Page 67 - MYCONIAN COLLECTION MAG 2021
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discover|local people







                       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 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




























 A LAND OF CULTURE
 Try to visit the emblematic Panayotis Kousathanas Library – Municipal Research Foundation on Culture and Tradition.
 An authentic place of Myconian tradition.





 Panayotis Kousathanas

 BORN IN MYKONOS IN 1945, Panayotis Kousathanas studied English and Greek Literature
 at the University of Athens and worked for twenty years as a teacher in secondary education.
 He has published a total of thirty books including collections of poetry, translations of English
 poetry into Greek, short stories, a novel and texts on the culture and history of his birthplace.
 His most recent books, all by Indiktos Editions, Athens, are: 1. the novel (Uncollected are the
 difficult) (2016); 2. Spyridon Paganelis, On the island, Annotated and Edited by P.K. (2017), and
 3. Mutterings IV, Texts on the Culture and History of Mykonos (2018). Excerpts of his poetry and
 prose have been translated into English, French and Arabic, and published in various literary
 anthologies and collections. Awards and distinctions: Maria Per. Ralli Prize (1980), Greek State
 Prize for Chronicle-Testimony (2002), Greek State Prize for Short Story (2009). He was also
 awarded with the Mykonos Municipality Medal (2011) and the Athens Academy Medal (2014)
 “for his scientific researching, his books and generally for his offer to the cultural progress and
                                                           THE DELOS INSPIRATION
 promotion of the civilization of his birthplace”.   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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