I have the great honour to announce that I will be participating in the 2019 organization of the Contrast Photography Festival of Thessaloniki. The festival’s title is “2084” and it aims to investigate the various interpretations of the prophetic book “1984” by George Orwell. “2084” will feature four big group exhibitions that will present many different perspectives and insights inspired by the 1984 book with references to the present and the future.
When I saw the open call for submissions to the festival, quite a while ago, I was immediately drawn to it because of its theme. George Orwell’s “1984” is one of my all time favorite books and undoubtedly one of the world’s literary masterpieces. I made the decision to participate and right away I started to think of ideas for a brand new photo series based on the festival’s theme.
My idea led me to a whole new photographic experience, trying out so many new things to make it work. I made a brand new series, titled “we are the dead“, that will be displayed for the first time ever during the festival. Although the series was completed many months ago, I chose to wait and release it online just before the festival. So, during the next weeks, I will start to release the pictures, followed by some rather extensive blog posts about the whole process and experience. Also you will have the chance to take a look behind the scenes, in a series of videos that I have prepared for you. I am really excited that the time has finally come to share this experience with you!
Details for the upcoming exhibition:
Archaelogical Museum of Thessaloniki, Periodic Exhibitions Hall C
Opening: Sunday December 1st, 12:00
Duration: 1/12/2019 – 12/1/2020
Archaelogical Museum of Thessaloniki : 6 Man. Andronikou, tel. 2313310201
Opening hours: everyday: 8:30-16:00 ( December 25th, 26th and January 1st: closed)
Recently I saw that there was an open call for a local photography contest. The subject was one of Thessaloniki’s oldest buildings, called Bensousan Han (about 200 years old). It used to be a han, think of it as a bed-and-breakfast, only you could bring your horse too. Recently the building has been given a new life as a cultural space, where many of the city’s events take place. I first visited some years ago to see a theatrical play and instantly fell in love, wishing I could someday make a photoshoot there.
So, when I read about the contest, I jumped with excitement! Photographers were invited to participate in the contest by organizing a half-hour photoshoot anywhere inside the building. Each photographer could submit one picture to the contest. All the pictures will be exhibited inside the building on December 14th, when the names of the winners will also be announced.
I spent a couple of days trying to come up with an idea that could be easily executed in half an hour but also be relevant to the buildings character as much as possible. I asked Katerina, who is an actress I played with during my theater days, to come model for me and she excitedly said yes. So, on the day of the photoshoot we met a bit early to discuss the idea and talk about my photoshoot process, so we could make the most out of those precious thirty minutes.
Katerina really rose to the occasion and immediately got into character and nailed her pose (she is a great actress after all), so my job was fairly easy. My original idea changed as I started to shoot and I decided to go with what made more sense in terms of mood and colour.
I spent quite some time editing it and of course I would have loved it if I had another thirty minutes for the shoot, but on the other hand I enjoyed the challenge and the opportunity. I even had about five minutes get a couple more shots with Katerina, just for fun!
portrait of Katerina 
portrait of Katerina
I am really looking forward to the exhibition!
UPDATE: I am so honoured that my photo won the first place! A big thank you to the jurors for picking me and to the sponsors for their nice gifts!
It has been a long time without anything new from me! Well, there is something exciting going on. I will be showing some of my work in Cheapart, during the 81st International Fair of Thessaloniki which takes place between 10-18 September 2016. More than 70 artists participate with art that is available for purchase at low prices. It is my first time participating and I am excited to see how it goes, given that there will be thousands of people visiting the Fair. If you happen to be here, make sure you stop by and say hi!
I got a very nice surprise all the way from Australia this morning. George Vardas, who is the cultural officer of the Kytherian Association of Australia (www.kythera-family.net) contacted me via Twitter and let me know of a really nice review he did about last year’s Kythera Photographic Encounters, in the association’s newsletter. In this review he was kind enough to mention some things about my work and include some of my pictures. He sent me the review and I thought I’d share it with you all.
Thank you George, for your kind words and for letting me know about this review, which made me a very happy girl today!
Quick update! Tomorrow is the opening of the 2d Influence Festival, held at Karditsa, where I have the honour of participating! The festival will feature artists from Video Art, Photography, Comics, Animation, Graphic &Web Design, Music, Painting, Sculpture, Installation Art, Street Art, Performance and many more. Sadly I am unable to attend, but I am sure it is going to be fantastic! So if by any chance you happen to be around, don’t forget to make a visit and of course let me know how it was!
This week I am participating in my first gallery show. Meet the artist 5-Springtime is a gathering of artists from nearly all kinds of art. For the fifth time Myro Gallery called artists to participate and chose 24 of them to take part in a show that aims in giving the artists the opportunity to meet their audience and discuss their art. From 26 to 28 March the gallery will host works of art including painting, sculpture, installations, photography and other.
I am very honoured and extremely excited to be selected as a participant! If you are anywhere around Thessaloniki, I would be happy to meet you!
Here is the press release (in greek):
Meet the Artist 5 -Springtime | Πανδαισία τεχνών για 3 μέρες στην Myrό Gallery
H Myrό Gallery (Νικηφόρου Φωκά 8, κέντρο Θεσσαλονίκης) σας προσκαλεί να την επισκεφτείτε Πέμπτη, Παρασκευή και Σάββατο (26, 27, και 28 Μαρτίου 2015, ώρες 12.00 – 22.00) για να δείτε και να συμμετέχετε στο 5ο Meet the Artist, μια αδιαμεσολάβητη έκθεση καλλιτεχνών, στην διάρκεια της οποίας οι καλλιτέχνες βρίσκονται συνεχώς στην γκαλερί, εκκινούν και συμμετέχουν σε συζητήσεις γύρω από το καλλιτεχνικό έργο και μιλούν απευθείας με το κοινό. Το project θα εγκαινιαστεί την Πέμπτη 26 Μαρτίου 2015 στις 20.00, ενώ επισημαίνεται ότι την δεύτερη μέρα του (Παρασκευή 27 Μαρτίου), μετά τις 4 το απόγευμα και μέχρι το κλείσιμο, θα λάβει χώρα σειρά workshops και επιδείξεων διαφόρων τεχνών και τεχνικών.
