New Museum of Contemporary Art

After several years of ‘stop-start’ renovation work and delays due to trying to sort out administrative problems, Rethymnon finally has a new Museum of Contemporary Art. The former municipal gallery ‘L Kanarakis’ has been extended and now incorporates space from the adjacent Venetian building which up until the 1970s was a soap factory. The new gallery now has an exhibition space of 1000m2. This makes it the largest modern art facility on Crete.

The museum has opened with an exhibition entitled ‘On the Threshold of Two Centuries’ displaying about 150 works –mainly by Greek artists - from the permanent collection. The exhibition provides an overview of the development of Green Modern Art from the 1960s to the present day. The museum is run by the Rethymnon Centre of Contemporary Art - The Director and Head Curator is Maria Maragou. The address is 5, Heimaras Street, phone 28310 52530.

Opening hours: Tuesday to Friday, 10am-2pm and 7pm-10pm; Saturday and Sunday, 11am-3pm; Monday, closed.
Entrance fees: Adults, €3; Students, €1.50; Schoolchildren, free entrance.

Marina, Marina, Marina….

The chairman of the Harbour Fund has recently announced his intention to ‘reclaim’ the marina. “The marina should be used for its initial purpose - providing facilities for fishermen, yacht owners, and cruise and ferry passengers” he stated in a recent press release. This will mean relocating the Thursday market - trying to welcome cruise passengers on market day is currently a nightmare, and the state the area is left in after the market has packed up is off-putting to visitors to say the least. There are also moves afoot to stop the area being used as practice / examination ground for learner drivers (!) and long term car park for tourist buses. Finding an alternative location for the Thursday market has been a sticking point for some time now. This will be raised at the next council meeting, but is unlikely to be resolved in the very near future. At a previous meeting discussions between market traders and the Chairman of the Commercial Association became rather heated and things got a little bit out of hand. Interesting times, then….

Summer Sport

Let’s start with some good news (just for a change). OPER, the local women’s volleyball team ended a good season with promotion to the A2 Division. Congratulations and good luck for next season!

The Basketball season has now finished for Rethymnon Aegean. Their performance in May mirrored the rest of their season, being characterized by a lack of consistency. They finished in sixth place in their table, which is not bad, but we all hoped for better things from our Dream Team. Anyway, the search for a different coach has begun, and we expect to see some new players being brought into the team by the autumn.

After the sad news last month that Asteras Rethymnon had been relegated, we have no further updates from the team camp. However, next season could bring some sorely needed excitement to the football scene here as another local team, Rethymniakos is competing in the playoffs for promotion to the regional Cretan League. If they succeed, then we will have a real derby!

Once again the municipality is providing beach sports facilities for the summer season. As we were going to press, two beach volleyball courts, two beach tennis courts, one beach netball court, and one beach football pitch were almost ready (just a few finishing touches needed), and should be up and running very soon. These facilities are open to everyone - so, please enjoy them!

Inauguration of the Grand Dam!

On Sunday 24th May, Government Minister Kostas Chatsidakis officially inaugurated the so-called ‘Dam of Rivers’ which is located just to the South of Rethymnon. This massive project has taken years to complete and has often been plagued by controversy. The idea for a dam in the region was first talked about in the 1960s, with work beginning in the 1980s. Once the valley is completely flooded, the ’lake’ will hold up to 22 million cubic metres of water. Needless to say, this project is likely to have a huge impact on the region in environmental terms, changing the character of the landscape for ever. On the plus side, it is hoped that in time the new lake will become an ecological ’hotspot’ as a wetlands habitat. It also appears that the area will be given special protection (new legislation is currently being filed) to control building and development. Fingers crossed….!