The City Within a City Η Πόλη μέσα στην Πόλη

Sept –Oct 07

A walking exhibition tour of Heraklion Crete

One of the best ways to get around many cities is by foot. Heraklion is no exception especially as many of the streets are more like village alleyways, too narrow for even cars to pass although somehow they do.

By chance I was invited to the opening ceremony and walking tour of The City Within a City Project. The only information I had was to be at an ice cream parlour on Democratias Avenue for 1pm on Sunday.

It took me sometime time to find the right one as there were several and despite being late so were the other participants. This is the typical laid back attitude to any event organised by Greeks. In England weeks of planning would have been undertaken with press releases and personal invites sent out.

The project is part of the Comprehensive Urban Development Plan for Heraklion old town. Thanks to some European funding the project includes an exhibition, book and DVD with music composed by Crete based, Irish musician Ros Daly.

Maria Houlaki project co-ordinator began the event with a short speech and introduced some of the photographers that would talk about their work.

There was a mix of pro photographers (male) and amateurs as well as their families which made it a really nice informal event.

The exhibition of 30 images is unusual in that it does not have one specific venue. All of the images are displayed on single sheet advertising panels. Dotted throughout the city the tour took us through smart residential suburbs, around the main squares, along the Venetian ramparts and down to the new and old port.

Photographer Atalanta talking about her work

For several years Heraklion has been and still is a building site as it undergoes a makeover. Thankfully consideration has been taken to also preserve the old. A similar process was implemented with the extension of the underground system in Athens where brand new stations were blended with ancient discoveries. Some of the Athenian stations are like mini museums with glass panels showcasing sections of temple walls. In Heraklion ancient sites are being restored with European grants, to refresh a tired and well worn city.

The purpose of the exhibition is a’ project aimed at breaking down the barriers between the old and new town.’ Personally I don’t see any barriers. The two are merged and that’s what makes the city an interesting place to visit.

As a visitor I can see beauty and pathos amongst the derelict buildings. It was good to see that some of the other photographers had captured this. One photographer had carefully framed an image from cheese shop showing sheep grazing on grass and juxtaposed it with the reflection of a Venetian archway. Admittedly when I first saw the image I thought it had been created in Photoshop. Thanks to the artist describing how he took the image it was then clear to see the different elements.

The organisers’ objective is to use photography as a lever and a communication tool to bring about social debate. This is certainly a valid objective but surely the images must first be noticed? We are in world where we are bombarded by imagery. Billboards are one just one of these forms of mass communication. How does this exhibition get the citizens attention? Unfortunately it does not. We rarely stop to look at an advertisement and many of these images just blend into their surrounding environment.

When the images are seen by the citizens how do they have their dialogue heard? Images on a wall in a gallery or where ever they are displayed and where the objective is a dialogue should be about a two way dialogue. Don’t ask people to engage but then not give them a vehicle for their response.