Naval Week art exhibition
Well, Naval Week sort of passed us by. We picked up a leaflet detailing the events, but it was only available in Greek and we never really got around to translating it to see what was on. The events were quite geographically spread out across various harbours around the island as well, so we didn't get to see anything spectacular on the water.
Last Friday though I did get to see an art exhibition associated with Naval Week. It was on display in the old Mosque of Kioutsouk Hasan (also known as the Mosque of the Janissaries) on the edge of Hania harbour. Aside from being interested in the art, it was also the first time I'd got a glimpse inside the old Mosque. The interior is disappointingly rather plain, although there remains one niche with Islamic carvings on it. You can just see it peeking out from behind the paintings in the above photo.
All of the art on display had a nautical theme, and I think they were mostly by local artists. I quite liked some of the pieces. 'Ηρεμια/Harmony' by Νεκταρια Γονιδη was an oil painting, but it also incorporated objects retrieved from the coastline, using pebbles and sand at the bottom of the picture to make up the shoreline. It is the second picture along from the left in this picture I took of the exhibition.
Another painting that I liked was 'Ναυαγιο' by Αγαπηνακι Εμυ. This depicted a ship in the act of being wrecked, with waves pummelling it as it breaks into two and begins to twist in half.
We've seen quite a lot of contemporary art between us since we started our journey through Europe and arrived in Crete, and one of the tests we often apply to a painting is "Could you imagine having that in the house?". In the Naval Week art exhibition there were a couple of pieces that I really would have liked in the front room. They were both by Γεωργιος Μπαλαδακηι, and, photographed below, were photo-realistic paintings of a sunset over the sea, and of a ship's anchor chain disappearing into the ocean.
Is there an Athena nearby? You'll be able to buy them there ;)
Posted by: Stuart | 5 Jul 2006 16:40:29
Well, I'm in Greece so there is probably at least a temple of Athena nearby ;-)
Posted by: Martin Belam | 5 Jul 2006 18:59:57
Hmmm, well on a second visit to the exhibition when my parents were here, it transpired that they were not photo-realistic paintings, but were actually....photographs. Which is nowhere near as clever.
Posted by: Martin Belam | 14 Jul 2006 14:28:37