HERAKLEION, Crete – Greek artist Eirini Linardaki shared an update on her latest projects from the island of Crete.

She said via email, “These past few months we all had to isolate somewhere. Some in big cities and some in places we didn’t expect to be for so long. From my end, the traveling paused and I took a long period of study and research as an opportunity to develop projects that were dear to my heart and required time and constant presence in one location, whether that is a imaginary island or a room of one’s own.

“Here are some of the recent projects I have been working on, below I have included more info on each if you want to learn more :

• We spent a few weeks building a public sculpture installation in the City of Agios Nikolaos, Crete
• I had an interesting discussion/interview with Etty Yaniv of Art Spiel Magazine in December
• I was grateful to receive a Grant from Hellenic Ministry of Culture for research on sculptures for New York City’s Owl’s Head Park
• We continued our beloved Occupy Art Project #2
• ARCAthens Virtual Residency #2
• The Right to Silence?, John Jay College, New York City
• Darkest Before Dawn: Art In A Time Of Uncertainty exhibition

  Ethan Cohen KUBE, Beacon, NY.

• Videos ‘joies insoupçonnables’ with Institut Français de Grèce.”

Linardaki in collaboration with Vincent Parisot created “I cried a river over,” an onsite installation, marbles collage, 2020 in Agios Nikolaos, Crete, within the project "spirit of the stairs,” municipality of Agios Nikolaos with curators Eleni Koukou and Theophilos Tramboulis. The marbles included in the project were: Sikis, Tinos, Dionysos, Kavala, Kyknos, Volakas, Red Travertine, Gortynas, Phaistos, and Kokkinaras. The project was made possible with the generous donation of Cretamar (Agios Nikolaos).

On the grant from the Hellenic Ministry of Culture for research on sculptures for New York City’s Owl’s Head Park: “Έγειραν /Raised”, Linardaki said that “the project is a set of five sculptures that will be installed for nine months on the site.This installation explores the relationship between urban centers: the movement of people, the need to flee our society, the hope of the community as a constitutive element of the city. These refer also to my experience of dépaysement – the sense of not belonging, to issues deeply rooted in my culture as a constant immigrant.

“As a feminist I believe in the tenant that the personal is political and my personal experience has been shaped by being a carer, which has impacted in a multifaceted way on my artistic approaches and motivations. I am deeply committed as a professional to create work that is accessible to an audience with diverse needs but to also raise awareness amongst my colleagues in artistic and curatorial practice for including these considerations in our work ethics.

“Project in progress with the collaboration of Vincent Parisot (artist), Eleni Riga (curator), and special thanks to Melanie Levick Parkin (artist), Sozita Goudouna (curator), and Brendan O’Neill (sociologist).”

“Occupy Art Project #2 is an immediate response to the 2020 crisis, bringing together artists and curators between several countries,” Linardaki said. “The workgroup developed through public work sessions and an international network of structures and collaborators, in collaboration with the French Institut Greece. Occupy #2 is also an effort to recognize the hybrid identity of migrant artists.

“The project developed with a series of public talks in 2020 and will continue in 2021 with a new collaborative model between artistic practices and public presentations.

“While initiating the Occupy Art Projects, I aimed at building networks with different voices that I value as they help create an environment where diverse Ideas matter more than individual achievement,” Linardaki said.

More information about her participation in ARCAthens Virtual Residency #2 is available online: https://arcathens.org/about/aa-virtual-residency/avr2/.

“Greece in USA launched its program with the group exhibition The Right to Silence? that the non-profit platform organizes in New York under the auspices of the Greek Ministry of Culture at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY, City University of New York and at other cultural venues from December until June 2021,” Linardaki noted. The virtual tour is available online: https://shivagallery.org/featured_item/the-right-to-silence/.

Linardaki also noted that the Darkest Before Dawn: Art In A Time Of Uncertainty exhibition at the Ethan Cohen KUBE gallery in Beacon, NY has been extended through February 27. More information is available online: https://www.ecfa.com/darkest-before-dawn-kube.

Linardaki’s Joies insoupçonnables (unsuspected joys) with Institut Français de Grèce is available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/53q77dj9-bQ.

The article in Art Spiel is available online: https://artspiel.org/occupying-public-spaces/.