Insular Animisms inspire artists convening in Spetses

Nona Inescu, Reliquary (Finger), Peles Studio, Berlin, Germany, 2022. Photo by Daniel Poller.

Spetses island, some 50 sea miles south of Athens, is this spring hosting a six-week artistic creation program titled “Insular Animism,” with the participation of six representatives from various forms of art.

The program, organized by the Foundation of Anargyrios & Korgialenios School of Spetses (AKSS) and its Anargyros Art Residency, has invited artists from Greece and abroad to get inspired by the island’s context, create and perform, with the participation of the local community, too.

Following the successful launch of its first edition in 2025, the Anargyros Art Residency is hosted at AKSS for this second edition, launched on April 27 and lasting until June 7. Established in 1927, the former boarding school is offering an opportunity for the artists to live, work and create within an iconic Mediterranean environment deeply connected to local culture.

This edition turns its attention to the island’s ecosystem and the realities of insularity. Artists are invited to explore new myths, animisms, ecological narratives, and alternative modes of storytelling rooted in Mediterranean geographies.

The program encourages its six participants (Nabil Aniss, Nona Inescu, Myrto Vratsanou, Mariangela Ciccarello, Konstantinos Papanikolaou and Matilde Meireles) to question conventional ideas of separation, connectivity, and cross-cultural histories, and to imagine new futures for the region.

The artists are developing new work over the course of the residency, culminating in a group exhibition within the School’s historic spaces in early June.

Participants also engage with the local community and take part in a public program of lectures, screenings and talks.