Exhibition "Sanctity" in Delphi 2017

Curated by: Plato Rivellis

Delphi, Saturday, October 28, 2017 at 19:00

The European Cultural Centre of Delphi inaugurates in the Exhibition Hall of the Conference Center in Delphi, on Saturday, October 28, 2017, at 19:00 a photography exhibition themed:

"Sanctity"

It was preceded last May (26-29/05/2016) at the Delphi Center by a seminar on "The Sanctity as content of photography and cinema" taught by photographer and author Plato Rivellis.

The exhibition will last until November 19, 2017.

Photographer: Tsakyridou Fani

Sanctity

A group exhibition resulting from twelve hours of discussion
and many hours of photography

Arts were born from religions. The dimension of sanctity therefore accompanies them even today when the parental relationship of religion and art tends to be forgotten and when few artists consciously continue their creation believing that they do it "for the greatest glory of God." It is (fortunately) difficult to define this dimension of sanctity, but we would not be far from the truth if we said that it is a dimension that transcends the natural, the existing, the material, the ephemeral, the temporally limited. And above all, it is the dimension of a mystery. However, these characteristics are also characteristics of art. Consequently, every significant work of art logically must contain a dimension of sanctity. It is therefore useful for someone to explore this dimension, not of course to seek to incorporate it into their creation, since then the dimension of mystery would collapse, but to practice distinguishing it, so as to become familiar with its underlying presence. This was also the content of the seminar at the European Cultural Center of Delphi in May 2017.

Another thing that connects religion with art is their "uselessness". And by this word is obviously meant the absence of a visible, specific, useful - in the current sense - goal. The return in their case is spiritual, hence intangible. Therefore, one could argue that when a work is produced with the dominant desire to achieve a specific goal, it is rather impossible to detect any degree of sanctity. The goal then absorbs the mystery. Extreme examples could be advertising photography or military music, or the police novel, or musical dance films.

It would be useful, to grasp the breadth of the term sanctity, to step away for a moment from the works of humans and to move to nature itself which becomes a work of man through his choices. The choice of places where our ancient ancestors built their sacred places, and a prime example is the Delphic landscape in which we chose to conduct the seminar and the exhibition, shows the importance they placed on this ultimately sacred environment, having realized that there are even in nature landscapes that contain greater mystery and intensity than others, consequently contributing to their elevation and uplift. However, even the Delphi Museum can enlighten us, given that a simple comparison between archaic and Hellenistic statues is enough to show that the former, regardless of any artistic judgment, are carriers of sanctity, which the latter lose in favor of a more realistic depiction.

It would also be interesting, as a fictional attempt, to illustrate a church with modern painting or even with photographs and to accompany the liturgical services with music that is not Byzantine or medieval. This last thing the churches of the so-called Western doctrines have attempted, but they failed because they aimed at communication with the congregation, resulting in populist songs devoid of any sanctity. If, however, we were to replace the icons with photographs, we would realize the critical nature of our choices if we thought that in a space of prayer and reflection, the photographs must lead to elevation (through abstraction) and not to grounding (through depiction). The realism of photographic depiction makes it difficult to detect sanctity. And of course, the subject cannot play a role here, or rather it will usually play a negative role. In traditional iconography, the subject ensures sanctity (scenes from the Gospel). Sometimes the assurance is based also on the form (Byzantine technique). However, photographing a crucified Christ does not highlight sanctity more than a photographed nude body, which can much better accompany prayer, provided it has been photographed in such a way as to encompass mystery and sanctity.

Photographer: Lachana Eirini

All the above (and much more), which were discussed during the seminar with those who participated in it (people who love photography and are passionately involved with it), were not intended to link photography with the religions from which it indirectly originated, nor to lead us to the production of "sacred" photographs. After all, the attempt to produce sacred photographs would end in non-sacredness, since it would serve a specific goal. It would be a kind of "sacred realism", analogous to the once "socialist realism". The involvement with this dimension aimed more at familiarization with the mystery and furthermore liberation from the subject.

It is true that at one point I was afraid that such a subject might be misinterpreted by some as religious, while others might again limit it to Delphi, due to the historical sanctity of the place. The high number of participants surprised me again, but this time the production of the photographs was, very naturally, more hesitant, because part of the endeavor was not for the photographer to find a lifeline in his subject, but to add value, through the mysterious and mysterious sanctity, to anything that made him raise his camera. Another related problem is that participants in a seminar usually have the satisfaction of taking away a series of answers with them after the end. In this specific case, they took, and I am glad of this, a series of questions. The answers will emerge unknowingly to them and in due time.

The liberation from the depicted subject makes it more difficult, but at the same time more attractive and possibly more educational and more interesting the exhibition. Photographs were selected from all those who submitted photographs for discussion, but not only from those created during the seminar, but also before or after it, that is, generally from the work of the specific photographers. It was considered - and this is for us the most correct - that the subject is always the creator. It is of course clear that not all participants have the same experience and practice or the same abilities, nor do they all have the same need from the dimension of a sanctity or familiarization with it. Importantly, the viewer of the photographs should not seek to detect the dimension of sanctity, but to let the imprint of the photographs affect their spirituality and to communicate with it.

In closing the above comments, I would like to convey two personal experiences that can complement the thoughts that preceded them. The first is due to a group exhibition of the "Photographic Circle" at the Benaki Museum a few years ago. One, obviously devout, first-grade student attempted to kiss a photograph that showed an image of Christ taken in a church. His mother pulled him back. The child had simply recognized the subject. The mother had discerned the absence of sanctity. Both were right. The second is due to a passage from the great work of Marcel Proust, where a man, knowing that he is on the threshold of death, goes to die in the Louvre looking at a painting by Vermeer. Perhaps someday museums, art, will become our new churches.

Plato Rivellis
Lecturer of the seminar
and curator of the exhibition

Photographer: Kourkafas Pavlos

Exhibition Photos

Opening Speech (Delphi)

Opening Photos (Delphi)

Opening Photos (Athens)