‘Crafts of The Sea’: Cycladic multimedia maritime exhibition
Multimedia maritime exhibition “Crafts of the Sea” reopened last week for its second and final outing at the Goethe Institute in Athens until September 21.
The founder of the Archipelago Network, an initiative for safeguarding and documenting audiovisual heritage on the Cyclades, Jacob Moe, presented the maritime traditions of five Cycladic islands: Koufonisia, Paros, Santorini, Amorgos and Syros.
The exhibition, curated by Maurizio Borriello and Moe, traced the interconnections between past and present maritime communities. Using archival material from the 1960s-80s, modern photographic and audiovisual documentation, the installations emphasized how beautifully simplistic, yet technical, the maritime communities are.
The documentary photographs, by ethnographer and boatbuilder Borriello, shaped the exhibition’s image, providing technical descriptions and visuals of the Cycladic marine environments.
Moe explained that their goal with the exhibition was to see how they could “bring the archive material to life.” They precisely did, as the humming of local Amorgos fishermen enlivened and harmonized the works displayed. Their main aim was the “conservation and promotion” of the cultural heritages of these communities via sharing local experiences and personal collections, hoping “to see a lively future.”
“Crafts of the Sea” features portraits, letters, landscapes, objects and boats, spanning from Ai-Giannis bay on Paros, the Tarsanas Shipyard on Syros, the Armeni boatyard of Santorini as well as the Amorgos and Koufonisia fishing harbors. The historical archival material was obtained from the Historical Folklore Museum of Naoussa on Paros and private collections from Syros.
Following the carefully curated installations, the exhibition screened two documentaries revealing the geographical diversity of maritime life in the atrium of the Goethe Institute.
The first mini-documentary, created by Moe, “Kostas Prasinos: Portrait” showcases a fisherman from Koufonisia who explains his life as a captain, recounting anecdotes of his experience in the Aegean Sea, before technological advancements allowed easy ferry transportation. A divergent, yet similarly dying, seafaring lifestyle was presented through “Sailing a Sinking Sea,” a 2015 documentary by Olivia Wyatt.
Through exploring the local community of Myanmar and Thailand, Wyatt brought to light the tribal Moken people, whose life is the sea, with eight months of it spent on their thatch-roofed wooden boats yearly.
The immersive tapestry that is “Crafts of the Sea” highlights the significance of preserving maritime cultural heritage, especially with the present danger of it fading amid the uncontrolled tourism development.
The exhibition will continue until September 21. Entry is free and it is closed on the weekends.
Nafsika Polemis is an intern at Kathimerini English Edition and an undergraduate at UCL.
