An exciting new event space is opening now above the Palace of Knossos. The Lakkos residency is going to collaborate with the space bringing exhibitions and performance/ music events to it. Our first collaboration is to show British visual artist Robbie Carman's work which he produced while staying at the Lakkos Artist Residency. The new space is named after it's original owner who was called Fillia.
In May along with putting on a very successful exhibition Slava Lawson and Aine Byrne painted a mural each. Aine'sSlava'sThank you Aine Byrne and Slava Lawson for putting on a wonderful exhibition. For the first time the artists had prints available which was a first for the residency and went down well with the locals who generally don't have the money to buy originals.
As usual the exhibition ended with a party but this time an impromptu music performance happened with four local women singing along with one bouzouki and a guitar. The evening was long and very special. We had our first open to everybody exhibition this week which was lovely after having to limit invitations because of the pandemic last year. Thank you Marion Weymes and Tomasz Dobiszewski for showing your unique works. As usual it was a one night only show which was followed by a party at the residency. After no parties for two years this one was very joyous!
Four gods in the distance, each stands for a kindness• painted in residency with The Lakkos Project, a read on the apocalypse stories in scripture, where they say the Four Horsemen will announce the end by riding in with war and famine, conquest and death. Babies here we are ! But my read, is that the verses aren’t there to warn us of these four omens in and of themselves, but to provide us with the answers to our own survival. If we knew what was coming, rather than center our religions around fearing this *inevitable* end, why not use this story to build and fortify our answers to the ‘four’• it is said at the end, there will be insects the size of horses, and in my world they have grown this large to carry our embodied saviors as they bring their antitheses to the 4 horsemen. They are mantises, known by the Greek folk name ‘St Mary’s horses’. My Marys are They, that are not the men, and were left out of these old tales. My four are based on the ancient humors of Greek medicine, the nurturing needed to repair each of our four ‘bodily’ systems:: blood: the sanguine, analytically thoughtful and beacon of hope• phlegm/water: bearing calm ease and good judgement• yellow bile: the principles of digestion, cycling through the old to the new, and transformation• and black bile, solidifying dose of honesty, melancholy, an ability to look at the sometimes harsh truth of our reality through our art and thoughtful introspection.
Paris composer Vincent Trollet came to stay last summer to work on a new music composition based on an Erotokritos poem. Here is part of the work in progress.
soundcloud.com/user2851604/trollet-lotophages-iii-pour-soprano-et-piano Mathew who runs the residency did this interview last winter.
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-side-woo-episode-9-how-to-create-a-residency/id1596150841?i=1000544402810 In December 2021 Mathew published a book about living in Crete and running the residency. It's a look at the ups and downs of dealing with some very interesting guests, some wonderful and others challenging... All names have been changed to protect the privacy of the people written about. www.amazon.com/AIR-Residence-Mr-Mathew-Halpin/dp/B09MCJ9DL5/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1638720174&sr=1-12 Cover painting by Mathew Halpin
Argentinian, Soledad Zarate lives in London and opened her own independent shadow puppet company. In August we were very lucky to have her come to stay. She put on a show for us on the roof terrace. Also she offered free puppet making classes for kids connected to the local refugee centre.
During the early August heatwave Marion sat at our kitchen table making hundreds of drawings. Here is the lovely result!
marionbretagne.com/Kriti-animation In mid-August we had a wonderful group of artists who came together to make an event of art and film.
After nearly two years of Corona virus restrictions the residency was finally able to put on a very small live music night. Local ξέφρενο αερόστατο and Lukas Bulko from Slovenia put on a wonderful night of experimental electronic/ string music.
Brenda Ohana came to stay in the residency in December 2020. She was born in a Brazilian rainforest, but now calls Paris her home. She stayed an extra month here avoiding the much more gloomy Paris covid lockdown. In the time she stayed she made the music and animation for this video. All of the filming was made around Lakkos and Heraklion city. https://brendabenjamim.com/ Brazilian musician Brenda Ohana, and local performer Frantic Aerostat collaborated to record some experimental music. Here is the link to some of what they came up with.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBf3rRrc2gg During the Covid lockdown in October we were lucky to have two artists staying. As we were unable to have a live painting event on the streets, we made one in the residency. This was our first live streamed event. Musician Brenda Ohana and visual artist RamZ. https://brendabenjamim.com/ https://www.ramz-art.com/ www.youtube.com/watch?v=vj2t0sWIVDk&t=15s With such a quiet year, Mathew who runs the residency managed to complete a book about the last five years of managing the residency, and the Lakkos project in general. The book is about 90 000 words long. Each chapter is based around one artist who has been to stay. The artists are a mixture of the most fun residence and the most difficult... Then there are the locals and general life in Heraklion running through all chapters. The book is now off with a couple of friends who have experience editing. Most names have been changed. It will be interesting to see how the book goes. More on that later.
A quote from the artist. 'Over the years my artworks have become abstract. I use letters but there is no meaning or meaning has become secondary. Why? When I discovered Arabic letters I could neither read, nor write but I was fascinated by the aesthetics of the Arabic letters and the strength they give off. I consider that everyone is able to read, interpret and appreciate a calligraphy with its own sensitivity even if they do not read Arabic.' ,With no artists visiting in the early summer, because of the corona virus, project organiser Mathew painted a mural to show the locals the residency still exists. It is a copy of an old Greek beer advertisement. It is on the coffee shop/ bar/ kafeneon, in Ano Asites.
At the moment the Corona virus has put a pause on the Lakkos project. We hope things pick up in late June. It has been a nice time to work on other projects. There is a new residency house in the wonderful village of Ano Asites. During the lock down we have started to make a vlog.
www.youtube.com/channel/UC8JyMGPuzLdyupya-Wx5c0g Sarah Thibault has been to stay in the Lakkos artists residency for the last two summers. She is a visual artist, but she also writes some great articles. Here is one.
medium.com/artists-travel/6-things-to-consider-when-choosing-an-artist-residency-1242a4f57fb1 And more. Sarah is worth following. www.weebly.com/editor/main.php#/ |