, and scholarship.
Each exhibition is fully curated and adaptable to a variety of venues, inviting visitors into a deeper encounter with the living tradition of Orthodox monasticism.
Exhibition Options
Mount Athos: The Ark of Orthodoxy
This exhibition offers audiences a virtual pilgrimage to the Holy Mountain—one of the most sacred and enduring centers of Orthodox Christian spirituality.
Presented by the Mount Athos Foundation of America in collaboration with the Mount Athos Center of Thessaloniki (Αγιορειτική Εστία), this traveling exhibition features dedicated panels on all twenty Athonite monasteries, along with interpretive presentations exploring monastic life, history, sacred art, architecture, the natural environment, and the spiritual tradition of Mount Athos.
For over a thousand years, Holy Athos has preserved a living rhythm of prayer, worship, and ascetic life. Through its icons, relics, hymns, and daily liturgical cycle, the Holy Mountain bears witness to unity in Christ and the harmony of the material and spiritual worlds.
This exhibition invites visitors not only to learn, but to reflect—offering a contemplative experience that resonates with believers, scholars, and cultural audiences alike.
This exhibition is designed to travel. To propose a venue, please contact: exhibits@mountathosfoundation.org
Mount Athos & Meteora 1929: Princeton’s Hidden Treasure
An exhibition that reveals a remarkable and little-known historical record of two of the most important monastic centers in the Orthodox Christian world.
This traveling exhibition presents 65 historic photographs, eight interpretive panels, and a documentary film drawn from a 1929 expedition by three traveler-artists from Princeton University to Mount Athos and Meteora. Their journey captured rare images of monastic life, architecture, and landscapes at a time when these sacred places remained largely untouched by modernity.
The expedition included:
- Vladimir “Vovo” Perfilieff, Russian émigré painter and explorer
- Floyd Crosby, photographer and cinematographer who later became an Academy Award–winning filmmaker
- Gordon McCormick, architect and Princeton graduate
- Accompanied by Anastasios Chatzimitsos, a young interpreter from Thessaloniki
Their photographs and film document monasteries, dramatic natural settings, and daily monastic life—including a rare encounter with Elias, a cave-dwelling hermit. The collection offers exceptional value for audiences interested in history, architecture, folklore, social studies, and religious life.
This exhibition brings to light rare visual material and original sources that enrich scholarship and deepen understanding of Mount Athos and Meteora as living spiritual and cultural treasures.
This exhibition is designed to travel. To propose a venue, please contact: exhibits@mountathosfoundation.org
Interested in learning more or hosting an exhibition?
Contact: Anastasia K. Merkel, Exhibition Coordinator
The Mount Athos Foundation of America (MAFA)
exhibits@mountathosfoundation.org
Full Exhibition Details
Documentary film to play in a constant loop
- A dedicated screen to play the full film reel
- Offer this visual for people to watch it for 14 minutes
- Create a room within a room or provide a separate area that is low lighting. preferred darkness
Dimensions of the photos/frames: 65 photos printed and 8 roll-ups
- Frame 53 x 66 cm / Photo 35 x 50 cm – 20
- Frame 53 x 36 cm / Photo 39 x 24 cm – 21
- Frame 42 x 52 cm / Photo 28 x 40 cm – 24
- Roll Up 200 x 85 cm – 8
The middle of the photo needs to be 1 meter and 50 cm height ( five feet)
Rollups/banners have caption/exhibit info & sponsors, and info about travelers/photographers
The captions of the photographs are contained within the photos. No need to be printed separately.
Photos have been displayed on grid wall, easels as options
A general description of the exhibition is included along with information on the Mount Athos Center and MAFA
Catalogs:
- The exhibitor is responsible for printing the catalogs
- Catalog content is coordinated directly with the designer, Dionne Katinas
A video teaser for promotion was created for the Maliotis venue and may be available for other venues
Micro Exhibition Details
Documentary film
46 photos printed and 4 canvas roll-ups
- 30 – 30 x 40 cm photos
- 16 – 40 x 30 cm photos
- 4 – Roll Up 100 x 40cm – see attachment
Traveling Exhibition – FAQ
Why does MAFA produce and sponsor traveling exhibitions?
An important part of Mount Athos Foundation of America’s (MAFA) mission is to promote and encourage understanding and appreciation of the Holy Mountain in the United States. MAFA collaborates with the Mount Athos Center in Thessaloniki, Greece in producing these exhibitions.
What are the contents of the Exhibition?
