In the summer of 2026, the sculptural installation Chronotopia by Canadian artists Caitlind r.c. Brown & Wayne Garrett was unveiled in Agios Nikolaos, Crete, after winning the 2026 Art Prize of the G. & A. Mamidakis Foundation.

Positioned on an elevated site between greenery, the sea and the open horizon, Chronotopia offered a unique experience to visitors attending the presentation from Crete, Athens and abroad. The large-scale, site-specific sculptural installation, selected from more than 450 submissions from 65 countries, will remain on permanent public display as part of the G. & A. Mamidakis Foundation Collection, which includes more than 70 works by significant Greek and international artists.

Access to the artwork, as well as to all other works in the Foundation’s collection in Agios Nikolaos, Crete, is free for visitors and local residents.

For many years, the G. & A. Mamidakis Foundation has designed and implemented educational and artistic programmes, primarily involving children from schools of all levels in the region, with the aim of familiarising them with art and creative expression.

The artists travelled from Canada several weeks before the unveiling to work on the installation of their piece. The artwork consists of a robust metal structure resembling a network of branches and 1,500 optical lenses of varying strengths, arranged to form two arched “sails” of light that embrace the visitor.

When standing inside the installation, viewers experience distant images focused and projected into domed microcosms that shift according to changing conditions. They move with the wind, transform with the light and continuously reassemble themselves without ever settling into a single, fixed image. Viewed from outside, each visitor’s body appears as a mosaic-like abstraction, becoming part of an alternative way of seeing.

As the artists explained during the presentation, the Mediterranean is a mythical and unfamiliar place for them, unlike anything they had encountered before. They were particularly inspired by the area's mythology and history, as well as by its open blue sea and expansive horizon.

They also noted that this was the first time they had worked on a project intended for permanent installation. As a result, issues of sustainability and resilience to time and weather conditions, while maintaining a strong artistic outcome, presented a challenge that was successfully addressed through close collaboration and co-curation with the team of the Mamidakis Foundation.

Expanding on their concept, the artists emphasised their interest in multiple perspectives and in the different experiences created through varying interpretations of the present, the past and the future. They also highlighted the importance of appropriate lighting, allowing the installation to function throughout the day and night.

Accustomed to working in and drawing inspiration from the natural environment, Caitlind & Wayne expressed their enthusiasm for the way the artwork interacts in Agios Nikolaos not only with the landscape and its visitors, but also with the birds and insects of the garden, which have already made the installation part of their habitat.

Photo Credits: Loukianos Arnaoutakis.