Using Creativity to Address Complex Community Problems
Contact us at:
yvonne (at) regoparkgreenalliance.org
Queens Art Intervention 2017
Fotis Flevotomos / Vicky Spachou
Bed as home
Long Island City
Location: Hunter’s Point South Park >> map
The Sperveri is an embroidered curtain used to separate the bridal bed from the rest of the one-roomed houses. It was woven by the bride on the loom and was a common form of bed furnishing in the Greek Dodecanese (an area of twelve large and many smaller islands) in the Aegean Sea.
The Sperveri is a room within a room, a higher degree of privacy in an already private space. It is supposed to create a warm, comfortable and safe zone where love dominates.
This project is a hands-on participatory piece that engage residents who are interested in decorating a wedding curtain with patterns and symbols meaningful to them. Fotis Flevotomos and Vicky Spachou, will tell the story of the Sperveri and act as facilitators for turning this curtain into a private and intimate space.
Biography
Fotis Flevotomos is a visual artist with an interest in multisensory practices used in museums, libraries, the theater stage and elsewhere. He has designed and guides "Seeing with the Senses" a monthly program at the Benaki Museum for visitors who are blind or partially sighted (this is the first access program that has ever been offered by a museum in Greece on a regular basis). He has also designed such programs for the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC) and the Museum of Cycladic Art. His museum work combines elements of verbal description, participatory discussions, performance pieces, audiobooks, touch tours and story-telling. In 2012, Flevotomos received a Fulbright grant and joined the New York Public Library (NYPL) Outreach Department in its efforts to raise awareness on issues around art, low vision and creativity. He studied painting at the Athens School of Fine Arts and art and music theory at the University of Essex (MPhil). He has written short articles for the journal Leonardo (MIT Press), the website of the New York Public Library and the website of the Music Library of Greece (Lilian Voudouri). His paintings have been displayed at various spaces and galleries in New York, Finland, Greece and Cyprus.
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Vicky Spachou studied dance at the State School of Dance and the Rallou Manou Dance School in Greece. Since 2015 she has been working at the Benaki Museum for the design of dance-related narratives which are incorporated into Educational programs. She has also taken part in projects of Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC), Onassis Cultural Center, Arc for Dance, NEON and the National Library of Greece. She works as a performer or choreographer in art projects and performances and teaches contemporary dance for adults and teens. She has attended dance and choreography workshops at professional studios and schools like P.A.R.T.S., studio Ultima Vez in Brussels and others. She has also graduated from the Department of Conservation of Works of Art in Athens, Greece.
