"Weaving the valleys of love" @Mouzakis - Petalouda (Butterfly) Thread Factory, Athens, Greece.
"Weaving the valleys of love (2023) by Dimitra Skandali attests to the mechanisms and approaches that will potentially allow us to re-connect with our history. The large-scale installation comprises of a vast variety of materials utilising not only thread, seaweed, flowers, bamboo sticks, bulrush, garbage but also coppered organic items, loom needles and other found objects from the factory. Incorporating traditional practices of weaving and knitting as well as fishing net making that she saw and learnt from her ancestors on the Greek island of Paros, the artist underlines the importance of reclaiming the knowledge of the past, bypassing the endemic sense of anxiety and worry that may arise in the process of gaining back our strength and self-belief. Skandali’s work skilfully unlocks the complex situation we are in and attempts to suggest how we can co-exist, centred around the old principles but as we move forward we register and appreciate our differences and uniqueness."
Text: Kostas Prapoglou
Filmmaking and Editing: Konstantinos Mavris