Ceramic exhibitions by Greek and international artists have been held in Paxos annually at the municipal gallery the Old School in Loggos and also at Chris Boïcos Fine Arts in Gaios since 2015.

In Earth Wind and Fire (2018) traditional Greek objects like olive oil jars and clay beehives were reimagined by contemporary Greek ceramicists and presented in a seaside exhibition, along with a choral concert conceived by composer and choreographer Dimitra Trypani, to evoke the connections between Greek nature and ceramic creation.

This summer Friends of a Paxos in coordination with Chris Boïcos Fine Arts and Barcelona-based Greek ceramicist Angelika Kogevina, are bringing together in Paxos nine ceramic artists in a dialogue between two Mediterranean civilizations in: “East Meets West: Greek and Catalan Contemporary Ceramic Art”.

Ever since the founding of the Greek colony of Emporium (Ampurias) in northwest Catalonia in the 6th century BC, Greece has been connected by trade and cultural exchange with Catalonia, Valencia and Andalucía. The straits of Gibraltar were known to the ancient Greeks as the place where Hercules had raised his famous pillars marking the end of the Mediterranean world. In the 14th century the Catalan Company lead by its legendary mercenary general, Roger de Flor (the hero of the 15c Valencian epic Tirant lo Blanc), fought the Turks in the East, in alliance with Byzantine Emperor Andronicus II. The Catalan Company also took over the medieval Duchy of Athens imposing Barcelonese legal customs and governing titles on Greece’s most famous ancient city.

Catalonia, Valencia and Greece have a parallel history of ceramic creation that goes back to the Paleolithic age. The Archeological Museum of Barcelona exhibits ancient Greek pottery found on many sites in Catalonia. Ceramic art is one of the most important branches of Iberian civilization. Remarkable collections of traditional and modern ceramics are on display in many museums in Catalonia and Valencia, notably the Barcelona Museu de Céramica, the Museu del Càntir in Argentona, The Terracotta Museu in la Bisbal d’Empordà, the Museu de Terrissa Catalana in Oristà and the Manises Ceramics Museum in Valencia. Manises also organizes one of the greatest contemporary ceramic fairs in Europe, the Bienal Internacional de Cerámica de Manises. Modern ceramic art in Spain is also associated with the names of the three greatest Catalan artists of the 20th century, Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró and Antonio Gaudí.

Our nine creators, below, will be presenting a rich variety of styles and shapes, based on their personal interpretation of Mediterranean light and nature. We hope that this first artistic dialogue between Greece and Catalonia in Paxos will lead to many more fruitful exchanges between creators on opposite sides of our common, nurturing sea.