Page 52 - MYCONIAN COLLECTION MAGAZINE 2023

MYKONIA NS AT HEART

Irene Syrianou

“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 Rhenia 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
THE DELOS
in workshops organised by the Municipality of Mykonos to dozens of students from the INSPIRATION
island, while she also participates in the “Agoni Grammi Gonimi” programme, teaching Irene Syrianou
at schools on distant small islands of the Cyclades and the Dodecanese. Through her makes everything
craft she feels that she is travelling in the same dream as all those who came from her from replicas of
land in the past, especially from Delos. Irene Syrianou follows the ancient method of antiquities to
contemporary visual
cutting tiles by hand and relies on the utilisation of recyclable materials. Her work can creations in her
be found in public spaces and private collections. Her mosaics can also be purchased in mosaic workshop
archaeological museum gift shops throughout Greece. www.art-mosaic.gr • and gift shop in
Mykonos Town.

MYKONOS FOLKLORE
Dimitra Nazou Dimitra Nazou shows us
TRADITION
Lena’s House Museum.
A branch of the Folklore
Museum, located at
Anyone you ask on the island about her will identify her as the soul of the Mykonos Tria Pigadia in the town
Folklore Museum. A woman who has served the tradition that has kept memories of of Mykonos, it is an
the past alive despite frantic tourism development. Dimitra Nazou has what we call authentic middle-class
in Greece “the golden touch”. A lover of handmade creations and an artist, she was Mykonian residence of
active in the Cultural Folklore Women’s Society of Mykonos, the Society of Friends of the 19th century.
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 traditions, and in the power of women to use what was delivered to them by
previous generations, turning it into cultural wealth. •

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