Greek icons exhibition comes to Derry Derry March 11, 2008
Posted by grhomeboy in Hellenic Light Europe.Tags: Arts, Culture, Exhibitions, Greece
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Derry’s Gordon Gallery, Northern Ireland, will unveil an outstanding exhibition of contemporary icons by some of the leading iconographers and painters of Greece at their gallery on Pump Street tomorrow evening, March 12, at 7.30pm.
The exhibition, in collaboration with the Hellenic Foundation for Culture, will provide local art enthusiasts and novices alike with a rare opportunity to view and buy icons made in the Byzantine tradition. Gallery owner Richard Gordon said: “This is a very unique exhibition of Icons within the Byzantine tradition and the only exhibition of this size to ever come to Ireland.”
Mr. Gordon revealed that this extensive exhibition was the first of its kind in Ireland since Gordon Galleries hosted an exhibition of the work of Sr. Aloysius McVeigh, Sisters of Mercy, in 1993.
“Although I wouldn’t be religious,” Mr. Gordon continued, “There is something very special about icons. They have a certain power, something within them that seems to hold our attention. Perhaps it is their pure colours and the fact that every colour means something, everything in an icon is symbolic.
“The original icon, known as the ‘prototype’, could have been created hundreds of years ago and iconographers would then use that prototype as the basis of their piece. Icons are not a true representation of a person, but more so a stylised representation of an idea which doesn’t change with time,” he said.
The most striking of the works are those by artist Dimitris Kolioussis, and Mr. Gordon spoke of his work: “Dimitris is hugely collected in the US and elsewhere. He uses old wooden doors and reclaimed wood as the basis for his work. Dimitris has a great understanding of the timber and because he does use old reclaimed doors, some of which are hundreds of years old, you can often still see the various graffiti etched into the wood underneath the actual painting.”
Mr. Gordon enthused about another icon in the collection, adorned with intricate gold detailing. He revealed that the prototype of this particular Icon was once given to Pope John Paul and so now hangs in the Vatican. He also revealed that all the icons are decorated with 23 carat gold and painted with authentic egg-tempera, which has been used since cave drawings.
Derry’s Sr Aloysius McVeigh, founder member of the Iconographer’s Association of Ireland, was also amazed to see the exhibited collection and said: “I would certainly recommend that everyone come along to see this exhibition for an education in Iconography that you will never get in Derry again. This is a tremendously heroic venture for Richard Gordon to bring such works all the way from Greece.”
The exhibition will be officially opened this Wednesday at 7.30pm by Dr Victoria Solomonidis, Minister Counsellor for Cultural Affairs at the Greek Embassy.
Related Links > http://www.gordon-gallery.com
Source > Derry Today
In search of the ancient Minoans March 8, 2008
Posted by grhomeboy in Archaeology Greece, Culture History Mythology, Hellenic Light Europe.Tags: Archaeology Greece, Crete, Greece, Greek Culture, Hellenic Light, History, Mythology
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Archaeologist Nikolaos E. Platon (1909-1992), a native of the island of Cephalonia, was an expert in Minoan civilization who undertook many excavations in Boeotia, Evia, Fthiotida, the Sporades and Crete.
It was he who discovered the fourth Minoan palace and surrounding settlement, bringing to light a large number of exhibits, many of which are now in the Archaeological Museum of Iraklion in Crete.
In a lecture at the Hellenic Center, London, his son Lefteris, professor of prehistoric archaeology at Athens University, said he hoped that some of these could be transferred to the Siteia Museum. Lefteris Platon’s lecture for the Greek Archaeological Committee of Britain was held on February 20.
He described the work carried out by his father and the exploration that continues to this day, which he himself leads. Professor Platon presented a large number of slides showing Linear A inscriptions, gold and other objects, clay pots decorated with marine themes and stone objects.
“Colour stories” Visual Arts Group Exhibition > Contemporary Greek Women Artists February 27, 2008
Posted by grhomeboy in Hellenic Light Europe.Tags: Arts, Culture, Europe, Exhibitions, Greece, Hellenic Light
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Five women artists representing the Greek contemporary visual scene are conversing from the walls of ArtBase Gallery in Brussels, inviting viewers to join this dialogue of colour, not as receivers but as interactive players in their story.
Ismini Bonatsou, Natassa Poulantza, Adonia Vakondios, Maria Chatzilampou and Katerina Rouka each domesticate their specific palette of colours and style proposing a distinctive visual experience through digital photography, painting, monotype and fusion.
The exhibition focuses on the expression of colour as an important element of the Greek contemporary and emerging visual art scene and puts a highlights the importance of women’s vision and artistic expression.
“Colour stories” Visual Arts Group Exhibition – Contemporary Greek Women Artists’, Art Base Espace Expos Et Concerts, Rue des Sables 29, 1000 Bruxelles, Belgium. Telephone: 02 2172920. Free entrance. From 28 February to 21 March.
Related Links > http://www.art-base.be
The Death of Patroclus at the Pergamon Museum, Berlin February 2, 2008
Posted by grhomeboy in Hellenic Light Europe.Tags: Events, Greece
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Today at the Pergamon Museum in Berlin, the Alexander S. Onassis Foundation will present a dramatized reading in German of “The Death of Patroclus.”
