For the first time in Athens, the Archipelago Network presents the rich and multidimensional maritime traditions of the Cyclades through the multimedia exhibition “The Art of the Sea”, which will open on Thursday, July 4, at 8:30 p.m. at the Goethe. Institute in Athens (Omirou 14 -16). The exhibition, which will run until September 21, 2024, traces the connections between these maritime communities, past and present, through archival materials and contemporary photographic, audio and audiovisual documentation.
Highlighting both the value and danger of logging, fishing and navigation in the Cyclades, the exhibition in Athens invites the public to direct their senses to the sea and the future that surrounds it. Visitors to the exhibition will discover a universe of objects, landscapes, boats and portraits in the historical places of the islands, such as the shipyard “Tarsanas” in Syros, the bay of Ai-Yiannis in Paros, the carnagio in Armenia, Santorini and the fishing ports of Amorgos and Koufonisi. The exhibition will also feature historical materials from the Naoussa History-Folklore Museum of Paros (Othona Kapari collection) and various private collections from Syros, Amorgos and Santorini.
ABOUT THE PROJECT:
Art of the Sea, curated by Maurizio Borriello and Jacob Moe, maps the rich maritime tradition of the Cyclades and presents archival material, photographs, photographs, sound collages and the woodworking, fishing and shipping communities of Amorgos, Koufonisi, Paros, Santorini and Syros. short documentaries.
Taking a bottom-up approach to finding and preserving community heritage, the Art of the Sea exhibition series highlights the less tangible and monumental forms of maritime culture, highlighting their importance for the present and future.
Both the historical archival material and the contemporary audio-visual evidence are the result of field research conducted by the Archipelago Network in 2023-24 as part of the Cycladic Sea Art project, initially presented interactively digitally on the organization’s online platform. map.
Dr. Maurizio Borriello is a maritime ethnographer, shipbuilder and documentary photographer/videographer. He has worked in various maritime museums and ship conservation centers in Norway restoring wooden ships recognized as historic maritime treasures by the Norwegian Directorate of Cultural Heritage, and has conducted extensive field research in shipyards in Southeast Asia, India and the
His doctoral research focused on the development of a sustainable wooden boat construction method combined with methods recorded and documented during a comparative ethnographic study of modern technologies. Albaola currently works as a boat building instructor at Itsas Kultur Faktoria. He holds a master’s degree in Asian and African languages and received his PhD from the University
Jacob Moe is a documentary filmmaker and archivist. He is the founder and principal researcher of the Archipelago Network, an initiative to explore and document audiovisual heritage, culture and material knowledge in the Cyclades.
As a film and radio producer, he has coordinated field studies and community-based programs in the Aegean and Brazil on topics such as intangible cultural heritage, traditional arts and indigenous media. He holds a BA in Political Science from Pomona College, an MA in Social Papers from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and has received independent research fellowships from the University of Sao Paulo and the Academy of Athens, among others.
ABOUT THE ARCHIPELAGO NETWORK
The Aegean islands are havens of diasporic culture, traditional knowledge and biodiversity. However, today, accelerating changes such as hypertourism and the global climate crisis are putting local pressures on these coastal communities, threatening their knowledge systems and ecological balances. In this context, the Archipelago Network considers the Cyclades as laboratories for conducting field research, programs, publications, digital projects and public programs.
The initiative operates at the intersection of audiovisual experiences, cultural life and the natural environment, providing free access to its digital collections, while contributing to the development of local and regional memory through documentation events and public programming.