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The way into OTHERLANDS is through a semi salty lake, fossilized corals and a pine forest traversing in between fault lines. You can’t actually spot them in the landscape, except for that one place in the valley where the earthquake of 1981 has left an actual rupture on the surface of the ground beneath the pine and olive trees beyond the ghostly waters of an ancient lake. This impactful landscape comes alive, as mountains ebb and flow, influenced by the surrounding fault lines that cancel each other out.

We arrive at a geological balance point. The archaeological space of Heraion, Perachora meaning the land on the other side or OTHERLANDS, which will serve as a space of critical encounter with the Other; the colonized,the foreign, the unfamiliar, the strange, the incongruous.

Sculptures by Petros Moris and sonic fiction by Jeph Vanger and Savina Giannatou intertwine, in a resonance of everything that exists and has existed in this land, human and non-human bodies, archaeological remains and geological materials.

Embracing post colonial understandings of the Other, OTHERLANDS is an alternative to the flat tradition of geography designed to support networks of extraction and exploitation. Instead, a vertical connection with the landscape is proposed, beginning at eye level, then through the ground beneath our feet and finally deep into the subterranean deposits of memories, myths and metaphors.

The ruptures of temporal, intercultural, and tectonic conflicts are ingrained in the work Seven Children (2024) by Petros Moris. These sculptures linger in between the human, geological, and mythological realms. Inspired by Akraia, Petros Moris creates these seven ever-changing faces, that connect to subterranean traces and myths. The unexpected encounters with the sculptures throughout the archaeological space create a pathway that connects demythologized stories with the geo-environment. Placed in the surfacing of the fault lines, above notches, and in between limestones with fossil traces, the artworks converse with the uncanny of the archaeological remains as well as with the non-anthropocentric nature of geological phenomena.

Beyond that which is visually perceived, the sonic environment influences the image of the landscape. Jeph Vanger and Savina Giannatou offer a deeply inclusive approach to all the sounds and vibrations that bodies and matter share in the archaeological site, aiming towards a sonic coexistence. The binaural sound work Excavation (2024) featured on each individual headphone focuses on the relationship between the sonic, cultural, social and perceived environment. Voices of human and “voices” of non-human bodies as well as the vibrations of matter are connected through Jeph Vanger’s musical composition. Each visitor is invited to explore the sonic fiction in the upper levels of the archaeological space, engaging in multimodal listening, a practice of listening as a situated, full-bodied act. Sound is here understood as an emdodied event, providing deeper information on effects and affects of the landscape.

Jeph Vanger will present and activate a sound sculpture during the live performance, delving into the sonic space of the landscape through a tonal synchronization of field recordings, the human voice and the sound sculpture. Jeph Vanger’s sound composition explores the tonal information of the landscape through a digital manipulation of field recordings, which can be understood as a sort of tonal excavation.

The relationship of the voice of human bodies is introduced through his collaboration with musician Savina Giannatou, who will be activating and supporting forms of conflict, confrontation and struggle between voices, screams and vibrations. Savina’s voice echoes divinations from the lost oracle of Hera Akraia, where a unique practice of phialomanteia foretold the outcome of sea journeys. This practice is a result of the colonising enterprises of the Corinthians and an appropriation of practices like lecanomancy, that received oracles by observing the movement of oil in water, deriving from Egypt and Babylonia. Laments reverberate through Savina’s voice connecting with Petros Moris’ sculptures, all in between lost ancient languages and improvised wordings.

OTHERLANDS

Petros Moris

Jeph Vanger

Savina Yannatou

Curated by Steffi Stouri

In the context of Atopos Unbound

Scientific advisor: Ioannis Papanikolaou

Invigilator: Eirini Papagianopoulou

01.07. 2024 – 21.07.2024

8:00-15:30

Guided georoutes*

05.07.2024 19:00

13.07.2024 19:00

Live Sound performance*

20.07.2024 19:00

21.07.2024 19:00

*During these events the exhibition will operate with extended hours 08.00 – 21.00

We thank the British School of Athens for permitting the reproduction of archival material on the printed and digital matter of the exhibition.