The carré Eleftheria consists of Greek landscapes and the bold word Ἐλευθερία (Freedom). Nine squares are joined together seamlessly. The artist Elias Kafouros delivered a powerful message to the viewers with the bold word Ἐλευθερία (Freedom) in the sky above Greece. The message also represents the Greek people’s voice. With the wind, it travels to every corner in all regions of Greece, sweeps across the classic farmlands to the ancient historical sites, and flows from the little streams to the vast seas, echoes reverberating between the caves and the mountain valleys. The letters of Ἐλευθερία (Freedom) transform into pieces of ribbons when this meaningful art piece folds.
The word Ἐλευθερία (Freedom) acts as air space in this two-dimensional art which can have a significant impact. It creates a massive contrast visually between the air spaces and the dense landscapes. The letters lighten the density horizontally and increase the vertical space between the land and the sky. This type of air space leads the viewer’s eyes to focus on each section and implies a continuation of the landscape that allows the viewers to feel that they can walk right into the scene.
Image Credit to Greek Travel
At the centre of the carré, “A lake is superimposed at the centre of the letter “θ”, taking the shape of a blue eye…”. Melissani Cave Lake is located on the island of Kefalonia, northwest of Sami, Greece. Its shape looks like the blue eye of the Earth from an aerial view. The brackish lake mixed with seawater and sweet water might have the most transparent water in the world. When sunlight shines into the colourless water through the oval chamber right overhead at noon, the light reflects, refracts in the crystal-clear water, and lights up the whole cave with ethereal and atmospheric blue, turquoise colours.
Image Credit to Wiki Common.
Along the diagonal line from the upper right to the bottom left, across the letter “θ” at the centre of the carré are a Tsarouchi and a rifle. At the upper right corner, a Tsarouchi with the words HÈRMES PARIS landed on four-leaf clovers. A rifle with the letter “H” blended into the orchids at the lower-left corner. Both are known as parts of the traditional uniform worn by the Evzones of the Greek Presidential Guard. The distinctive Evzones uniform evolved from the clothes worn by the klephts who fought the Ottoman occupation of Greece.
The Tsarouchi are flat, hard-soled shoes with a large tassel that the great warriors of the Greek War of Independence wore. The red colour symbolises the blood of the Greeks’ ancestors and the black tassel reminds them of the four hundred years of slavery. The tassel on the tip represents the small tree of liberty, a hidden blade inside the tassel as a secret weapon for hand-to-hand combat. A pair of Evzonas Tsarouchi weighs two and a half kilograms and features around sixty nails under the sole, which are intended to simulate the battle sound of the Evzone’s movement and salute to their brave ancestors, let them know their next generations are alive and freedom.
Image Credit to Lily S.
Ever since orchids have been a symbol of fertility, the letter “H” blooms on the flower, depicting Hermès’ celebration of the 200th Anniversary of the Greek Revolution. The artist hopes that the Greeks will continue their contributions to improving and benefiting society for future generations and wishes them good health, happiness, success and prosperity.
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