Last Sunday we went to Thessaloniki with @trumpman and a friend of ours. We went to check out a Burger Fest that was on for the weekend in Thessaloniki (the city where I spent my college years). To be honest, there was not much to see there, we just wandered around a bit, had a burger with a beer and left to meet with @dimitrisp for a coffee.
We left home at about 11:30 and after an hour we were already parked near the HELEXPO National Exhibition Center. The place is an area that hosts various events all year long and you can almost always find something to visit. This time, it was not just the Burger Festival.
Since on the 19th we honored the memory of the Pontian Genocide (1914-1923) by the Ottoman Empire, there was an amazing exhibition with paintings and traditional costumes during the whole of May. We got in a large building with walls all adorned with masterpieces praising the shameful event of a violent pogrom against humanity.
Starting with the Armenian Genocide by the Ottomans (that claimed 1.5 million lives) the Genocide of the Pontian Greeks (where about 300-350,000 lives were lost) came to add another black chapter in the book of History.
Entering the place, our ears met with the sounds of the pontian lyra or kemenche and our eyes were flooded with colors, red, black, blue; images of destruction, torture, pain and death.
Among the numerous works of art, a few caught my attention and made an impression on me.
She is screaming "STOP!", can't you hear her?
"We're shadows of ourselves..."
"Our home is lost..."
Children are dragged around, wandering and wondering:
"When is this going to stop?"
"When will our people see the light again?"
"How tall do those mountains of soulless bodies have to get?"
"How much humiliation? Barbarity? Hatred do we have to tolerate?"
This painting really shocked me! Being a woman myself, I could sense the intensity of a rape just by glancing at this picture. Despite the vibrant colors and the naive outlines, the painting delivers a message that hit me like a punch in the stomach. Nightmarish!
And a more personal version of the traditional costumes to make the atmosphere lighter:
I wanted to spend some more time there. I needed to pay more attention to some of those pieces. I needed to understand more of them. We were taught about the Genocide at school, it is part of our history and I wanted to remember details again; but we had to go.
One thing is for sure, the visitor would not leave the place without feeling upset at the slightest.
Our visit continued to the Burger Festival area to grab lunch and then, upon leaving the festival we saw a newly opened Shoe Exhibition. We didn't miss the chance to get in for a quick look, before we headed to meet @dimitrisp.
Here are a few of the exhibits, our traditional costume shoes: tsarouchia
Some shoes made of recyclable material:
The shoe within the Fairytale Universe:
Some "foreign samples"
What do you think of these?
Oh! And these?
The perfect bridal heels are here!!
These are playfully weird too:
I bet @reinhard-schmid would love these!
The guide there explained that the exhibition is still in the making and they are waiting for more exhibits. We also saw some shoes famous actors wore in plays or athletes wore in games and tournaments.
And after having lunch with both "edible" and "cultural" food, we made our way high up in Skyline cafe AKA OTE Tower, a tall building with a rotating interior that allows you to view the whole of the city while enjoying your drink.
Cheers!
Don't you agree that the view is magnificent?
*All images by @ruth-girl - Steemit, 2018
Thank you so much for your time!
Until my next post,
Steem on and keep smiling, people!
Quite an emotional rollercoaster.. you guessed my taste right, but its hard to get into an easy frame of mind after seeing the part about the genocide, full of misery and anguish...
But yes, the view is magnificent and it looks like you all had a great day!
BTW... Did I miss you completing your challenge?
Emotional rollercoaster, that is right! Some of those paintings still come back after 5 days.
It was fun! It always feels nostalgic visiting that city...
No, you didn't miss anything. It is still "pending" :P
Haha... ok, soon my age will have taken care of it ;-)
I think you're exaggerating. How old are you? Like 22-23? :P
Yes. Dog years 😑
Good weekend! And the weather is not bad! In a short time you have captured so much: the historical heritage, the cultural heritage and even this strange exhibition of shoes - the poor @trumpman .... did he like it? And you were allowed to try on the exhibits? 😉
Let's say that he enjoyed the burger festival more than the rest of the exhibitions...
No! We couldn't try them on, otherwise we might have still been there :P
How could you safely walk past so many beautiful shoes? )
I had trumpman threatening to not let me in the car to go home :P
Why carry water to the river? :P
Wow, thanks for sharing these impressive paintings
They are really something! Intense and some were almost clenching that noose around your throat...
Hi @ruth-girl! I simply can say just Wow, seeing your post! I guess in this journey the painting exhibition has put an unforgettable memory in your mind! You beautifully explained the sadness resembled from the beginning painting and ended up amazingly with a happy ending! That was quite like a movie or so! 🎥 😉
Hello @ruth-girl.
It's so painful going down the memory lane in remembrance of historic atrocities, more especially those relating to acts of genocides. In this case, the atrocities of Ottomans were vividly captured in these paintings. Thank God for civilization. At least, humans will not pass through the dark age again.
Those traditional crafts are so beautiful; such a show of talents.
Nice post all the same.
@eurogee of @euronation community
Atrocities are still around us. War and violence are everywhere. Let's just hope that we won't have to live genocides and pogroms again.
Thanks a lot for reading @eurogee!
Welcome!
Hello! These pictures reminded me of Munch's "Scream", they are very emotional. And today I made a post about the Museum of Delphi, did you ever visit it?
Hey there! The second one did all the job, right? Me too!
Never been to Delphi unfortunately.
I checked your blog, you are doing a great job with historical sites. Perhaps you'd like to check out the @steemstem community ;)
I am here to answer any questions should you need any help :)
@steemstem community? Tell us about him, please, what is his goal?
Steemstem is a community driven project aiming at the promotion of science on the platform. We support scientific original content within a vast array of fields (mathematics, engineering, medicine, psychology, archaeology, etc). Since you make such lovely posts on historical sites, you might be interested to join us.
You can check these posts for more information:
and you can always join our discord server to ask for guidance from our mentors :)
Thank you! I will definitely study this. Maybe I'll have more questions ...
Some of the most memorable art I have seen was in a museum quite similar to the one you describe here. The museum was to remember the Japanese occupation of China last century. There was one really vivid painting that I will always remember, showing the Japanese soldiers as demons. Terrible events can inspire people just as strongly as positive things
Art is fed on life! No wonder why destruction and hatred give birth to masterpieces the same way love does.
Do you have a picture or name for that painting?
It is very rare that Google search fails me, but it did on this occasion, couldn’t find it. I would need to search in the original language, and my Chinese definitely isn’t up to the challenge!
Oh that's ok, I was just curious after your description...
Wow! Fascinating paintings! I dig this raped woman on colour. It has a smooth primitivist vibe to it, but the use of colour is uncanny.
It was a very emotional exhibition in general, but this picture... among the strongest paintings I have ever seen (and I can't understand why it had such an impact on me)
Maybe cause the impression it creates is really tense with this juxtaposition of colours that jerks it into psychedelic/phantasmagorical dimension?
Peut-être c'est vrais...
Impressive art work. The 4th painting is really good
Yes, that one is kind of japanese horror film poster (like The Ring)
this picture is very dark
It reminded me of a horror film poster.
Wow, painting is very beautiful and shoes are pretty.
Thank you!
excellent photos in your post