Zig Zag Festival 2026 presents “Living Among Giants: Psychogeographies” set in the emblematic mountain village Kypseli, Tzoumerka. Nineteen selected artists from Greece and abroad collaborate on a seven-day interdisciplinary program featuring art installations, performances, participatory events, and guided tours. Through a range of artistic practices, the program explores the region's cultural heritage, architecture, soundscapes, and local traditions, fostering a dialogue between local history and contemporary artistic expression.

Exhibition concept

«Living Among Giants: Psychogeographies»

The theme of Zig Zag Festival 2026, “Living Among Giants: Psychogeographies,” explores the relationship between community and landscape, the individual and their environment, as shaped by Kypseli's enduring coexistence with the Tzoumerka Mountains, the “giants” of Epirus. By reactivating memories, pathways, and personal stories embedded in the landscape, the program opens a dialogue between the local community, its history, and the present. To extend this dialogue, the festival introduces «Traces of Stone», a digital repository and open archive that brings together artistic practices, local narratives, and collective memories, continuing the project's engagement with place beyond the festival.

Discovering Kypseli Tzoumerka / Epirus

The village of Kypseli in Tzoumerka, Epirus, boasts pristine nature, diverse landscapes, and dramatic elevation changes—from alpine terrain to lush slopes, waterfalls, and lakes—immersing visitors in a vivid world of colors and sounds.
Inhabited since 2000 BC by the ancient Athamanian tribes, the region’s mountainous terrain has seen conquests, devastation, and periods of prosperity. Its rugged landscape provided refuge for the Klephts and Armatoli, fostering a spirit of freedom that led to Kypseli being recognized as a “free capital village” during the Ottoman era.
The village’s isolation shaped close-knit communities and inspired a unique folk song tradition. Formerly called Chosepsi, its name may derive from “chaos” and “opsis,” reflecting its dramatic setting between the Ambelia and Tzouma hills along the Goura River, or from “chosia” (ambush) and “opsis” (view), highlighting its strategic vantage point.

Program

 

“Living Among Giants: Psychogeographies”
Group exhibition of Greek and international artists and curators.

• Kypseli Primary School

• Pantelis Karalis Museum of Folk Art and Life

 

“Traces of Stone”
Live observatory and archive, a dialogue between tradition and the contemporary. An open and interdisciplinary initiative: a living archive and repository, open and accessible to all, connecting art, nature, and social space. It is a collective process of wandering, observation, and creation, brought to life through photographic impressions of the artists and public.

Interdisciplinary public-space actions/ Open participation activities
Performances, workshops:

⟶ Event Program

Monday, July 27 – Sunday, August 2, 2026

• Kypseli Primary School

• Pantelis Karalis Museum of Folk Art and Life

• Kypseli Public Space

 

Monday, 27/7

Opening - Introduction, presentation of «Kypseli/ Tzoumerka/ Epirus/ Zig Zag Festival 2026»

 

Local Community in Dialogue with the contemporary:

⟶ Presentations / Workshops / Discussions:

• Archival exhibition «Dimitris Karalis, the photographer, the man»
• Open discussion with members of the Kypseli community, addressed by Theologian Kostas Aggelis and Pavlos Doulamis, President of the Municipal Community of Kypseli (Chosepsi)
• Gastronomy installation, Anna Alexia Papadopoulou "Fuel the vessel", co-produced with the community of Kypseli
• Leftheris Plakidas, "Where can photography lead you?", presentation and talk
• Athina Vahla, "Early bird routines" movement/ improvisation practice connecting body, space, & community through breath, awareness, and collective experience.

⟶ Tours / excursions:

• Excursion to Kipina Monastery and Kalarrytes
• "Stone Crosses: The Guardians of Tzoumerka", Visit to the stone crosses and discussion on establishing a sculpture gallery
• Kokkini Ekklisia (Red Church), Guided tour, Theologian Kostas Aggelis

⟶ Performance:

• Athina Vahla, Carrot Root, "The glass threshold", Museum intervention, Pantelis Karalis Museum of Folk Art and Life
• Mehrta Shirzadian, "Soul Exchange", participatory performance
• Lars* Kollros, "Acoustic Movements" visual / sound performance
• Sebastian Boulter, "Endless Rowing for Singing Rowers", sound performance
• Sebastian Boulter / Lars* Kollros, collaborative visual and sound performance,
• Carrot Root, "habenichts*in", sound performance
• Giorgos Gogolos, Nefeli Stam, "Between Worlds - Six Chapters", visual/ sound performance
• Nefeli Stam (improvisation)/ Carrot Root "habenichts*in", collaborative performance
• Takis Karalis, presentation of visual designs to the participating artists