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FOREIGN VESSELS

Byzantine and Postbyzantine Antiquities Collection, Chania, Crete
25.09‐21.10.2021

MARIE DE BRUYN (NL) / BARATTO & MOURAVAS & GOGAS (NL /IT/ GR) / CHAMPLOO (GR) / NIKOS CHARITAKIS (GR) / FRUIT GILETTE (GR) / DIMITRA KONDYLATOU (GR) / MARIKA KONSTANTINIDOU (GR) / SOPHIA KOURKOULAKOU (FR / GR) / NATASA PAPADOGAMVRAKI (GR) / ILSE VAN ROY (BE) / TZOMPANAKIS GLASS WORKSHOP (GR) / TITANIA MATINA (GR)  / SEBASTIAN GONZALES DE GORTARI (MX / DE) / BRUISES ‘N’ CUTS (DR / GR)

FOREIGN VESSELS / ΞΕΝΟ ΔΟΧΕΙΑ was an exhibition of glass sculpture in the Byzantine & Postbyzantine Collection of Chania, at the San Salvatore monastery. There, Ilse Van Roy (BE), Marie de Bruyn (NL) and Marika Konstantinidou (GR), three artists forming the Foreign Vessels '21 team and using glass as their main sculptural medium, showed their artworks together with works by local glass craftsmen and artists, such as Natassa Papadogamvraki (Tarrha Glass workshop, Anogeia), Nikos Haritakis (Agia Galini), and the Tzompanakis glass workshop (Kokkino Chorio, Chania). The impetus for the exhibition was the form of the vessel, pivotal in the art of glassblowing and as a reason for its birth in the Mediterranean - as a locus of transportation, reception and hospitality. The glass sculptures and objects were brought in contact with the archaeological findings of the area, in order to explore the relationship of value within the triad of artwork, functional object and archaeological exhibit, as well as to highlight the role of the area in the dissemination of the art of glass. The leaflet accompanying the exhibition included images of two glass vials from the 14th and 5th century present in the collection and found in the areas of Ancient Siia and Tarra, today's Sougia and Agia Roumeli, where the unprecedented volume of glass excavated signaled towards the existence of a large workshop of glass in antiquity. Texts were contributed by Titania Matina, educator and writer offering a glimpse on her extensive personal knowledge of the region, and Sebastian Gonzalez de Gortari, who focused on the figure of the 'melancholic' and the relationship of vessels to shamanism and art. The exhibitions' guiding text elaborated on the research axes of the action - glass, vessels, the fragment, the dream, and the notion of inbetweenness. The team made a research trip on South Crete, where they shot a short film with the film production team Champloo, touching on notions such as the collectivity of the technique of glassblowing, its choreography and its potential in creating community. For the film they used glass vessels from the Tzompanakis Workshop, which were then placed on top of a textile work by Mouravas & Baratto & Gogas for the exhibition, in an attempt to capture the stratigraphy of an archaeological excavation over time. The film was screened at the opening alongside two short films by Dimitra Kondylatou, "In The Shade of the Season" - an investigation into the female body and aspects of gendered work in hotels, and "The Civilization of Machi" about the strange habit of a woman who buries the fragments of broken clay objects and pots in her garden in an attempt to save them and maybe - heal them. For the opening, Bruises 'n' Cuts, producer, mc & dj, created a mixtape on the diaspora of sound in the Mediterranean. The day after the opening Irini Gavrilaki, archaeologist and author, conducted a hands ‐ on writing workshop in which the participants interacted with the glass sculptures as well as small shards of broken glass and then through the use of the technique of stained glass wrote short texts connecting the material to their personal stories. Finally, the platform www.foreignvessels.com was created with the aim of continuing to present works by artists and researchers on concepts related to glass, vessels and the three axes of the action: the fragment, the dream and the notion of inbetweenness.

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