The Exhibition consists of 34 retractable banners (33” x 81”, printed standard roll-up displays with stands). One banner is dedicated to each of the 20 Athonite monasteries, presenting information designed to convey a sense of the physical structure and layout of the monastery as well as its history and Orthodox traditions. The banners include 2-5 professionally produced illustrative photographs. Two banners are dedicated to Karyes and the ancient Athonite basilica church, the Protaton. The remaining 12 banners include dramatic large-scale pictures and accompanying explanations dedicated to the spiritual life, history, art, architecture, and natural environment of Mount Athos. The retractable banners and stands are the property of MAFA; the intellectual content and photographs in this exhibit are protected under copyright held jointly by MAFA and the Mount Athos Center of Thessaloniki, Greece.
A 100-page soft-cover Ark of Orthodoxy book accompanies the Exhibition. This book provides supplemental pictures and narratives related to the Exhibition (see additional information below – “What about exhibit catalogs?”). A sample will be provided to your Exhibit Coordinator. Additional copies can be ordered directly from the printer (60 books per box).
MAFA will also provide Exhibition Postcards to be left on-site at all times, requesting a donation to help support MAFA in its mission to support the Monasteries and Dependencies of Mount Athos.
What are the site requirements?
MAFA requires a minimum of two, but prefers three, individual contacts who will coordinate the Exhibition at the venue. The Exhibition is to be housed in a venue with sufficient space to allow the exhibit to stand alone as an independent exhibit and not be commingled with other exhibits, although complementary exhibits may be displayed at the same time. Sites such as an open mall, tent, hallway, lounge or eating area, temporary building, or outdoor sites are not acceptable venue sites. A total of about 150 linear feet is recommended for comfortable display.
Individual exhibit pieces should not be displayed near heat or in direct sunlight, and the site must comply with local fire protection ordinances. Smoking is not to be permitted in the display area. The local venue is responsible for the security of the Exhibition while it is on-site.
Where are exhibitions held?
Churches, community centers, exhibition halls, art centers, scholarly conferences and universities, museums, and other venues to promote knowledge, awareness, and understanding of the spiritual life, history, art, architecture, and natural environment of Mount Athos. To evoke in viewers the sense of a virtual pilgrimage to its monasteries.
How long are exhibitions held?
MAFA exhibitions are made available to local venues typically for two months, but scheduling for a minimum of one month will be considered. Due to the logistics and costs of moving the Exhibition, there is a one-month minimum. If there is no waiting list, exhibitions can be held for more than two months.
Is photography allowed?
Photography for personal use is permitted; circulation or publication of such photographs, however, is prohibited as a violation of copyright.
What are the insurance requirements?
Liability insurance is the responsibility of the local venue. The local venue must immediately notify MAFA if any damage or loss is sustained to any portion of the Exhibition. There will be a replacement fee of $300 per banner for any that is damaged.
How are the banners transported?
The 34 banners will be transported in 3 reusable plastic crates – measuring 46 inches long x 20” height x 20” width – built for this purpose and will contain all appropriate packing materials. Guidelines specific to the Exhibition regarding unpacking, installation, and re-packing will be provided by MAFA.
What about exhibition catalogs?
MAFA produces an exhibition book that provides pictures and a narrative supplementing the Exhibition. It is suggested that this book be circulated at no cost during the opening events for the Exhibition, and thereafter that it be made available either for purchase at a discounted rate for the duration of the Exhibition or that its cost be included in any admission fee if one is established for the venue. The venue can order directly from the printer (60 books per box). MAFA will provide the printer’s contact information upon request.
Advertisements and acknowledgments of sponsors may be printed on a catalog insert page for use at the applicable venue(s) at the venue’s expense.
What are the expenses associated with hosting?
Expenses include a $750 administration fee to MAFA (which also defrays a fraction of MAFA’s expenses to ship and store the Exhibition at an off-site location when not in use), shipping costs to the next venue at the conclusion of the Exhibition, and exhibition catalogs. In addition, the venue may have additional expenses such as marketing, opening reception, hall rental, and other such expenses associated with hosting an exhibition.
The local venue is encouraged to solicit sponsorships and paid advertisements to assist in defraying the cost of presenting the Exhibition.
The $750 administration fee should accompany the signed hosting contract for the Exhibition. In cases of cancellation by the local venue, the deposit is refundable until 30 days before the planned exhibition opening; the deposit will be forfeited if the cancellation occurs within 30 days of the planned opening.
Upon completion of its Exhibition, the venue is responsible for returning it to MAFA or forwarding it to the next scheduled venue, including any shipping costs. Pick-up and delivery will be coordinated with the contact persons for the venue.