Vanavond om 18.00 uur vond in Athene de presentatie plaats van de expositie The Olive Tree A Rooster Called Home van Loukia Richards die gehouden wordt in Antwerpen, Rotterdam en Amsterdam in mei 2011.

Binnenkort komt er op mijn blog meer informatie omtrent deze tentoonstelling, maar Loukia wil alvast enige informatie geven omtrent de tentoonstelling.

What is it? A solo textile art show by Loukia Richards + fee free Greek embroidery workshops taught by Loukia Richards.
Concept & show & Greek Embroidery workshops production: Loukia Richards.
Why you got this title? The Rooster is a symbol of abundance & fertility in Greek Embroidery; the olive tree is the holy tree of Athens (my hometown) and a characteristic motif of my paintings. The title is also a reference to the rooster who nested in the olive tree of a former (deserted) kilim factory in Leonidio in SE Peloponnese – a town internationally known for its kilim industry in the 19th century.
Show and e-catalogue curator: Dr. Alexandra Tranta, Archaeologist – Museologist.
E-catalogue design: Vagelis Stournaras.
Dates: 3 – 10 ?ay ?ntwerpen, 12 – 19 ?ay Amsterdam, 21 – 28 ?ay Rotterdam.
Fee free Greek Embroidery Workshops: Once a Day.
Why Greek Embroidery? Greek Embroidery is a unique style, a fusion of Eastern and Western traditions; and its beautiful and colorful compositions carry the messages of a) the ‘joy of life’, a concept alive and kicking in Greece since the Homeric times b) an extrovert and cosmopolitan character and c) the union of man and nature which is a very ancient Greek attitude but also a very contemporary ecological concept.
E-catalogue for web reader: The catalogue in English will include text on Greece, embroidery, textile art and the motifs I sketched at The Textile Museum in Washington DC (my research was funded by the Fulbright Foundation). The e-reader may download it for free if she/he wishes, copy it, use it as an embroidery pattern or give it to his children to color or play with it. The e-catalogue is: a) a much cheaper alternative compared to print material b) its accessing the right audience is not comparable to any ’traditional means of communication’ c) is 100% eco-friendly d) it can be home-printed e) sponsors may also ‘e-publish’ the e-catalogue in their websites.
The event is under the auspices of The Theoharakis Foundation, a private museum of modern and contemporary art in Athens.

The project has some more traits that I think are of interest to art related professionals:
a) it crosses art + craft
b) it has an extremely low budget and it is based on the volunteers’ professional work
c) it is funded by micro-sponsors (there is a donation-limit for corporations) and nano-sponsors (private donors or tiny enterprises)
d) it uses digital technology + the internet and it is 100% eco-friendly
e) it gives incentives to the visitors of the exhibition to DO-IT-THEMSELVES (sic)

Zowel de expositie als de workshops worden gehouden in de winkels van COCO-MAT in Antwerpen, Rotterdam en Amsterdam.