“Folding the Sea into Dresses that Dissolve like Salt”: Exploring Leros’ intimate and ever-shifting relationship with the sea

The group exhibition by the artistic platform Perasma returns to Leros, engaging once more in a dialogue with the island’s landmarks and layered history, inviting art lovers from around the world.

Running from June 29 to August 23, 2025, the exhibition explores Leros’ intimate and ever-shifting relationship with the sea, featuring works by 28 artists from America, Africa, Asia, and Europe, presented across two emblematic venues: the Kantioglou Mansion and the Primary School of Lakki.

Folding the Sea into Dresses that Dissolve like Salt

This year’s exhibition focuses on the possibilities of coexistence—on the delicate balance between connection and freedom, and on the infinite sites of encounter. Meaning does not “drop anchor” in fixed destinations, but emerges instead through relationships, movements, and shared rhythms. Throughout the summer, the exhibition will be accompanied by special performances, gatherings, and events.

Inspired by the metaphor of the compass in John Donne’s poem A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning, the curatorial approach this year evokes an outward motion held steady by a fixed center. In the poem, the compass symbolizes two lovers bound together despite distance—mirroring here a relationship in which one point remains rooted while the other traces its way through the world. What is sought is not direction, but rhythm. As with the invisible and unbreakable bond between two people, the movement of this exhibition remains anchored even in its outward reach.

This spirit reflects the nature of Leros itself—a land both solid and fluid in rhythm. Its edges expand with the sea, the wind, and memory, composing a fragmented yet grounded narrative.

Rejecting linear storytelling, the exhibition resides in a space where motion, rupture, and transformation act as generative forces. Influenced by Alejandro Jodorowsky’s notion of psychomagic, transformation arises not through thought alone, but through gesture, symbol, and intuition. The works are not created to explain—they exist to resonate, like the bird that sings not to give an answer, but because its song longs to be heard.

The relationship between land and sea embodies this tension. Island and water cannot be conceived apart. They are complementary, yet constantly in flux. At times, the sea is a boundary; at others, it opens a path. Sometimes the island is sheltered; other times, exposed.

Participating Artists & Exhibition Venues

The exhibition Folding the Sea into Dresses that Dissolve like Salt features works—some of them newly commissioned—by the following artists:
Deniz Aktaş, Hüseyin Aksoy, Kent Andreasen, Korakrit Arunanondchai, Mirna Bamieh, The Centre for the Less Good Idea, Margherita Chiarva, Giorgio de Chirico, TM Davy, Brian Eno, Laura Footes, Lucio Fontana, Alice Guittard, Ali Kazma, Gülsün Karamustafa, William Kentridge, Joline Kwakkenbos, Dora Maar, Lola Montes Schnabel, Neo Muyanga, Marcus Neustetter, Ömer Pekin, Takis, Athina Rachel Tsangari, Rinus van de Velde, Eugenia Vereli, and Kostis Velonis.

Works are presented at the Kantioglou Mansion and the Primary School of Lakki.
The Kantioglou Mansion, a neoclassical building dating back to 1886 in Agia Marina, now functions as an exhibition space entrusted to the Perasma platform.
The Primary School of Lakki is a landmark of rationalist modernism, completed in the 1930s as part of the urban development of Portolago during the Italian occupation of the island.

Previous Editions

Each year, the Leros Project invites artists to explore new approaches to the island’s history, natural environment, and geographical landscape. Through these initiatives, the project has established a distinctive presence within the international contemporary art scene.

In past editions, participating artists have included William Kentridge, Goshka Macuga, Cevdet Erek, Martin Creed, Alice Guittard, Maria Joannou, Lindsey Mendick, Pawel Althamer, Necla Rüzgar, and Nermin Er. The dialogue between artists and the sites of Leros has offered audiences a layered and dynamic experience.

The PERASMA Shop

Inspired by this year’s curatorial theme, Perasma will also present a curated selection of works and objects at the Perasma Shop, created by artists and designers in conversation with the island and the conceptual framework of this edition.
The shop does not function as a conventional retail space, but rather as a passage—a portal into another aesthetic proposal shaped by the team.
Participating designers and artisans will be announced soon.

About Perasma & the Leros Project

Perasma is an independent artistic platform based in Istanbul, founded by Burcu Fikretoğlu and Gizem Naz Kudunoğlu. It explores contemporary art through site-specific exhibitions featuring both local and international artists. The Leros Project is a signature example of this approach—bringing together artists, researchers, and local communities to reflect on the multilayered past, present, and future of the island. In the coming months, Perasma plans to expand its activities across Istanbul, Athens, and new locations. Leros will remain a central hub of the platform, hosting works that explore the interaction between artists and their environments.