December 2021 – Exhibition “Elogiando la libertad » under the auspices of the Embassy of Panama in Greece, dedicated to the liberation of Panama in 1821 by the Spanish Corona – Piraeus Municipal Art Gallery – Athens
On the occasion of the exceptional exhibition organised for the 200 years of Panama’s Independence from the Spanish, I studied, got informed, and found myself mentally in this country. With my eyes almost closed, I saw and created three pieces of art. I wanted on the one hand to come closer to this Republic and, on the other hand, to go back in time and find myself in the period we celebrated with this exhibition.
The exhibition was organised under the auspices of the Embassy and the General Consulate of Panama in Greece and invited 8 prominent Greek painters to contribute to this exhibition: Namely, Io Angeli, Yiorgos Avgeros, Apostol, Chryssa Verghi, Anna Gerolymatou, Irene Kana, Christos Kechagioglou, Vangelis Rinas and Manolis Charos.
The artwork “Words of a million dreams” was created from a text that I wrote one night going through my notes. In my notebook, I have been gathering material from various sources on Panama. The text is imprinted on the canvas in Spanish so the viewer can better understand my inspiration. Motivated by the bloodless revolution against the Spanish people, the text boosted my creativity.
“Lying under the palm tree,
hidden behind its trunk,
between orchids and butterflies sticking on my hair,
I saw a light from afar.
The heart beats …
Yes, yes, they have left. I saw them walking away.
We are free.
Love cried out to the Atlantic wave: you can now wake me up, kissing me on the lips, every morning.
I will have a white orchid on my hair; it is called Flor del Espiritu Santo (the flower of the Holy Spirit).
You just have to look me in the eyes and we will revert polygenesis with our dreams and our beliefs in our ideals.
Your eyes in my heart.”
The artwork entitled “A Panama” is exclusively inspired by Demetrio Korsi’s poem. Demetrio Korsi was a poet of Greek origin who lived many years in Paris, New York and was a Consul in Le Havre and Kingston, Jamaica. He was a poet of the transition between modernism and the avant-garde. His poems contained humorous hues also.
Este eslabón del Continente
es mi tierra natal,
es el Istmo por donde se filtran las razas
para ver los dioramas del Canal;
Es el pigmeo
que con su abrazo ahoga al Titan,
y es uno de los objetivos
des los que forjan servidumbres en
nombre de la libertad!
Republiquita microscopica,
ombligo del mapamundi, brújula de
la eternidad,
puente de la conquista
faro de la inmensidad,
ya todo tu destino lo adivino Bolívar
con su visión super-genial,
y en porvenir te mira tu Poeta
urbe continental!
La California en tu camino de Cruces
le abrió el Oeste a la humanidad
y las emigraciones viajeras
hasta el final del mundo te bendicen,
Panama.
No veis al futuro humano
Por esta ventanita universal?
“Pro Mundi Beneficio”
(Que barbaridad!)
The artwork “Indigenae” is inspired and dedicated to the Embera tribe, a semi-nomadic indigenous people living in the Chagres river, approximately 2 hours outside the capital of Panama. The tribe is a “painting” itself. Their bright colours , their crafts, their dresses and jewelry, as well as the beautiful flowers they wear on their hair made me create this artwork.
Article Links: Newsville – Maritimes – Ertnews
Photos from the exhibition in the Piraeus Municipal Art Gallery
