Project Info
The concept of the project starts from the abundant flow of drinking water that flows uninterruptedly from the fountains and water springs in Rome. The design of the installation was based on research carried out by the artist as a Visiting Artist, at the American Academy of Rome, focusing on three axes: the natural flow of potable water, the often-unseen networks of aqueducts, and fountains as works of art that convey worship.
The installation presents a large-scale mosaic (dimensions 250x540cm.) and a map depicting the flow of water within a sound environment of water flows recorded in situ in Rome.
The mosaic attempts to render the dynamic flow of the Tiber River. It is created by numerous hand-made marble tesserae in colors of light and dark green, gray and white while its mortar surface has grooves that resemble the ripples of water and empty surfaces where quartz sand gives shine and light reflections. Coursing through the 21st century, at the onset of a digital and virtual world, the art of the mosaic persistently maps a handmade materiality that borders on human corporeality. The fracturing of marbles for the creation of the handmade mosaic tiles is taking place in a world where humanity still engages in a conversation with the environment in an effort to feel, understand, and appease it. The artist invites the viewers to surrender themselves to the sounds of the river, familiarize themselves with the element of the mosaic, touch it, sense it haptically, observe the routes of water, and attempt to see beyond the visible. In its full spectrum, the work displays the experience of lived time and the multitude of senses that connect us with the natural world and our fellow human beings.
The design of the exhibition suggests the inclusion of the senses in the exploration of the work. Sight, hearing, touch and the activation of kinesthetic perception and memory extend an invitation to the visitors to explore more broadly the notion of flow as a constituting ingredient of the cultural process.
The map included in the visual and audio installation (270x400cm) shows Rome's numerous aqueducts, the bed of the Tiber River and the names and locations of five hundred of Rome's two thousand active fountains.
Drawn by the artist in white pencil on dark gray wall color based on information and evidence from the online project Aquae Urbis Romae / Waters of Rome, Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities, University of Virginia under the direction of Katherine Wentworth Rinne . https://waters.iath.virginia.edu
The small marble fountain that introduces visitors to the exhibition aims to highlight the issue of water sustainability and water scarcity.
You can see the short film titled THE RIVER which is part of the visual and sound installation and attempts to connect the art of mosaic with the idea of the river in https://christinanakou.gr/mosaics/the-river/.
THE RIVER INSTALLATION by Christina Nakou was presented at the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki within the framework of the Ministry of Culture's All Greece One Culture 2024 Program, under the auspices of the Italian Embassy in Athens and the American Academy of Rome.
Lighting Design: Stephanos Droussiotis
Architectural Design of the Exhibition: Konstantinos Daskalakis
THE RIVER short film: Concept idea by Christina Nakou, Camera by Christina Nakou and Evi Loi, Editing by Evi Loi
Acoustic Narration and Workshop Design: Christina Nakou, Stefania Vannini, Andrea Applebee (With the kind support of Galleria Borghese)