CONFERENCE 2022
Friends of Sophia conferences are a unique blend of academic conference, arts event and retreat.
Friends of Sophia conferences are a unique blend of academic conference, arts event and retreat.
The Friends of Sophia Fifth Annual Conference
Wisdom in Stone
Friday 13 May 2022, 9.00am for 9.30am to 4.45pm
at the Wells & Mendip Museum, Wells, Somerset
(just next to the glorious Wells Cathedral)
This will be an in-person event, but if you are unable to come in person you will also be able to join us by Zoom. We will begin on the evening of Thursday 12th May with a (very easy!) participatory medieval Easter dance in the Lady Chapel of Wells Cathedral (no less!), and on Saturday 14th there’s an optional Sacred Geometry Drawing Class taught by geometer-artist Tom Bree of the Wells Institute for Sophia in Education (WISE).
Timetable
Thursday 12 May
6.15 pm: Participatory Medieval Easter Dance, Wells Cathedral Lady Chapel, with Fr Dominic White OP
Friday 13 May
9.00 for 9.30am: Arrivals and Registration
9.30am: Welcome
9.40am: Tom Bree (Prince’s Foundation School of Traditional Arts and W.I.S.E) – Geometry and cosmology in the design of Wells Cathedral
10.40am: Coffee break
11.00am: Dr Margaret Barker (Temple Studies) – Wisdom in the stones of Westminster Abbey
12.00pm: Mother Sarah and Tamara Penwell (from the Bath Orthodox Community) – Orthodox Iconography
1.00 - 1.45pm: Lunch
1.45 - 2.15pm: Meditation led by Canon Patrick Woodhouse (former Precentor of Wells) in the Lady Chapel
2.15 - 2.45: Break/quiet time
2.45 - 3.15pm: Veronika Hliničanova (Michelangelo Foundation, Geneva/Aalto University, Helsinki) – Present and future Christian architecture in relationship with nature
3.15 - 3.35pm: Tea
3.35 - 4.15pm: Prof Peter Tyler (St Mary’s University, Twickenham) – Sacred space, sacred play: the Feast of Fools
4.15 - 4.45pm: Plenary
5.00 for 5.15pm: Evensong at the Cathedral
Wisdom in Stone
Friday 13 May 2022, 9.00am for 9.30am to 4.45pm
at the Wells & Mendip Museum, Wells, Somerset
(just next to the glorious Wells Cathedral)
This will be an in-person event, but if you are unable to come in person you will also be able to join us by Zoom. We will begin on the evening of Thursday 12th May with a (very easy!) participatory medieval Easter dance in the Lady Chapel of Wells Cathedral (no less!), and on Saturday 14th there’s an optional Sacred Geometry Drawing Class taught by geometer-artist Tom Bree of the Wells Institute for Sophia in Education (WISE).
Timetable
Thursday 12 May
6.15 pm: Participatory Medieval Easter Dance, Wells Cathedral Lady Chapel, with Fr Dominic White OP
Friday 13 May
9.00 for 9.30am: Arrivals and Registration
9.30am: Welcome
9.40am: Tom Bree (Prince’s Foundation School of Traditional Arts and W.I.S.E) – Geometry and cosmology in the design of Wells Cathedral
10.40am: Coffee break
11.00am: Dr Margaret Barker (Temple Studies) – Wisdom in the stones of Westminster Abbey
12.00pm: Mother Sarah and Tamara Penwell (from the Bath Orthodox Community) – Orthodox Iconography
1.00 - 1.45pm: Lunch
1.45 - 2.15pm: Meditation led by Canon Patrick Woodhouse (former Precentor of Wells) in the Lady Chapel
2.15 - 2.45: Break/quiet time
2.45 - 3.15pm: Veronika Hliničanova (Michelangelo Foundation, Geneva/Aalto University, Helsinki) – Present and future Christian architecture in relationship with nature
3.15 - 3.35pm: Tea
3.35 - 4.15pm: Prof Peter Tyler (St Mary’s University, Twickenham) – Sacred space, sacred play: the Feast of Fools
4.15 - 4.45pm: Plenary
5.00 for 5.15pm: Evensong at the Cathedral

Wisdom in Stone
Saturday 14 May
10.00am - 12.30pm & 2.00pm - 4.30pm: Optional Sacred Geometry drawing classes (2½ Hours), taught by Tom Bree, geometer-artist
10.00am - 12.30pm & 2.00pm - 4.30pm: Optional Sacred Geometry drawing classes (2½ Hours), taught by Tom Bree, geometer-artist


Introduction plus talk from Tom Bree, (Prince’s Foundation School of Traditional Arts and W.I.S.E) – Geometry and cosmology in the design of Wells Cathedral.
Dr. Margaret Barker, (Temple Studies) – Wisdom in the stones of Westminster Abbey.
Veronika Hliničanova, (Michelangelo Foundation, Geneva/Aalto University, Helsinki) – Present and future Christian architecture in relationship with nature.
Mother Sarah and Tamara Penwell (from the Bath Orthodox Community) – Orthodox Iconography.
Prof. Peter Tyler (St Mary’s University, Twickenham) – Sacred space, sacred play: the Feast of Fools.
In collaboration with St. Mary’s University, Twickenham, London (InSpiRe Centre for Spirituality and Reconciliation) and the English Province of the Order of Preachers (the Dominicans).