Island Landscapes

In most people's minds the Greek islands are bathed in light; rocky floating surfaces of land with all sorts of geomorphological features and vegetation watered in salt or mountainous and untouched by the sea that surrounds it. People's homes and activities are concentrated in settlements, villages and communes. Outside of them, the rural life and the unspoiled nature prevail. 

The writer and musician from Scotland Malachy Tallack vividly describes the feeling when you come into contact with an island: “islands give you an immediate sense of what it means to be a human being out there, surrounded by water. There is the metaphor of the person as an island but there is also a deep fascination with the island as a world in itself. Islands are tantalising because they seem knowable. We can walk across them. Yet at the same time they are mysterious places to which we are inexplicably drawn. Mysterious yet knowable – that’s what makes islands so fascinating.”

For most of the people the Greek summer has been identified with sunny island alleys, swimming in crowded beaches, busy streets, evening dinner and drinks. However, there is another version of the same story… the choice to be on a quiet beach, the lonely walks on a dirt path, a humble meal in an isolated tavern, the midday nap under the coolness of a plane tree away from the noisy world. Everyone picks what fits them and calms them down.

For the local population the reality is different. Whether engaged in tourism activities or agricultural work and trade, the island is not always a bright peaceful place. Winter is often severe and quite lonely when the summer visitors return back to their bases. The locals live the reality without embellishments; the island is not an easy task when you experience it all year long.

The Greek natural and architectural diversity gives the Greek islands a distinct identity that lives in your mind for a long time. The olive groves of Lesbos, the mountains of Crete, the small desert of Lemnos, the mastic trees of Chios, the brushwoods of Serifos, the houses of Symi, the transparent waters of Paxos, the sea caves of Alonissos and so many other special landscapes from 85 inhabited islands of Greece offer the visitor different experiences and emotions. Each island has something special, concerning the music, the local cuisine and customs, the archaeological sites and the architectural tradition.

As much as the Greek islands have been more or less alienated by the hyper-tourism of the last decades, they always maintain the image of the summer retreats, the sea voyage that brings people in contact with the water element and above all with the sunlight and summer carelessness. In this Thematic Exhibition we will mentally fly over and through island landscapes via paintings and drawings.