Page 68 - MYCONIAN COLLECTION MAG 2018

discover|the mykonians

MYKONOS FOLKLORE tRAditiON
Dimitra Nazou shows us Lena’s House Museum. A branch of the Folklore Museum, located at Tria Pigadia in the town of Mykonos, irene syrianou
it is an authentic middle-class Mykonian residence of the 19th century.

“To Find me you wiLL have to search for me”, is one of the first things this young woman says. she was born and
bred on mykonos with close ties to rineia and delos. working as a young woman on delos, she had the good fortune
of seeing the mosaics up close – and a magical relationship developed between her and them. each and every mosaic in
the space entered her soul and she started to learn their craft, mentored and taught in her efforts by mosaic creator and
conservator nikos Tolis. at present, irene syrianou together with just one partner – “with whom we have the same hand”
– makes everything from replicas of antiquities to contemporary visual creations in her mosaic workshop and gift shop in
mykonos Town, behind the gialos area. The tiles and anvil keep her company throughout the summer. in recent years she
has started teaching the craft of the mosaic in workshops organised by the municipality of mykonos to dozens of students
from the island, while she also participates in the “agoni grammi gonimi” programme, teaching at schools on distant small
islands of the cyclades and the dodecanese. Through her craft she feels that she is travelling in the same dream as all those
who came from her land in the past, especially from delos. irene syrianou follows the ancient method of cutting tiles by
hand and relies on the utilisation of recyclable materials. her work can be found in public spaces and private collections.
her mosaics can also be purchased in archaeological museum gift shops throughout greece. www.art-mosaic.gr

DiMiTra nazou

anyone you ask on The isLand about her will identify her as the soul of the mykonos Folklore museum. a woman
who has served the tradition that has kept memories of the past alive despite frantic tourism development. dimitra nazou has
what we call in greece “the golden touch”. a lover of handmade creations and an artist, she was active in the cultural Folklore
women’s society of mykonos, the society of Friends of delos & rineia, the asia minor society of mykonos and the society
of Friends of the mykonos Folklore museum, in an attempt to spread a simple idea: That the past is as important as the present
and determines the future. To this day, this woman continues on this same course. she supports folklore events, she researches
and records mykonos folk culture, and she is passionate about weaving and traditional textiles. she has conducted significant
research on the renowned mykonos textiles of the 20th century in cooperation with archaeologist Panagiotis chatzidakis, as
well as on lace and its manual techniques. when you speak with her, a different mykonos enchants you. a mykonos that still
dances at fairs, that remembers island stories, myths and legends, that is full of colloquialisms, still uses a crochet hook, weaves
on a loom, and, mainly, breathes and draws its strength from its roots. dimitra nazou believes in the continuation of customs and thE dELOS iNSpiRAtiON
traditions, and in the power of women to use what was delivered to them by previous generations, turning it into cultural wealth. Irene Syrianou makes everything from replicas of antiquities to contemporary visual creations in her mosaic workshop and gift shop in Mykonos Town.

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