Eirini Linardaki is a visual artist sharing her time between the island of Crete and the city of New York. The Cretan life and the vibe of New York City create uniquely inspiring environments for her to create her artworks. What she loves about traveling are the beautiful stories people tell her about discoveries they make in their own cities, places worth visiting outside of the usual places.

Artists always have interesting ideas for places to visit, unique and intriguing foods to share, and about what to do in their city.

INSPIRATION 

When, in 2003, Eirini visited Constantinople, a friend said that she had to absolutely try a dessert called ‘asure’. Myths inform us that this was a pudding made with leftovers on Noah’s ark.

Only, it turned out this was no ordinary quest, as, in every pastry shop she entered, people smiled and told her that they didn’t make it anymore, that it was an old and favorite recipe, but hard to find anymore! The journey took Eirini and her friends to the Asian part of Constantinople, where they finally were able to enjoy this pudding next to a bus station. This epic journey remained as an extraordinary story for them to remember, the quest more important indeed than the destination, taking them through unknown places of Constantinople, marking them way more than the touristic destinations.

With this story in mind, Eirini started the ‘Artists nonfictions’ project in 2018, a collection of unique video narratives, that create alternative urban guides, sending the audience to new discoveries – places to visit or things to taste in the cities she loves.

The collaborators are mainly artists, but not only!

A Greek neuroscientist tells us about her favorite cookie, a moustokoulouro filled with walnuts enjoyed with Greek coffee, and a New Yorker tells us about the medley of communities and their cuisines on the Lower East Side – bagels, etc.

People reveal on these videos what specifically it is about their city that fuels their creativity, so that people who visit Heraklion or New York have an alternative to the common, stade urban guide.

Each presentation, walk, and interview is rendered as a short personal video.

When combined, they become chapters in a non-linear narrative about pleasure and materiality, environment and urban habits, cuisine etc. Everything that makes a city!