The exhibition titled “Encounter” by Alexia Seretidou opens on Friday, June 20 at 18:00, at the Multipurpose Hall of the Municipal Art Gallery of the Municipality of Heraklion (Chrysostomou 8), and admission is free.

The exhibition, which will run until Friday, June 27, consists of a total of 42 works, including wall-mounted pieces and installations. It offers a universal, borderless visualisation of Greek mythology and ancient Greek literature. Women working in the African countryside, carrying their babies on their backs, selling their crops in Yemen’s markets, or herding their animals on the plateaus of Nepal, take on a divine and heroic presence.

The technique used for the wall pieces is inspired by the process followed by photographers of the previous century, hand-colouring black-and-white photographs to highlight the portrayed subjects. Here, the highlighting of the figures is achieved through a remarkable material: handmade paper.

With handmade Asian paper as the primary material—sourced from countries such as Japan, India, Thailand, Bhutan, Nepal, along with paper created by the artist herself using raw materials such as leaves, mallow bark, seaweed—these heroes are dressed and framed within paper-crafted sets. The handmade papers, with their varying textures, are dyed with ink, watercolours, pastels, natural dyes from the Cretan nature, and processed using techniques like cyanotype, icon gilding, engraving, and more.

The installations on display are models – sets made from packaging materials, framing papers, and drawing papers. The works are accompanied by texts from ancient, modern Greek, and world literature relevant to each theme. English translations are displayed alongside all the works.

Multipurpose Hall of the Municipal Art Gallery of Heraklion
Chrysostomou 8, Heraklion
Phone: 2810339067, 2810288487 | Email: artgallery@heraklion.gr

Exhibition duration: Friday, June 20 to Friday, June 27, 2025
Opening event: Friday, June 20, 18:00
Opening hours: Monday – Friday 10:00 – 14:00 & 18:00 – 21:00
Closed on weekends and public holidays
Free Admission