Representatives of the Ethiopian Church’s Hamere Berhan Centre of Traditional Arts and Crafts visit Russia

DECR Communication Service, 08/07/2025

On 26^th June – 1^st July 2025, as part of a project aimed to develop cooperation between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, a delegation of the Hamere Berhan Centre of Traditional Arts and Crafts, acting under the auspices of the Ethiopian Patriarchate, visited Russia.

The delegation, led by Fr. Arsanyose Yohannes Gebregzabher, Director of Spiritual Affairs at the Hamere Berhan, also included Mr Kirubel Tamirat Gebrehana, Hamere Berhan President; Mr Yared Aman Beriso, Product Designer; Ms Thitna Kefyalew Zelalem, Head of Education Department; and Ms Tinsae Tesfamicheal Hailu, Deputy Head of Education Department. The guests were accompanied on their visit by Deacon Alexander Cherepenin, staff member of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate.

During their visit to the Sofrino Art-Production Enterprise of the Russian Orthodox Church, the delegation members were shown around the home chapel of St. Seraphim of Sarov, the Sofrino museum, production facilities and sales department, and had negotiations with its Acting General Director, Mr Vladimir Levin.

After that, the guests visited the Holy Trinity and St. Sergius Lavra and the Moscow Theological Academy. The representatives of the Ethiopian Church venerated the holy relics of St. Sergius of Radonezh and were shown around the Church-Archaeological Cabinet and other educational and academic centres of the Moscow Theological Academy.

In Moscow, the delegation met with Mr Dmitry Trofimov, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Arts and head of the Tsargrad Creative Workshop. They discussed prospects of promoting professional cooperation, in particular, within the framework of the International Festival of Contemporary Church Art ‘To See and Hear’ organized under the auspices of the Tsargrad Workshop.

The Ethiopian Church representatives visited St. Daniel’s Stavropegic Monastery and the Department for External Church Relations, where they had a meeting with the DECR Secretary for Inter-Christian Relations, Hieromonk Stefan (Igumnov).

While in Moscow, they also visited the Church of the Holy Martyr Tatiana of the Moscow State University, where they met with its rector, Archpriest Vladimir Vigilyansky, and Saints Martha and Mary Convent of Mercy, where they were received by its abbess, Mother Yelisaveta (Pozdnyakova).

The delegation also visited the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, the New Jerusalem Monastery, the Church of St. Catherine in-the-Fields, the Museum of Russian Icon, the Armenian Church Complex of the Holy Transfiguration and the Tapan Museum of Church Art, and met with members of the Moscow community of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church.

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The Hamere Berhan Centre of Traditional Arts and Crafts was founded in 2018 with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Abune Mathias of Ethiopia. The idea to establish the centre belonged to a group of clergymen and parishioners, which included church utensils craftsmen, from the Holy Trinity Monastery in Debre Berhan. Having received support from the synodal institutions of the Ethiopian Church, Addis Ababa’s Culture and Tourism Department and private benefactors, the Hamere Berhan Centre soon managed to build up a network of production facilities across the country and started large-scale production of various church utensils, including traditional Ethiopian icons, crosses, candles and books, including leather-bound parchment manuscripts.

In 2022, the Hamere Berhan established its academy of arts. The centre carries out various projects in cultural, educational and youth spheres, organizing international exhibitions of the Ethiopian church art.