It is the sequel to a successful series of readings from Homer that the foundation held at the Onassis Cultural Center in New York, the Art Museum of Liechtenstein and the Antiken Museum of Munich. The director, Georg Rootering, has worked in many countries. He is assisted by Frank Raddatz, dramaturge to the Dusseldorf theater where the work was rehearsed. Dr Bernhard Zimmerman will give a brief introduction linking the ancient text and modern readings.
The Greek ambassador to Berlin, Anastassios Kriekoukis, and Liechtenstein’s ambassador to Berlin, Prince Stefan von und zu Liechtenstein, will attend the performance, along with many German government officials.
Runciman Lecture at King’s College, London February 2, 2008
Posted by grhomeboy in Books Life, Hellenic Light Europe.Tags: Books, Greece
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“Philhellenic Images as Pictorial and Political Statements” is the title of the 17th Runciman Lecture next Tuesday at King’s College, London.
Fani-Maria Tsigakou will argue that such images shed light not only on 19th-century artistic trends but also on ideological concepts. Tsigakou is the curator of the Department of Paintings, Prints and Drawings at the original Benaki Museum in Athens. She did her doctoral dissertation for London University on Edward Lear, more than 1,000 of whose drawings are in the collection of the Gennadius Library in Athens.
The British Embassy in Athens and the British School of Archaeology also have original drawings by Lear. Lear’s Greek works are a “complete record of the Greek landscape in the mid-19th century,” Tsigakou notes in her book “Athens through the Eyes of Foreign Artists-Travelers, 16th-19th Centuries” which came out recently in a bilingual Greek-English edition from Oistros Technis publishers. During her postgraduate studies, Tsigakou met Sir Steven Runciman, who wrote the introduction to her book “The Rediscovery of Greece” published by Thames and Hudson in 1981, which has been translated into Greek, French, German, Italian and Spanish.
Exhibition on antiquities theft in Italy November 5, 2007
Posted by grhomeboy in Archaeology Greece, Hellenic Light Europe.Tags: Archaeology Greece, Arts, Culture, Exhibitions, Greece, Hellenic Light
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Exhibition on antiquities theft by The Hellenic Culture Foundation in Trieste > ‘History Lost’ currently on display at the Castello San Giusto in Trieste, Italy.
The Hellenic Foundation for Culture recently unveiled a major exhibition in Trieste, titled «History Lost: The Illicit Antiquities Trade and its Impact on Civilization,» held at the city’s historical Castello San Giusto.
Jointly organized with the City of Trieste, the exhibition presents the effects of the illicit trade of antiquities on our culture and civilization. It features copies of archaeological finds that have been returned to Greece over the past few years, after ongoing claims. These include a golden wreath from Macedonia and a marble head of the god Dionysus from Corinth, among others.
The display takes travelers on a journey from the looting of Baghdad’s Archaeological Museum and the destruction of statues in Cambodian temples to the sale of ancient artifacts from various Mediterranean countries to auction houses in the United States.
Its aim is to demonstrate that ancient finds are absolutely useless as knowledge of the past when they are cut off from the information on their homeland. The Foundation’s President, Professor Georgios Babiniotis, noted that the display is a contribution to the international society of culture, as illicit trade is worldwide and the loss of historical knowledge affects all of humanity.
The Hellenic Foundation for Culture has undertaken the initiative to present the exhibition in different cities abroad, namely in Lisbon, Paris, London and Berlin, among others.
Contemporary Design from Cyprus November 1, 2007
Posted by grhomeboy in Arts Exhibitions Cyprus, Hellenic Light Europe.Tags: Arts, Culture, Cyprus, Exhibitions, Hellenic Light
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The Flip Side of Tradition is an exhibition of contemporary design from Cyprus.
It brings together for the first time in Helsinki seven artists from Cyprus producing original creations in traditional art forms with a modern twist. It is expected that the exhibition will arouse keen interest among the Finnish public, as the materials used by the Cypriot artists are also very popular in Finnish art.
A hundred exhibits will familiarize the visitors with the richness of inspiration and artistic craftsmanship of Gabriella Kokias (jewellery), Stacie Tzortzis (pottery), Lara Alphas (illustrations, drawings), Kalliopi Taliadorou (iconography), Stavros Kofteros (glassblowing), George Spyrou (woodcarving), and Simon Simakis (woodturning).
The inspiration for the title of the exhibition “The Flip Side of Tradition” came from the vinyl music culture of the 50s and the 60s, which arouses powerful nostalgic emotions in the baby boom generation and vibrant new interest among younger people. The very definition of the phrase “flip side” is “…an opposite, reverse, or sharply contrasted side or aspect of something”. In music it is “the reverse and usually less popular side of a vinyl record”.
The title of the exhibition stresses the connection of contemporary design from Cyprus with the huge impact of tradition in Cypriot society.
THE FLIP SIDE OF TRADITION – Contemporary Design from Cyprus >
Design Forum Finland, Basement, Erottajankatu 7, Helsinki. Opening hours: Mon-Fri 10-19, Sat 10-18, Sun 12-18. Free entrance, exhibition info +358 (0)9 6220 8132.
Related Links > www.designforum.fi
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