Material Belief
Objects of Faith, Spirit, and Tradition
Williams Research Center, 410 Chartres Street
Registration Dates
HNOC members: June 3, 2026
General public: June 10, 2026
Stained glass, Kiddush cups, carved wooden pews, devotional candles: These are some of the many sacred items that give body and beauty to belief. For the 2026 New Orleans Antiques Forum, HNOC is exploring the intersection of the spiritual and material worlds, a rich landscape of antiques shaped by belief, devotion, and spiritual practice across cultures.
Forum sessions will cover a range of sacred items, including Catholic statuary, Judaica, prayer samplers, Afro-Caribbean ritual objects, and more. Attendees will learn how these objects were made, used, and kept—and how they continue to function as powerful material expressions of belief throughout the American Gulf South.
Registration opens on June 3 for HNOC members and June 10 for the general public.
Event schedule, slate of speakers, and ticketing information coming summer of 2026. Subscribe to our email list to receive updates about HNOC events.
Explore the Antiques Forum
Since 2008, HNOC’s New Orleans Antiques Forum has brought together antiques aficionados, scholars of material culture, and fans of finery in a weekend-long celebration of history and aesthetics.
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