Opening of the exhibition entitled “Terraces of the Aegean: pictures from the past to the future”
The exhibition entitled “Terraces of the Aegean: pictures from the past to the future” was launched on Saturday evening, September 10th, at the Kaireios Library in Chora, Andros Island. The exhibition takes place in the framework of the LIFE TERRACESCAPE project ("Employing Land Stewardship to transform terraced landscapes into green infrastructure to better adapt to climate change", http://www.lifeterracescape.aegean.gr/en/).
The large number of attendees were welcomed by the Project Coordinator, Theodora Petanidou, Professor of Ecology and Ecogeography at the University of the Aegean. The event began with her introductory speech in the courtyard area of the building, regarding the importance of terraces, with special reference and emphasis on the efforts made in the framework of the LIFE TERRACESCAPE project over the last five years for the functional restoration of the abandoned terraces in Andros Island. The attendees then proceeded to the exhibition halls, where they were given a tour to all the exhibits. The third part of the evening closed with the first public projection of the documentary "Xerolithia" directed by Stelios Charalambopoulos, which took place at the Cine Avli, in Chora.
Exhibits include a setup of cultural products resulted from events and activities performed in the frame of the European project LIFE TERRACESCAPE (2017-2022) – food for thought (and action!) for our future!
More specifically, the exhibition presents the drystone terraces, the most significant large-scale human intervention on the landscape of the Aegean Islands. Until mid 1960s, cultivation terraces constituted the main land network supporting primary production on the islands (cultivation, livestock raising, and beekeeping) giving at the same time opportunities of continuous growth to important socio-cultural characteristics both material (carved and structured landscape) and intangible (cultivated plant varieties, cultivation methods, ethics and customs, idiosyncratic glossary). This, the first part of the exhibition, the first pylon: The past. The material was drawn mainly, although not exclusively, from the watercolors created by the artist - PhD candidate Chara Chrysanthaki for the electronic game "Constructing terraces", which is available playable online on the Project's website.
This is followed by the second pylon, The vision, as reflected in the paintings of students who participated in the Panhellenic Drawing Competition "Terrace cultivation in Greece: past, present, forever" (2020-2021).
The final pillar is The responsibility. A series of photos from the two Drystone-Wall Schools implemented in Andros, during the period 2021-2022, certainly express a response of responsibility, at least in part. So is the inclusion of the art of drystone in the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. But we are still at the beginning!
The exhibition will remain in Kaireios Library until January 31st, 2023, and will be open to the public, waiting for all residents and visitors of Andros Island, especially the schools of Andros, as well as those who will visit the Environmental Education Center of Korthi to learn about the past and imagine the future, getting ideas from the educational tools specially created for them (game, books, 3D model of terraces).
It should be noted that the exhibition is not a contractual deliverable of the LIFE TERRACESCAPE project, but an initiative of the University of the Aegean, aiming to better disseminate the project results, especially the achievements related to the terraces cultivation in Andros and the Cyclades.
Idea, texts, material selection: Theodora Petanidou
Photos: Ioulia Papaeftyhiou, Theodora Petanidou
Paintings: Chara Chrysanthaki, students all over Greece
Documentary: Stelios Charalambopoulos
Museological proposal and implementation: Vicky Katsamaka, Nasia Chourmouziadou
Support: Nasia Chroni, Giorgos Stavrianakis, Vangelis Loukisas, Lydia Paleokrassa, Kaireios Library, ELKE University of the Aegean
Organization & coordination: Theodora Petanidou
