Walking meetings in Prespa
In the central square of Psarades, Prespa, seven women walk in a circle. Barefoot and holding branches with wide chalks attached at the ends, they trace their path on the stone slabs. As time passes, their circular trail intensifies. This scene, reminiscent of a chorus in an ancient tragedy, leaves a temporary mark under the hot sun, causing no permanent alteration to the environment.
This is the walkshop titled “Invisible to Visible” by visual artist Jenny Staff. It’s one of many hosted at the international meetings/conference (WAC) “Walking Visions / Visions for Walking”, a global art event held from July 3 to 9 in the Prespa border region. This event, now in its third iteration, explores the art of walking.
The international meetings were organized by the Department of Visual and Applied Arts of the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Western Macedonia. They collaborated with Made of Walking (VIII) / The Milena Principle and Walk Listen Create.
Prespa served as an open workshop of ideas for a week, offering participants the opportunity to collaborate, create innovative art practices, and discuss new ideas.
The inaugural meeting in Prespa in 2019 centered on ‘walking bodies’ and their physical and perceived relationships with the landscape. The second meeting in 2021 adopted a more socio-political perspective, treating walking as a question.
The third meeting transcended the physical presence of the body in space and the various approaches to walking. It addressed social, political, economic, and ecological issues, thus adding a third dimension related to the central theme of “Walking Visions”. How does walking allow us to access intangible experiences, creating possible conditions, whether past, present, or future?
In search of answers, Prespa transformed into an open workshop of ideas for a week. Participants had the chance to collaborate, create innovative art practices, and discuss new ideas.
The event attracted 139 participants who presented walkshops, presentations, and recorded contributions. They represented 37 universities, research centers, institutions, and museums from 21 countries across four continents: Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Cyprus, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Spain, Switzerland, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Trinidad and Tobago, Hong Kong, United Kingdom, and the USA.
“What is happening here is of immense significance, I believe, because it is one of the rare instances where a method of creating art and an innovative process of ‘thinking’ about art is captured. “We’re doing something unprecedented. It’s not an exhibition, not a biennale, not a gathering, nor a summer school. What we’re doing is transforming an entire region and community into a vibrant laboratory of ideas, drawing people from all corners of the globe,” says Yannis Ziogas, the initiator and member of the artistic/scientific committee of WAC. Ziogas is also a painter and professor at the Department of Visual and Applied Arts of the School of Fine Arts at the University of Western Macedonia.
We are doing something that is not an exhibition, not a biennale, not a gathering, not a summer school.
The School of Fine Arts of Florina in Psarades served as the meeting venue. Activities took place, tents sprouted in its garden, and the degree projects of students were showcased. The village’s primary school, now under the school’s management and considered a cultural heritage due to its preserved equipment, was used for thesis presentations.
People of all ages, hailing from diverse countries and cultures, found themselves engaged in artistic collaborations. They attended the enriching conference at the Lemos Conference Centre and explored and created in the area day and night. Yannis Ziogas’ walkshop even included an overnight stay in the countryside for the more adventurous.
The interaction between the local community and the influx of artists, scientists, and art enthusiasts was particularly captivating. For a week, the area transformed into an international art hub as Prespa developed an artistic identity centered around the contemporary concept of walking and its transformative impact on art practices.
Personal encounters and stories, the exchange of experiences and knowledge about Prespa’s ecological and historical significance, and even invitations to meals were part of the experience when the “university guests” participated in walkshops through the villages.
Every evening, people from different walks of life gathered in Psarades’ traditional taverns. Over plates of the famous local beans and lake fish, they discussed the day’s events and shared thoughts and ideas.
For a dynamic and vibrant segment of the global artistic community, Prespa has already become a reference point, a place they yearn to revisit – even if only in their minds. Yet, it appears we in Greece have yet to fully appreciate this.
