Revisiting history and nature through contemporary art
The Enlightenment committed to rationality and faith in human progress, calling for radical changes in all aspects of human activity, in political and social establishments, in economy, education and religion. The Enlightenment supported individual freedom and opposed tyrannical rule and oppression. Greek expression of the Age of Enlightenment is an ideological, literary, verbal and philosophical attempt to convey the ideas and values of the European Enlightenment of which it is an extension, to the ethnic Greeks who lived in the Ottoman Empire.
«The cabinet of knowledge and nature»
July 24 - 30, 2023
Group exhibition, Former Primary School of Kissos
The exhibition «The cabinet of knowledge and nature» draws on the one hand, from the revolutionary Rigas Feraios who originated from the wider region of Thessaly and later practiced teaching, among other places in Kissos, and on the other hand, from the natural environment itself.
28 contemporary artists from Greece and abroad, revisited the principles and ideological framework of the Greek Enlightenment as represented by the revolutionary Rigas Feraios, and introduce a new approach to the human freedom and individuality.
Participating artists:
Vasilis Alexandrou, Fani Arapi, Polyanna Vrelianaki, Michael Goldgruber, Nikos Kryonidis, Ioulia Ladogianni, Elli Lampadaridou, Jens Lange, Dimitris Lioliopoulos, Hector Mavridis, Ioannis Monogios, Fotios Ballas, Evaggelia Boulaki, Despoina Pantazi, Dimitris Palantzas, Panagiotis Ploumis, Christian Rupp, Elio Samaras, Stratos Sterianos, Iordanis Stylidis, Chryssa Tzelepi & Akis Kersanidis, Theodora Tsiatsiou, Harris Chilitsis, Thanasis Chondros & Alexandra Katsiani, Lampros Psyrrakis, Themis Zidrou.
«Following the Centaurs to paths of knowledge»
Artists, curators, visitors presented photographs from their excursions that were screened in the exhibition space and updated daily. A total of 166 photographs were displayed at the exhibition site at the Old Primary School of Kissos. 50 photos were selected to create a digital photobook.
Contributers to the photologue «Following the Centaurs to paths of knowledge»:
Anthi-Georgia Georgakopoulou, Art History Student / Eleni Doumbli, visitor / Fotini Kapiris, Artist, curator / Antigoni Kapsali, Curator, Art historian / Nikos Kryonidis, Artist, curator / Elli Lampadaridou, Artist, educator / Georg Georgakopoulos, Curator, artist / Ioannis Monogios, Artist / Litsa Boulaki, visitor / Despoina Pantazi, Artist, Curator / Maria Papatheodorou, visitor / Panagiotis Ploumis, Photographer / Elio Samara, Artist / Stefanos Sgardelis, School of Biology, Dept. Ecology, AUTH / Iordanis Stylidis, Associate professor University of Thessaly, Dept. of Architecture.
2023 Cultural Events and Tours
Connecting with the local history and environment.
In the historic setting of the Old Primary School of Kissos and the area surrounding the main square, the public gathered to engage with and explore contemporary artistic practices and forms of expression.
Performances
The experimental sound compositions of
Stratos Sterianos flavoured with the rhythms of traditional music, combined with the dance of American artist
Monica Dudàrov Hunken, whose performance is based on her deep spiritual connection to nature.
Composer and performer
Nefeli Stamatogiannopoulou presented a musical narrative focused on the element of water, introducing a musical experimentation with handmade musical objects, electronic elements, voice and electric bass.
Cyanotype workshop by
Ioulia Ladogiannis at Kissos square. Participants co-created and produced their own works having mastered the cyanotyping technique. The artwork itself is a result of a natural, ecological process as it requires materials from the nature of Pelion.
Father Michael guided artists and visitors through the history and architecture of the 1650's Church of Agia Marina in Kissos square. He offered a theological analysis of the frescoes, their spirituality and symbolism as they are directly connected to important personalities of the local community.
Kissos Pelion/ Zig Zag Festival 2023 | The Cabinet of Knowledge and Nature
Program Directors: Georg Georgakopoulos, Fotini Kapiris
Organised by: CHEAPART
Participation of curators: Nikos Kryonidis, Antigoni Kapsali
Coordination of artists and curators, Exhibition consultant: APART
Coordination of audio visual artists,
Screening and audio consultant: Modular expansion
With the financial support and under the auspices of: Hellenic Ministry of Culture
Under the auspices of the Municipality of Zagora-Mouresi
Local community,
participation
Digital photologue: CHEAPART
Branding/ Video: APART
Hosted by: Kissos Pelion/ Zig Zag Festival 2023
Discovering Kissos, Pelion
Kissos is located in Pelion, in the eastern part of Magnesia, Greece. Pelion, the mountain of the Centaurs, is a natural green landscape and a protected habitat of the Natura network. The entire area is an inexhaustible treasure of myths, legends, historical and cultural traditions.
Kissos is a mountain village situated at 500 meters altitude. It is distanced 48 km from Volos, 8 km from the beach of Ag. Ioannis and 12 km from the ski resort. The name of the village may refer to the homonymous plant or, according to the historian G. Kordatou, from the word gold pronounced as (k'sos). Kissos is well known for its local architecture, the sea view, the rich beech and chestnut forest. The church of Agia Marina, a three-aisled basilica from 1650, has been declared a historic monument. The church is adorned with a rare wooden carved iconostasis from 1700 – 1720 and frescoes by the popular painter Giannis Pagonis from 1802. The frescoes are unique, as they combine themes from the New Version of the Old Testament and the Apocalypse, but also of Natural History and geography. During the economic and intellectual prosperity of the 18th century, grey a number of schools operating in almost all villages. Rigas Velestinlis or Feraios, an influential writer, politician, thinker and forerunner of the Greek Revolution of 1821, also taught in Kissos.
Photologue screening, «Following the Centaurs to paths of knowledge»
«The cabinet of knowledge and nature», exhibition view
«The cabinet of knowledge and nature», exhibition view
«The cabinet of knowledge and nature», exhibition view
«The cabinet of knowledge and nature», exhibition view
Cyanotype workshop by Ioulia Ladogianni
Tour to Agia Marina of Kissos by Father Michael
Stratos Sterianos, Monica Dudàrov Hunken, Nefeli Stamatogiannopoulou
«The cabinet of knowledge and nature», organizers and curators.