DEO Projects brings together an array of international artists exploring themes of fluidity, memory and materiality. Photo: DEO Projects
DEO Projects brings together an array of international artists exploring themes of fluidity, memory and materiality. Photo: DEO Projects
DEO Projects brings together an array of international artists exploring themes of fluidity, memory and materiality. Photo: DEO Projects
DEO Projects brings together an array of international artists exploring themes of fluidity, memory and materiality. Photo: DEO Projects

Group show on the Greek Island of Chios explores intertwined Mediterranean histories


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This summer, Europe remains a hot spot for holidays and cultural tourism – particularly the Mediterranean and Greek islands, where contemporary art continues to blossom in unexpected locales beneath the scorching sun.

Among this year's many efforts, cultural programming platform DEO Projects has launched the third iteration of its art show on the Greek island of Chios.

Sandwiched between Athens and Turkey, which is only a 25-minute ferry ride away, the slow-paced island hosts this year’s group show titled My Past is a Foreign Country at Temenos Hamidiye, a disused mosque also known as Bairakli, and an Ottoman hammam – steps away from each other in the island’s castled old town.

Hera Buyuktasciyan’s An Ode To A Distant Spring features paths of fabric adorned with pieces of soap. Photo: Hera Buyuktasciyan / DEO Projects
Hera Buyuktasciyan’s An Ode To A Distant Spring features paths of fabric adorned with pieces of soap. Photo: Hera Buyuktasciyan / DEO Projects

The show’s themes of fluidity, memory and materiality are explored by an international roster of artists from neighbouring countries and the Middle East.

Greek artists Stelios Faitakis, Nikomachi Karakostanoglou, Petros Moris, Maro Michalakakos and Maria Tsagkari are joined by Beirut's Dala Nasser, Lebanese-Dutch artist Mounira Al Solh, Turkish-German artist Aykan Safoglu, Hera Buyuktasciyan from Turkey, Abbas Zahedi from the UK, Cypriot-British artist Yorgos Petrou and Iranian artist Avish Khebrehzadeh. Together, their works blend through the two historic sites' soaring interiors, mysterious nooks and unassuming corners.

For Deo Project’s founder and exhibition curator Akis Kokkinos, the show holds a personal resonance as much as the island of Chios itself. “I still get emotional every time I land at the airport, as I remember my aunt waiting to pick me up as an unattended child from my flight,” he tells The National.

Maro Michalakakos's To All Of Us (2023) snakes around Avish Khebrehzadeh’s series of seven portraits. Photo: Maro Michalakakos / Avish Khebrehzadeh / DEO Projects
Maro Michalakakos's To All Of Us (2023) snakes around Avish Khebrehzadeh’s series of seven portraits. Photo: Maro Michalakakos / Avish Khebrehzadeh / DEO Projects

Three years ago, during the pandemic, the curator launched the organisation as a way to bring the world's attention to the island's diverse community, with its multilayered Greek and Ottoman influences and histories – as well as its “rich natural and geological landscape”.

Unlike its widely popular sisters Mykonos, Patmos and Hydra, Chios is a no-fuss island without high-end hotels – rather than a tourist-laden “see and be seen” atmosphere, the narrow streets are dotted with locals and daily Turkish visitors.

Kokkinos says the lack of development on Chios drove him to establish a “cultural institution that supports transnational dialogue and contributes to the cultural infrastructure of the island”.

“I’m interested in exploring the island as an institution, and that’s the reason why we have a nomadic character as an organisation, moving freely across the island every year.”

Visitors explore Iranian artist Avish Khebrehzadeh's seven portraits of men titled I Had Forseen It (2014). Photo: Avish Khebrehzadeh / DEO Projects
Visitors explore Iranian artist Avish Khebrehzadeh's seven portraits of men titled I Had Forseen It (2014). Photo: Avish Khebrehzadeh / DEO Projects

After using a local slaughterhouse and a maritime cultural centre in former years, his decision to choose two historically charged sites this year comes from an urge to “touch upon the notion of monuments to ask what purpose they serve and for whom and for what narratives”. Kokkinos is particularly interested in the “fluidity and constant transformation” of the venues' past roles.

The layered and intertwined backgrounds of both spaces construct what the curator calls “monumental taxidermies”. The fact that the Hamidiye was a Catholic church before becoming a mosque and that both venues served as Asia Minor refugee sanctuaries during the exchange of populations support his thesis. Recently, Syrian refugees were also hosted inside the castle’s trench.

Whether for worship or cleansing, the intended uses of the sites prompt you to come “closer to your higher self,” says Kokkinos, which is handy in an exhibition about transformation and alchemy of histories and memories.

Among the new commissions is Cypriot-British artist Yorgos Petrou's Body Knows That Too (2023). Photo: Yorgos Petrou / DEO Projects
Among the new commissions is Cypriot-British artist Yorgos Petrou's Body Knows That Too (2023). Photo: Yorgos Petrou / DEO Projects

From transhistorical connections to water’s malleable force, Kokkinos says the show’s themes are “somehow dictated by the venues and inspired the artists to work around them”. Among the nine commissions, Hera Buyuktasciyan’s An Ode To A Distant Spring occupies the hammam’s “warm room” with two sinuous paths of blue fabric – used for cleaning and head-covering – adorned with pieces of soap.

The interior’s bygone steam and both materials’ sensual tactility contribute to the serpentine connections the artist suggests between bodily existence and collective memory.

Physicality is a first-hand experience in Lebanese artist Mounira Al Solh’s Clogged, which conveniently sits at the hammam’s entrance – a group of clogs traditionally worn by bathers are on offer while touring the show. Despite evoking a sense of hospitality, the clatter of heavy wood against the ground creates an alarming echo.

