A FUTURE FOR THE PAST

The exhibition ‘A Future for the Past’ is part of a 2-year programme that aims to raise awareness about marble craftsmanship at the island of Tinos. The programme, in collaboration with marble atelier on•entropy and curator Maria Cristina Didero, brings together traditional craftsmanship and contemporary design and aims to showcase how their dialectic relationship can contribute to both social and economic sustainability.

Marble sculpting in Greece carries historical significance, as it is an art practiced for millennia and intertwined with the Greek cultural heritage. At the same time, today it can constitute a potential factor for social progress.

The research program, part of which is this exhibition, highlights precisely this aspect. Through kinaesthetic knowledge preserved across generations, the art of marble sculpting contributes to the strengthening of societal bonds within the villages of Tinos. Values such as the sense of belonging and the collective identity are brought to the forefront and consequently the quality of life improves. Especially during a period of intensive touristic development and gentrification at the island of Tinos, the empowerment of such values is more critical than ever.

The presentation of "A Future for the Past" at the Benaki Museum follows the successful installation at the international design hub in Milan and precedes a festival of marble craftsmanship at Tinos. The installation at Benaki Museum provides a unique opportunity for the museum’s contemporary greek marble exhibits to engage in a dialogue with the creations of tinian marble sculptors. These, in turn, will converse with a sculptural contemporary design object made by tinian marble sculptors.

Implemented with a hands-on, modern, inclusive and sustainable approach, this is an innovative synergy. It brings together the local and the international, and the traditional with the contemporary in the specific field of craftsmanship. The aim is that both, contemporary design and historic marble sculpting, can continue sustainably to the future, making Tinos a recognizable hub of cultural wealth.

Tinian marble craftsmen & sculptors:

1. Nikos & Panagiotis Fortomas, Athens
2. Argyris Skalkotos, Athens
3. Onoufrios Desypris, Tinos
4. Dimitris Skalkotos, Athens
5. Giannis Hondrogiannis, Tinos
6. Markos Trigonis, Tinos
7. Petros Marmarinos, Tinos
8. Giannis Kagiorgis, Tinos
9. Iakovos Philippou, Tinos
10. Preparatory and Vocational School of Fine Arts & Marble Craftsmanship of Panormos, Tinos

Designers:

on•entropy