A unique photo exhibition of the journalist, Nikos Psilakiswith Title: “Crete, Laleousa Island. Rituals and customs that have not been erased by time”opens today at the Municipal Art Gallery of Heraklion, in the Basilica of Saint Mark.
The inauguration will be held by Archbishop of Crete Mr. Evgenios.
THE Nikos Psilakis presents 120 “talking” photos of high aesthetic value, the result of a long and painstaking effort that began systematically 40 years ago! These are folk customs and rituals, many of which trace their origins to remote antiquity, mainly from the archaic, classical, and Byzantine years, and are a true wealth of soul for today’s Crete but also, in general, for the entire Greek world. .
“Valuable documents of our entire culture, flawless technically, original, unrepeatable in documentary, aesthetic and artistic value“, characterizes these photos the leading folklorist, former Research Director of the Center of Folklore of the Academy of Athens and lecturer of Visual Folklore in Greece dr. George Aikaterinidis.
The customs of popular worship, the holidays, the festivals, the small and large gatherings of rural communities are genuine expressions of the popular soul and authentic testimonies of life. Although in societies, especially modern ones, nothing remains stable and unchanging, customary practices have retained their deepest meaning, as they have retained elements of ritual formality along with other morphological characteristics and have been harmoniously adapted to the conditions of each era.
Some of the customs presented in the exhibition have disappeared in recent years or are in danger of extinction, which makes the photographic material unique by saving some of the most characteristic aspects of modern Greek customary life.
“I’m feeling lucky“, writes Nikos Psilakis in the introductory note of the exhibition, “that I lived our folk customs in their archetypal form, these genuine expressions of the soul of a people that preserved its sanctuaries and relics through troubled times and centuries of enslavement. I feel lucky to have followed in the footsteps of the ancient trekkers as they ascended to the summit sanctuaries, lucky to have touched Saint Myrtia and the holy oak of Saint Paraskevi, lucky to have walked with the old farmers in the long litany, at the end of a warm November, begging the crucible of his world to pour fruitful rains and quench the thirst of our parched dry land».
The exhibition will last until Saturday, December 9.
Opening hours: Monday – Friday 09:00 – 14:00 & 17:00 – 21:00, Saturday 09:00 – 14:00, Sundays and holidays closed.
Entry for the public will be free.
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Tags: photography exhibition Nikos Psilakis customs time erased begins
