On 13 June 2015, the Museum of Contemporary Art Chania - Olivepress in Dromonero, Crete, inaugurates the artistic event “Philoxenia” with two individual exhibitions – the solo photography exhibition “Natassa Karakatsani – Unknown Destination” curated by John Stratoudakis, and the group exhibition of contemporary art “Welcome – The European Hospitality and its Borders” curated by Megakles Rogakos.
The exhibition “Natassa Karakatsani – Unknown Destination” acquaints us to the space of the Shelter for Unaccompanied Minors Asylum Seekers in Makrinitsa, Volos, of the Arsis - Youth Support Centre, which is a station for many of these teenagers. Without affectation, the photographs deepen into the psychology of fifteen minor, orphan immigrants from distressed areas of the world, writes Stratoudakis, emphasizing their uniqueness.
The theme of the exhibition “Welcome – The European Hospitality and its Borders” is timely and sensitive. Art historian and exhibition curator, Megakles Rogakos, selects, documents and presents 33 artists with an equal number of works on the central theme of hospitality and immigration in Europe. The majority of works are created especially for the exhibition, and each artist uses her/his special vocabulary to respond to the idea of hosting and immigration, covering the topic from different angles. The works are inspired in response to the special tradition of hospitality in Greece, and express sensitively and critically the human distress of immigration.
The 33 artists of the “Welcome” exhibition are Hariton Bekiaris, Lamprini Boviatsou, Konstantin Fisher, Dionisis Fragias, Cris Gianakos, Nikos Giavropoulos, Elli Griva, Lydia Dambassina, John Dialinos, Lena Dimova, Antigone Kavvatha, Michalis Kalaitzakis, Nikos Kryonidis, Alexandros Manganiotis, Yannis P. Markantonakis, Dimitris Merantzas, Alkistis Michaelidou, Maria Michelogianni, Nicholas Moore, Eleni Mylonas, Barbara Knight, Antonia Papatzanaki, K.N. Patsios, Eleni Pavlopoulou, Marina Provatidou, Natassa Poulantza, Miranda Skylouraki, Rena Stollenverk, George Tserionis, Sofia Vlazaki, Alexander Voutsas, Petros Xenakis, and Mariva Zacharof .
The two individual exhibitions are accompanied by a single catalogue, which includes a foreword by the Art Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art Chania - Olivepress, Ioannis N. Arhontakis, a greeting by Irida Pandiri, Arsis Coordinator of the Arsis Shelters for Unaccompanied Minors, an introduction entitled “Philoxenia – Limits, Challenges and Strengths of an Ancient Greek Concept in Today’s Europe” by art historian and critic Dr Constantinos V. Proimos, and comprehensive texts of the curators for the exhibitions with refrerences and comments about the participating works. The catalogue fully illustrates all the exhibits.
“Philoxenia” is part of the program “CHANIaRT 2015 - Visual Routes in Chania.”
Info: Museum of Contemporary Art Chania - Olivepress, Dromonero, 33rd Km. Chania - Paleochora, Platanias, Chania, Crete, 13/06-01/11, Every Sunday 11.00 – 21.00, Monday to Saturday visits after prearrangement, www.olivepress.eu.
