“The Last Days” & the first steps for a long-term art group project on the island of Ikaria
... Every day is the last day ...
These were the last days when the Coronavirus was still “safe in China”. Ivana Petan, Gregor Erjavec and Bojan left by ferry from Venice over the Adriatic to Greece, to do the first steps for a long-term art group project on the island of Ikaria in the Aegean sea.
From Venice to Patras: Med Land project team on their way to the island of Ikaria in the Aegean sea
Venetian Lagoon
From Venice to Patras: Med Land project team on their way to the island of Ikaria in the Aegean sea
How to move, to touch, to live in times when moving and touching ...
... depend on who you are!
From sleepless mode ...
... to ...
... peace mode.
Piraeus
Cargo ship in front of the Port of Piraeus, Athens
Athens
YES, our destination was Ikaria - a Greek island some 30 miles from Turkey
Why Ikaria at all? It was a matter of following instinct. We were doing a research (2018) on MED Land destinations when we came across Dr. Christodoulos Xenakis, a true master of love and compassion in action in his Ikarian way at his age of 80+! Now we are friends and doing things together ... Christodoulos and Ulysses traveling together ...
Ever since, Ikaria is like a lighthouse for me in relation to other islands, deeply connected to the creative pulses of Gaia, with the traces of 15,000 years of continuous presence of humans here. The awareness of this connectedness, as far as I can sense, is still present, and the pulse goes beyond the Mediterranean Sea to Middle East, Africa and Europe.
Our MED Land mission this time was related to the project of Marko Pogačnik and the team of geomancers and artists who were planning to do the stone land art installations project on the island in order to reinforce the connectedness and spread the message over the Mediterranean. Our task was to continue preparation work on determining the location(s) for the installation, connecting to some key places that are expressing the vitality of Ikaria, finding the right stones, all in collaboration with the Ikarian team, artist Vangelis Rinas and Christodoulos Xenakis, the founder of the Association of Ikarian Studies. Ivana Petan, who collaborated in previous geomatic-art projects with Marko Pogačnik, was leading our field preparation tasks on the research of the geomantic aspects of the island, determining the location(s) for the installation and finding local stones that are also suitable for carving. Since Marko and the team could not come, we were doing some research while being telepathically connected, and it worked very well!
Our first destinations for exploring, connecting and understanding the geomantic aspects of the island were on the east side of the island, opposite the island of Samos
In the past. the inland walls, hidden from the "eye of the sea", were valuable and very useful.
inland walls
Roman bath ruins
in the key spot for art - geomantic instalation -North side / Pharos (Ivana Petan & Gregor Erjavec)
THE act - roof repairs on the container house for our art / MED Land project residence in collaboration with the Institute for Ikarian studies
Christodoulos Xenakis, a native Ikarian, and Suzana were taking us to the spots to understand and connect with Ikaria.
Ivana Petan, experienced in geomancy and land art projects, chose the spots for our research.
On the top of Ikaria.
Visiting beekeeper. Like everything on the island, it is a ritual of hospitality, with food, wine, sweets and tsipouro brandy.
Susane and Christodoulos
Visiting beekeeper. Like everything on the island, it is a ritual of hospitality, with food, wine, sweets and tsipouro brandy.
Beekeeper
The nature of Ikaria is to connect to other places in the Mediterranean and beyond, as well as to integrate the “above and below” levels of existence
Ancient Mandir stones on the east side of Ikaria were one of many (12+) locations where we were tuning in with the island.
Drakano - the rock on the E side of the island
Ivanas notes about Drakano and the rock - in connection with the being of the rock, I feel the rock rising up into the sky, and in the red pillar connecting the earth and the cosmos. my back space opens, allowing me to enter the causal dimensions of archetypes and ancestors, giving me the “wings” by allowing the freedom to breathe with awareness of myself. in the vision the head of the serpent - the dragon appears to me, which tells me that this is the place of spiritual power - of wisdom that originates and grows from the heart. I look towards Samos and Turkey. I feel them close, very close; this announces me their energetical connection and co-dwelling with a rock and the space of Drakano.
Tower of Drakano (tune-in place)
Under this tree in the village of Akamatra, the past three governors on Ikaria used to meet to make important decisions together. Each one had 1/3 of the seal, and to make a common decision, they had to assemble the entire seal to sign the document. Christodoulos' grandfather was one of them ... The team: Susana, Christodoulos, Gregor and Bojan .
Temple Of Artemis Tavropolion (tune-in place)
Icarus has his spot on the south side side of the island, where legend can be understood also in the relation with island. The legend goes that Icarus did not obey his father and followed his call to fly, to explore new dimensions of life. Where and how he ended up is not the point of this legend.
Marko, Ivana, Gregor an myself felt the importance of understanding Icarus as an archetype that maintains the meaning to this day,
On the west side of Ikaria, there are special rocks - angelic formations, some so large that traces of prehistoric inhabitants were found inside (tune-in place)
Randi forest in the central Ikaria was also one of our "tune-in" places on our research trip for the geomantic art installation.
Limnos island -hill above Myrina town, is a an old sacrad palce. Here I could face the reality that the architipal forms of life were long before formed in mineral world
Back to WhatsApp? She could at least search for Wim Hof's breathing and cold water techniques, as well as urinotherapy which keeps the immune system in top shape! I can recommend it FIRST HAND, it is a "start up" that keeps me on the energy level necessary to have overview of what is going on and to practice "LOVE in action".
Mytilini - Lesbos, last stop from Ikaria to Kavala -main land
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