“Threads for Our Time”: A contemporary textile art exhibition featuring works by 42 Greek artists at Lofos art project

A major new exhibition opens on Thursday, November 13, 2025, at 19:30 at Lofos art project (Velvendou 39, Kypseli), featuring 42 contemporary Greek artists working with the medium of textile art, curated by Dimitris Sarafianos. Its title: “Threads for Our Time.”

The myth of the labyrinth is perhaps the most familiar myth in our disenchanting era. Who has not felt lost in winding, unknown corridors at the beginning of a new life path a journey without a predetermined route, yet with a predetermined end? Who does not seek a guiding thread to escape or at least feel they are escaping, the irrationalities of the modern world? Whether an encounter with the unconscious, a search for meaning in an uncertain age, or the daily struggle with the complexities of social relations, the stripped-down, wounded individual who, in their isolation, struggles to understand the forces shaping their social environment, easily loses their way in life’s maze, confronting contemporary Minotaurs, as well as the Cyclopes and Laestrygonians they end up “carrying” within themselves.

Can contemporary art offer us such a thread? And if so, of what kind? A promise of an afterlife? A sense of comfort or carefree ease? Textile-based contemporary art, being so closely connected to the thread of the myth itself, manages to raise key questions that may help us decode certain social symbols.

Fabric, like clay, is among the first materials used by humans in daily life. A delicate, highly skilled practice that, within an early division of labor, was largely undertaken by women and closely tied to nature. The myth of Athena and Arachne speaks of humanity’s appropriation of natural forces and animal skills in the building of culture. Clothing that protects us, carpets and flokati rugs that warm our homes these became integral elements of folk cultures, celebrating both necessity and the artistry of women’s labor. Always, of course, within a patriarchal historiographical framework that recognized as “art” the representation of fabric rather than the fabric itself.

Industrialization transformed weaving into design, creating a luxury-goods market. It was, however, feminist movements that paved the way for the elevation of woven textiles into contemporary art. Since the pioneering work of Judy Chicago, Olga de Amaral in the West, and Magdalena Abakanowicz in the East, no contemporary art museum or biennale today exists without textile art—a practice that once again grounds modernity deeply in tradition and unfolds new threads for the contemporary human seeking meaning in life.

Textile art has a long and uninterrupted tradition in Greece, and the work of contemporary Greek artists stands proudly alongside international production. The aim of the exhibition is to bring the general public into contact with a contemporary art form that is deeply connected to the ancient, yet familiar, practices of weaving and knitting, and which has much to teach us about the labyrinths of modern life and our attempts to find a way out of them.

During the opening, the performance “Mother Tongues” by Adi Liraz will be presented.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a range of parallel events talks, workshops, discussions, and more. The first event will take place on Friday, November 14 at 19:00, titled “From Folk Tradition to Contemporary Art: Incompatible Concepts?” Speakers include:
Eirini Orati, Art Historian, Artistic Director of the J. Costopoulos Foundation
Jose Hendo, Visual Artist
Katerina Konstantinou, Art Historian, Social Anthropologist
Penny Geka, visual artist, member of academic staff, A’ Studio, Athens School of Fine Arts.

Artists (in alphabetical order)
Dimitris Antonitsis, Irini Apergi, Grigoria Vryttia, Zoe Gaitani, Penny Geka, Katerina Zacharopoulou, Niki Kanagini, Marigo Kassi, Eleni Krikki, Blind Adam (Thanos Kyriakidis), Sofia Kyriakidou, Kostis, Maria Kotsou, Konstantinos Ladianos, Vasiliki Lefkaditi, Adi Liraz, Stathis Logothetis, Zizi Makri, Heliodora Margellou, Pandora Mouriki, Jenny Bampali, Dora Belegrinou, Katerina Nakou, Bia Davou, Violeta Ortega, Iana Postanciuc, Kyriakos Rokos / Roubina Sarelakou, Stefanos Rokos / Antiopi Pantazi, Panos Sarafianos / Katerina Nakou, Roubina Sarelakou, Ifigeneia Sdoukοu, Dimitra Siaterli, Erato Tagaridi, Ioanna Terlidou, Eftychia Tzanetoulakou, Giorgos Tsakiris, Doris Hakim, Eva Cheiladaki, Jose Hendo, Thaleia Chioti, Dionysis Christofilogiannis.

Works are also presented from the Lyceum Club of Greek Women of Volos (Curator: Eleni Topa), from the Women Political Prisoners of Trikeri, as well as from the Incarcerated Women of Eleonas Prison, Thiva.

A bilingual catalogue accompanies the exhibition.