Tired, excited and properly disinfected, on our way to a new life.
Stay tuned for The Humble Fabulist, New Zealand journal – coming up soon.
New York – Athens – Dubai – Auckland
August 28th, 2020
Covid-era flying
Walking in Athens
Narrow streets, Athenian houses, and cats are part of the city’s distinct personality. Sometimes, I feel that Athenian cats are way more cooler than people.
August 23rd, 2020
Casual chat
When Greeks engage in a friendly discussion, it sounds like they’re arguing. Even if they’re just talking about the weather, under the sun, in one of the most stunning neighbourhoods in Athens – Dionysiou Areopagitou, a pedestrianised street around the archaeological site of Acropolis.
August 22nd, 2020
Physiognomy
The many faces of Athens; complex and multi-layered as only one of the world’s oldest cities can be.
Views from the National Museum of Contemporary Art.
August 22nd, 2020
At the National Museum of Contemporary Art
One of the more recent additions in Athens’ cultural life, following years lost to red tape, administrative issues, lack of government funding, and delays in the renovation of its intended permanent home, the National Museum of Contemporary Art Athens (EMST) was finally opened to the public in February 2020. It is now permanently located at the historic building of the former FIX brewery, and it was worth the wait.
Kimsooja || Bottari, 2017
Site specific installation – Bottari made from traditional Korean bed covers and used clothes from Athens and Kassel
Janine Antoni || Slumber, 1994
Maple loom, wool yarn, bed, nightgown, blanket, artist’s REM reading on computer paper, REM decoder
”What if the fabled adventures of Ulysses, upon his return to Ithaca, had never taken place but were in fact Penelope’s dreams, ”the monsters of the psyche” as described by Janine Antoni? In the context of exhibitions from 1994 to 2000, the artis slept in this bed while an electroencephalograph machine recorded her eye movements. During the day, Janine Antoni would sit at the loom and weave shreds of her nightgown in the pattern of her REM graph. These sections, recorded while she dreamed, are woven into the blanket.”
Bia Davou || Sails, 1981-1982 
Bia Davou || Sails, 1981-1982 [detail] 
Bia Davou || Sails, 1981-1982 [detail] 
Bia Davou || Sails, 1981-1982 
Ilya Kabakov || The Boat of My Life, 1993 [detail] 
Vlassis Caniaris || Hopscotch, 1974
”After WWII, and particuarly in the 1960s and 1970s, hundreds of thousands of Greeks emigrated abroad. Can you think of some reasons why people leave their birthplace to go to another country?”
Vlassis Caniaris || Hopscotch, 1974 [detail] 
Vlassis Caniaris || Hopscotch, 1974 [detail] 
Dimitris Alithinos || A Happening, 1973 
Ilya Kabakov || The Boat of My Life, 1993
”In essence, this is the idea of presenting my life, the story of my life, in the form of an installation. I did this when I turned sixty years old. The installation is a large and long (17 metres) wooden boat with stairways at each end, which the viewer uses to climb up on the deck and descent from it. On the deck are twenty-five large cardboard boxes in total disarray, as though they have been put there temporarily. Each is filled with all kinds of household junk, like when a person in a hurry to leave throws stuff together without sorting it.. On top of everything in each box is a piece of cardboard on which photos, small objects, and texts are glued. The texts are fragmented recollections of episodes in my life.”.
George Hadjimichalis || Days and Nights in York, 1998
Acrylic on 8,760 wooden cubes
Carlos Motta || Graffiti Cuts: Who Owns the Street, 2007-2009
The work consists of socio-political graffiti which the Colombian artist photographed in the streets of twelve cities around the world. Next he engraved them on black paper and used special lighting to make them stand out
Walking together with Costas Tsoclis & his Wayfarer, 1989
From the ”Living Painting” series – Colour video projection on a painting with acrylic on cloth
Kendell Geers || Akropolis Redux (The Director’s Cut), 2004
National Museum of Contemporary Art, Athens
August 22nd, 2020
The Sea That Was Not Blue
A walk up to Mount Lycabettus offers some of the best sunsets and views over the city, the port of Piraeus, and beyond. A refuge from the summer heat and a spot for contemplation watching this sea of concrete unfolding as far as the eye can see. And yet, there is a strange beauty in the chaos, there is no denying it, try as I might.
August 20th, 2020
Choreography for the Elite
Evzones on duty
By day
And night
Evzones, are elite soldiers whose duties are mostly ceremonial. Every soldier guards for about an hour, 3 times in total every 48 hours. Throughout these 60 minutes, they have to stand perfectly still until it is time to switch with another guard. During the changing, they work in pairs so they can perfectly coordinate their moves. The steps that the official ceremony requires at the time of changing are carried out in really slow motion to protect their blood circulation after 60 min of immobility.
Evzones guard the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the Presidential Palace and also raise and lower the flag at the Acropolis every Sunday. Their uniform is handmade with intricate detail, taking many months to complete and is a symbol of the country’s nationalistic pride, representing the significant battles fought throughout Greece’s modern history.
August 20th, 2020
Luminous Athens
August 15th, 2020
Old Athens
Neighbourhood || Neighbours
August 15th, 2020
Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center
Ten years in the making, covering an area of more than 200,000 square metres, a complex that has given a new home to the Greek National Library and the Greek National Opera, as well as a public park that can host a variety of events, amongst olive trees, evergreen shrubs, carob trees, laurels, cypress trees, and an extensive selection of indigenous Greek aromatic plants.
The entire complex was donated by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation to the Greek State, in 2017.
We are not worthy!
The complex is one of the most elaborate works by Architect Renzo Piano.
Kallithea, Athens
August 14th, 2020
The Humble Fabulist 