ART-PRESENTATION: Weaving Europe,The World As Meditation
Weaving is s one of the oldest surviving crafts in the world, the tradition of weaving traces back to Neolithic times – approximately 12,000 years ago. Even before, the early man (20,000-30,000 years ago) developed the first string by twisting together plant fibers. Preparing thin bundles of plant material and stretching them out while twisting them together produced a fine string or thread.
By Dimitris Lempesis
Photo: Loukia Alavanou Archive
The artists have pushed the boundaries of what can be considered a textile, as well as how a textile can be considered art. Sheila Hicks began working with fibers in the late 1950s, traveling from Chile to India to study the weaving techniques of local artisans. Rather than making flat works, Hicks built on her research by pushing the medium into three dimensions, producing tactile objects that entice viewers to reach out and touch them. The ‘70s, marked a turning point in this history. Artists like Judy Chicago, Miriam Schapiro or Alighiero Boetti challenged the distinction between textiles and art, embracing techniques that were traditionally relegated to the realm of “women’s crafts,” such as sewing and quilting. Comparing Penelope’s trick, In Homer’s Odyssey, to delay her suitors, one of which is to pretend to be weaving a burial shroud for Odysseus’s father Laertes, and claiming that she will choose a suitor when she has finished, the exhibition “Weaving Europe: The World as Meditation”, through the work of 22 artists whose work involves the use of new media and digital technologies, explores the construction of the European identity and citizenship, that is constantly changing. The expression “Weaving Europe” poses the issue of European identity and its construction and the need to examine the threads that “weave” Europe. As Efi Kyprianidou the Curator of the exhibition says “The notion of European cultural identity seems continually constructed and deconstructed; the question is thus whether we can speak of a European culture or of the culture(s) of Europe and what would that amount to”. Among the works on presentation is thevideo installation “Birds and Feathers” by Loukia Alavanou, the artist merges details, elements and sounds from various sources: an old Greek photograph, a contemporary horror film, a 1930’s erotica film, Hitchcock’s famous Birds and a cartoon. She creates a monstrous body consisting of fragmented parts and telling a tale of violence and horror. As the artist says “The work is based on an existing ancestral portrait and reminiscent of female embroidery such as Cretan Silk Cocoon frames of the 19th and early 20th century, which were usually used in order to frame photographs of soldiers lost in the war”. Kimsooja’s “Thread Routes, Chapter II (Europe)” (2011), focuses on European lace making actions. These films uncover the structural continuity between textile, architecture, nature, agriculture, and gender relations through the framework of a nonnarrative documentary. The artist first conceived this series in 2002 after visiting Bruges and experiencing the process of lace making. Participant Artists: Κimsooja, Johan Grimonprez, Cat Mazza, Sabrina Gschwandtner, Fernando Sanchez Castillo, Cristina Lucas, Loukia Alavanou, Eva Borner, Francesca Fini, Anne Wilson, Janis Jefferis, Diane Wood Conroy, Sarah-Joy Ford, Νikos Gyftakis, Anastasia Mina, Christos Avraam, Yiannis Sakellis, Kyriakos Kousoulides, Anna Lytridou, Michalis Charalambous, Eleni Nicodemou and Erato Hadjisavva.
Info: Curator-Concept: Efi Kyprianidou, Architectural Design: Myrto-Maria Voreakou, Αttikon, Euagora Pallikaridi Street, Pafos, Duration: 2-31/12/17, Days & Hours: Daily 16:00-19:00, and Shelley Residence, Chrisou Argyrou Street, Paphos, Duration: 2-3, 6, 9-10, 13, 16 & 20/12/17.
