The Nativity

Vitaliy Zherdev, Ukraine

Vitaliy Zherdev (born 1971, Ukraine). Candidate of art criticism (PhD). Associate Professor of the Kharkov State Academy of Design and Arts, Department of Academic Drawing. Honorary Professor of the Sichuan Normal University, College of television and cinematic arts (China). Member of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine. 1997-2002 — Art and design executive director at the local TV company Tonis-Center. 2000 — Design of St. Nicholas the Thaumaturge chapel (Kharkov), supervision of the construction, execution of icons painting. Since 2002 — Teaching at the Kharkov State Academy of Design and Arts. 2005-2019 — Research and scientific work in Austria, Germany, France, Italy, Denmark, Switzerland, Finland and other. Participation in the international conferences of the European League of Institutes of Arts in Berlin (2005) and Budapest (2006). 2005 — Visiting Professor at the Higher School of Arts and Design Burg-Giebichenstein (Hochschule für Künste und Design Burg-Giebichenstein (Halle, Deutschland)). 2013-2014 — Visiting Professor at the Sichuan Normal University, Yunnan Arts University and other universities of arts in China. 2010 — Thesis defense for the degree of a candidate of art criticism (PhD). The name of the thesis “The Sacral Art in Russian Orthodox Churches in Germany (19 - early 20 century)”. Vitaliy’s major scientific research interest is devoted to Orthodox ecclesiastical heritage in Western Europe. He is the author of monographs “Michael and Vitaliy Zherdev: meeting in decades” and “The golden age of Orthodox ecclesiastical architecture in Germany (1806 – 1914): history and synthesis of the Arts” and numerous publications on Orthodox art in Western Europe. As an artist he works in the genre of portraiture, landscape and religious paintings. His works belong to the collections and galleries in Russia, the Czech Republic, Germany, China, the United States, including the Center for the Arts and Religion at the Wesley Theological Seminary (Washington DC, USA).