Pledges
Byzantine & Christian Museum
Athens, Greece
16 March – 30 September 2014
The site-specific installation by Kalliopi Lemos in the courtyard of the Byzantine and Christian Museum focuses on the human struggle through life. In an era of deep economic and social crisis, the Museum chooses to display a contemporary work of art imbued with the notions of interculturality, of social solidarity and equity, of peace.
A now abandoned boat which has been used to transfer immigrants is covered with more than 10,000 tamata (votive offerings), both handcrafted from beverage cans and factory-made, incised with the names, dates and places of birth of immigrants.
The installation focuses on the journey as transition from despair to hope, from death to life, expressing the constant human quest. Votive offerings, a timeless symbol of the human drama and hope, materialize the agonizing request for divine mediation. The work focuses on the courage of the human soul and the power of life itself.