Lebanese artist Mounira Al Solh’s Clogged (2023) offers clogs to visitors at the hammam’s entrance. Photo: Mounira Al Solh / DEO Projects
Lebanese artist Mounira Al Solh’s Clogged (2023) offers clogs to visitors at the hammam’s entrance. Photo: Mounira Al Solh / DEO Projects

“The priority to me is the spatial and somatic experience of the visitor instead of the intellectual justification,” Kokkinos says about his emphasis on materials and senses.

“The artists and myself wanted to choreograph something very sensorial – from the sounds of the clogs to the smell of the soaps.” He also underlines the softness of the red velvet installation To All Of Us by Maro Michalakakos inside the mosque, which radiates a similar sense of alertness through its sanguine hue.

Gushing from the circular glass window and trickling across the floor, a thick stream of red velvet fabric plants its root-like legs on to the mosque floor. On a higher level, the balcony fence is tightly woven with the same material in a ritualistic fashion – a small stool also upholstered with red velvet looks down on the installation and Avish Khebrehzadeh’s seven portraits of men.

Greek artist Petros Moris's new commission Sphinx (Waves Whisper Woes), 2023. Photo: Petros Moris / DEO Projects
Greek artist Petros Moris's new commission Sphinx (Waves Whisper Woes), 2023. Photo: Petros Moris / DEO Projects

Rendered in a similar tone of red and raised by metal structures to eye level, the paintings substitute for the praying bodies that were once inside the mosque as well as those who occupied the space for shelter or out of curiosity. The Iranian artist’s portraits reflect on the silent souls of bygone yet intertwined histories that inhabit the island.

“We need moments of surprise in our everyday lives especially when those experiences disrupt static forms of knowledge and habits,” Kokkinos says about the ever-present element of spontaneity.

“The fact that probably most visitors don’t belong to the so-called 'art world' gives us a great pleasure, as one of our main goals is to reach a wider audience and to bring sociopolitical change in the long-term.”

Juxtaposing contemporary art with historic sites, he notes the cruciality of respecting the people who only want to see and admire history. “To find a balance is important.”

My Past is a Foreign Country is on view at Chios until August 28

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Results

4.30pm Jebel Jais – Maiden (PA) Dh60,000 (Turf) 1,000m; Winner: MM Al Balqaa, Bernardo Pinheiro (jockey), Qaiss Aboud (trainer)

5pm: Jabel Faya – Maiden (PA) Dh60,000 (T) 1,000m; Winner: AF Rasam, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel

5.30pm: Al Wathba Stallions Cup – Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 2,200m; Winner: AF Mukhrej, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel

6pm: The President’s Cup Prep – Conditions (PA) Dh100,000 (T) 2,200m; Winner: Mujeeb, Richard Mullen, Salem Al Ketbi

6.30pm: Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club – Prestige (PA) Dh125,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Jawal Al Reef, Antonio Fresu, Abubakar Daud

7pm: Al Ruwais – Group 3 (PA) Dh300,000 (T) 1,200m; Winner: Ashton Tourettes, Pat Dobbs, Ibrahim Aseel

7.30pm: Jebel Hafeet – Maiden (TB) Dh80,000 (T) 1,400m; Winner: Nibraas, Richard Mullen, Nicholas Bachalard

Basquiat in Abu Dhabi

One of Basquiat’s paintings, the vibrant Cabra (1981–82), now hangs in Louvre Abu Dhabi temporarily, on loan from the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi. 

The latter museum is not open physically, but has assembled a collection and puts together a series of events called Talking Art, such as this discussion, moderated by writer Chaedria LaBouvier. 

It's something of a Basquiat season in Abu Dhabi at the moment. Last week, The Radiant Child, a documentary on Basquiat was shown at Manarat Al Saadiyat, and tonight (April 18) the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is throwing the re-creation of a party tonight, of the legendary Canal Zone party thrown in 1979, which epitomised the collaborative scene of the time. It was at Canal Zone that Basquiat met prominent members of the art world and moved from unknown graffiti artist into someone in the spotlight.  

“We’ve invited local resident arists, we’ll have spray cans at the ready,” says curator Maisa Al Qassemi of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi. 

Guggenheim Abu Dhabi's Canal Zone Remix is at Manarat Al Saadiyat, Thursday April 18, from 8pm. Free entry to all. Basquiat's Cabra is on view at Louvre Abu Dhabi until October

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Fresh faces in UAE side

Khalifa Mubarak (24) An accomplished centre-back, the Al Nasr defender’s progress has been hampered in the past by injury. With not many options in central defence, he would bolster what can be a problem area.

Ali Salmeen (22) Has been superb at the heart of Al Wasl’s midfield these past two seasons, with the Dubai club flourishing under manager Rodolfo Arrubarrena. Would add workrate and composure to the centre of the park.

Mohammed Jamal (23) Enjoyed a stellar 2016/17 Arabian Gulf League campaign, proving integral to Al Jazira as the capital club sealed the championship for only a second time. A tenacious and disciplined central midfielder.

Khalfan Mubarak (22) One of the most exciting players in the UAE, the Al Jazira playmaker has been likened in style to Omar Abdulrahman. Has minimal international experience already, but there should be much more to come.

Jassim Yaqoub (20) Another incredibly exciting prospect, the Al Nasr winger is becoming a regular contributor at club level. Pacey, direct and with an eye for goal, he would provide the team’s attack an extra dimension.

Updated: August 02, 2023, 9:43 AM`