Icarian Utopia Art

A World Onboard

Ikaria will always give a special feeling to anyone who "comes aboard" the island. One can feel a cherished memory blossoming - and it’s as if embarking on a journey back to the carefree years of childhood!

If, throughout the years, an arc was constructed on Ikaria with the intention of shielding its residents from the ebb and flow of the ages that wash up on shore every season, we can say that this still occurs since the island was never abandoned by its people.

From the western border of Ikaria to the east, the island appears to cross the legendary heart of the Aegean Sea, leaving the Cyclades behind, passing over the Dodecanese Islands, and setting sail toward Asia Minor.

They say that if you want to hide something, there is no better place than to put it on the table in plain view. Thus many tourists will have already completed a full tour of the Greek waters before discovering the island of Ikaria: This is how Ikaria becomes the first and last station for anybody becoming part of the "crew" that cruises the island's beaches and mountains, festivals and villages, squares and paths.

The present exhibition leads us to these very “encounters” by offering an imaginative recollection of a world on board: Ikaria's journey with its people as its crew.

And this "double journey” of each and all together is portrayed when Kestas, the exhibition’s photographer, with genuine artistic instinct brought the features of the unchanging Ikarian landscape together with the glowing faces of the inhabitants from decades past - uniquely photographed by the local photographer of the island (Apostolis Mavrogiorgis).

Not only does this photo-composition succeed in showing the travel distance that has already been collectively covered, but also points towards the future by revealing to each new crew member the passages that lead to a simple but joyful life!