“The Eternal Cycle” is a metaphor for the changes we experience in our daily lives and in modern culture, reminding us that Disruption is the true nature of life and not the exception. Inspired by the rebirth and knowledge of the eternal cycle of life, seventeen contemporary artists and three curators from Greece and abroad, who interpreted the virtues and vices of human nature: love, violence, prosperity, war, discoveries, revenge, torment, joy, a loop of agonizing efforts of mankind to cope with everyday challenges.

Exhibition concept

«The Eternal Cycle of Life»

The Eternal Cycle of Life is a continuous series of events, when something emerges, transforms, disappears, at the same time something new transpires, creating an endless cycle. Eternal is that which flows continuously, endlessly. It was there before your existence. It will survive you. It grew with your parents, your grandparents, and it breeds our generation in a primordial circular path of evolution and knowledge. Severe weather phenomena, sudden climate changes and their consequences lead us to act on our fixed habits and preconceptions. In Kissos, Pelion, a region that still feeling the aftermath of the climate change impact, artists meet in a creative dialogue that aims to highlight not destruction but rather rebirth and knowledge gained from the eternal cycle of life.

«Chiron and Nessus, the two faces of the world, visual notes»

In Greek mythology, Centaurs—half human, half animal—embody the timeless struggle between primal instincts and the pursuit of wisdom. Among them, the brutal Nessus contrasts with the noble Chiron, who teaches heroes the strength and knowledge of the natural world. Both meet their fate—one deliberately, the other accidentally—at the hands of Heracles, in a clash between brutality and civilization. Even the forces of good and nobility, however, are swept into the relentless cycle of life. Through photography, artists, curators, and visitors explore these opposing forces in nature, capturing and interpreting its fragments. The images are screened daily in the exhibition space. Of 122 displayed images, 30 were selected for a digital photobook.

Discovering Kissos, Pelion

Kissos, a mountain village in eastern Pelion, Magnesia, Greece, sits at 500 m altitude, 48 km from Volos, 8 km from Ag. Ioannis beach, and 12 km from the ski resort. Pelion, the mountain of the Centaurs, is a lush, protected landscape rich in myths, legends, and cultural traditions. Kissos is known for its traditional architecture, sea views, and dense beech and chestnut forests. The 1650 Church of Agia Marina, a three-aisled basilica, features a rare wooden iconostasis (1700–1720) and frescoes by Giannis Pagonis (1802), blending biblical, apocalyptic, and natural-history themes. During the 18th-century cultural boom, several schools thrived here, including one where Rigas Velestinlis, a forerunner of the Greek Revolution, taught.

Program

Performances

In the kinetic composition-performance ME.THEY.US, Eleni Tsamadia explores primal female nature, while George Karoumbis fuses jazz, techno, and polyrhythms with Skaros’ soundscape.

Athina Kanela’s durational performance Nest 05 explored motherhood and self-creation within an allegorical space, using the womb as a metaphor for origin and protection. The work invited viewers to reflect on personal space, vulnerability, and the artist’s broader investigation of social and internal dynamics.

Ioulia Ladogiannis led a cyanotype workshop, where participants produced their own works using Pelion’s natural materials through the ecological cyanotyping process.

Father Michael guided artists and visitors through the 1650s Church of Agia Marina in Kissos Square, offering a theological reading of its frescoes and their links to local community figures.

Participation in Zig Zag Kouzines (Kitchens):

Tavern, "Stou Sofokli"

Tavern, "H Synandisi"

Sebastian Boulter & Jaakko Eino Kalevi, Flavors of Finland at Kissos