Πιο συγκεκριμένα, στο “Meet the Artist -Springtime” παρουσιάζονται συνολικά 24 καλλιτέχνες, ενώ περισσότεροι από τους μισούς είναι νέοι εικαστικοί, πτυχιούχοι των σχολών της χώρας μας, που μέσω του project επέλεξαν να δοκιμάσουν την εμπειρία της έκθεσης προς το φιλότεχνο κοινό με στόχο τον δημιουργικό διάλογο και την επικοινωνία. Παράλληλα, στην έκθεση συμμετέχουν εγκαθιδρυμένοι καλλιτέχνες από όλη την Ελλάδα. Συνολικά συμμετέχουν οι: Κατερίνα Αλαβέρα, Ιωάννης Αστερίου, Βίκη Βασιλείου, Λάζαρος Γερομιχάλης, Αργυρώ Γιαννακάρα, Δημήτριος Γουγόπουλος, Γεωργία Γρηγοριάδου, Καλλιόπη Ζερβουλάκου, Ξυλοβάτης (κατά κόσμον Γιάννης Καλιεντζίδης), Μανώλης Καραγιαννούδης, Ηλίας Καρακόλης, Φώτης Κλογέρης, Γιούλη Μάντζου, Αλέξανδρος Μουδιώτης, Νίκη Πάνου (Nicki Upstairs), Δημήτριος Πετρόπουλος, Αναστασία Τρυγούτη, Βενετία Υφαντίδου, Φωτεινή Χαμηδιελή, Αντώνης Χαριζάνης, και η ομάδα καλλιτεχνών lestartists που θα έρθει ειδικά για το project από την Χαλκίδα, αποτελούμενη από τους: Τάκη Βερβέρη, Αργυρώ Γιαννακάρα, και Τάσο Μιχαηλίδη.
Αξίζει να σημειωθεί ότι οι καλλιτέχνες επελέγησαν μέσα από μια διαδικασία πρόσκλησης ενδιαφέροντος και εν συνεχεία έγκρισης, ανάμεσα σε 100 περίπου καλλιτέχνες από κάθε είδος τέχνης. Στην έκθεση υπάρχουν έργα φωτογραφίας, ζωγραφικής, γλυπτικής, χαρακτικής, κεραμικής, καθώς επίσης κατασκευές & εγκαταστάσεις.
Την δεύτερη ημέρα, 27 Μαρτίου 2015 στις 16.00 το απόγευμα ξεκινά πλούσιο πρόγραμμα με παράλληλες εκδηλώσεις, οι οποίες περιλαμβάνουν:
– μία επίδειξη speed sketching από τον ζωγράφο Χάρη Μητρούση, στις 18.00
– ένα workshop για την κατασκευή κοσμήματος από τον γνωστό σχεδιαστή & εικαστικό Γιώργο Ηλιάδη, στις 19.00
– ένα workshop για την Mail Art, ένα ανερχόμενο είδος τέχνης, από την χαράκτρια Γεωργία Γρηγοριάδου, στις 20.00
Τον συντονισμό και την επιμέλεια της έκθεσης έχει ο Πάρης Καπράλος, Επιμελητής και Καλλιτεχνικός Διευθυντής της Myrό Gallery.
Σχετικά με το περιεχόμενο των εκδηλώσεων, τα βιογραφικά των καλλιτεχνών και φωτογραφίες χαρακτηριστικών έργων τους, όπως επίσης και φωτογραφίες από τα εγκαίνια, δείτε στην ιστοσελίδα της Myrό Gallery www.myro.gr.
Just a quick update to let you know that my “foundation” series will be exhibited during the 6th Anakata festival, which will take place in Thessaloniki from the 12th until the 14th of September. “Foundation” is an ongoing series of images aiming to explore how we relate to ourselves. You can view the images online in this recent feature by GetInspiredMagazine http://ow.ly/BevW7
No more details about the festival have been published yet, but I will keep you posted!
I guess I’m on a roll these days! Couldn’t be happier! 🙂
A few days before my summer holidays started, I decided to submit my photos to some art festivals, hoping that I might have a chance to show my work. After all, taking part in an exhibition was one of my goals for this year, so I had to pursue it at some point. One of those submissions was the chocolate themed contest that I already talked about. By chance I happened upon the Kythera Photographic Encounters that had made a call for artists to submit their work for the 13th Young Greek Photographers exhibition. Apparently this is an event that has been held every year since 2002, but this was the first I heard about it. I decided to submit my portfolio, although I did not have high hopes for this.
I was wrong. A few days later I received a phone call informing me that some of my images were selected for the exhibition! My excitement was beyond words! I thought I didn’t have a chance, I almost didn’t submit and I was completely wrong! That proved to me that you should never say no to an opportunity, however slim you think your chances are. If I had decided that I was not good enough to submit, this would never have happened.
Kythera Photographic Encounters 2014
The event includes many photographic exhibitions and even a convention about photography in Greece, so it is going to be really interesting to attend! It will take place from the 25th until the 28th of September and one of the seven photographers participating in the Young Greek Photographers exhibition will be given an award and the opportunity to have a solo exhibition next year. Wow! For me this is a big win, even if I am not awarded, it is such a great honour and an amazing opportunity which I am very grateful for.