In an effort to encourage the dialogue between arts, the environment and people, following a series of artistic collaborations and in-situ projects instituted in the late 80’s, the G & A Mamidakis Foundation has organized a new art project for summer 2016, which focuses on the sea shore of Crete and in particularly on the area of Aghios Nikolaos, where Minos Beach art hotel a member of bluegr Ηotels & Resorts is situated.

The Foundation is hosting an in-situ art exhibition, titled Sea to Shore Stories, created by Kostas Ioannides under the artistic curation of Katerina Gregou.

The exhibition consists of a multi-faceted project that will have a significant presence in various parts of the hotel. The central premise of the project is the love of the simple things in life: reading a book, enjoying the sea, creating something special and working to preserve it.

The route starts at the hotel’s reception, with Everlasting Song, a video projection about the tale ‘The Fisherman and His Soul‘, where text by Oscar Wilde uniquely describes the magic of the world under the surface of the water.

The Sea to Shore Stories exhibition continues submerged under the waters of Aghios Nikolaos, where one can admire the work ‘Lost Ears of Aghios Nikolaos‘. This underwater sculptural installation is the sequel to a project that Ioannidis started in 1992 in Paleopolis, Andros. Paleopolis is the island’s ancient capital, whose remarkable finds make it one of the most notable archaeological sites in Greece.

In the summer of 1992 nine large ears made of concrete were sunk in the ancient city’s waters where diving is prohibited due to the presence of antiquities. Today, just two of the ears remain where they were placed, and the fate of the other seven is unknown.

The third part of the exhibition is the ‘Hanging Gardens‘ project, an underwater sound installation. For the creation of the underwater garden sounds, the artist used sounds of songbirds of Crete, such as nightingales, goldfinches, blackbirds etc. The sounds are transferred beneath sea level in a natural environment, creating the effect of a submerged garden for swimmers to enjoy.