An ancient tapestry of light and shadow unfurls within the walls of the Polychoro, where art lends flesh to dreams, and myth takes the shape of memory. Here, beneath the eternal gaze of Heraklion’s stone and sun, the exhibition “The Secret Thread of Ariadne” spreads its veiled mysteries. Visitors are invited to witness not simply art but a trembling echo of the ages, a labyrinth woven from the poetry and silence of Nikos Kazantzakis’s troubled mind.
Kazantzakis’s journey, stitched into the heart of Crete, moves along the invisible thread that Ariadne herself once laid in the darkness. In every painting, every sculpted curve, her presence lingers—quieter than breath, vivid as myth itself. The artist does not offer answers; instead, the thread leads into the labyrinth of the soul, where the Minotaur at its centre is neither beast nor hero but the fragile longing to know oneself. Here, the myth of Ariadne merges with Kazantzakis’s own longing, her thread offering slender guidance through confusion, sorrow, and the ever-renewing search for both divinity and humanity.
An Intimate Encounter: Artists and the Persistent Dream
It is Chrysa Barzoka’s vision that ignites this living tapestry. Her project, Persistent Art, breathes life into events unmediated by commerce or trend—where artists, united only by shared ideals, speak their fierce hearts quietly into the public air. Since 2018, Persistent Art has gathered creators not just to display beauty but to bear witness to the urgent hush of thought and the forgotten languages of dreams.
The Secret Thread of Ariadne brings together a constellation of names, each contributing to this vivid mosaic: Katerina Vlachou, Giannis Adamopoulos, Marianna Patinioti, Dina Bakaniari, Argyris Kaltsios, Mariela Alepopoulou, Glykeria Kalfa, Iphigenia Papageorgiou, Teo Laspidis, Konstantinos Gogalis, Fani Papageorgiou, Maria Steiakaki, Maria Kaftaki, Manos Ioannidis, Giannis Kaminis, Kirsikka Soustiel, Despoina Nikolida, A23-NECTAR, Vasilis Karkatselis, Stavroula Andreou, Thanos Kosyvas, Triantafyllos Vaitsis, and Chrysa Barzoka herself.
Amid the grey stone streets, the exhibition’s hours unfold, measured not only in time—Monday to Friday, from morning’s cool hush until late sun—but in silent expectancy. The doors remain closed on weekends and holidays, lending an added sense of ephemerality as if the thread could vanish at any breath.
To Summarize:
- The exhibition draws on the timeless myth of Ariadne and her labyrinth, linking it to Kazantzakis’s restless search for truth.
- Chrysa Barzoka’s Persistent Art aims to provide artists with an unfiltered space for expression, challenging traditional expectations and norms.
- A diverse group of artists presents works that intermingle the personal and the mythological, exploring themes of memory, identity, and spiritual longing.
- The open invitation extends to every traveller: entry is free, an offering to all who wander in search of wonder.
What do visitors find within these halls? A labyrinth of images and symbols, a gallery light that falls gently on longing faces, and a quiet reminder that each step forward in art is also a soft step inward.
