LANDS OF CREATION, a Tribute to Metsovo
Katogi Averoff, Metsovo, Greece
Curated by: Lina Tsikouta-Deimezi
Participation with the installation: Upon the Earth Under the Clouds
Exhibition Duration: October 2019 – January 2020
Dedicated to the land, to creation, vision and continuity, the exhibition Lands of Creation, is a tribute to Metsovo and highlights the diversity of creative paths and the energy of contemporary art in Greece. The exhibition features original works by 64 major Greek artists.
Danae Stratou participated with a specially adapted version of her work Upon the Earth Under the Clouds, designed for the outdoor spaces of the Katogi Averoff Winery. The initial version of the work, was a large-scale site-specific installation conceived for the Old Oil Mill and the city of Eleusis. Using water and soil as its core materials and ceramic pots as its dominant morphological feature, the work enters into a dialogue with the rich history of Eleusis, from antiquity to the long industrial history of the city and its present-day structure. Woven into its narrative are the myth of Demeter and Persephone, mortality, the notion of voyaging, the existential quest for a destination, and migration, not only as a defining feature of the city’s history, but also as a repeated historical occurrence. The idea of destination, migration and movement are a core element of this work, thus its’ partial migration to various destinations is an integral part of the artist’s concept. In this case, Danae Stratou used 100 out of 1000 clay pots and placed them outside the winery in an arrangement that resembles the linear vineyard landscape, characteristic of the surrounding area.
