Spotlight

Art and Craft in Rethymnon

Hindsight is a wonderful thing of course, but Pashmina Delafonte has now realized that trying to write a piece about art and craft in the area on one side of A4 is not actually terribly clever. In the Rethymnon area evidence of artistic activity dates back to the earliest Neolithic finds in the Gerani caves. During the Venetian era Rethymnon flourished as a creative centre. In modern times a revival of interest in folk tradition coupled with a thriving community of contemporary artists means that the region is a home to a remarkably diverse range of arts and crafts. In Rethymnon itself the obvious places for the visitor to start looking for ceramics, jewellery, olive-wood carving and handicrafts are in Arabatzoglou, Soulio and Arkadiou shopping streets. Here, along with the mass produced souvenirs on offer, there are several shops that sell individually handcrafted items. However, if you wander down some of the lesser known back-streets in the Old Town, you will come across some of the more unusual small scale galleries and workshops.

Guide books will tell you that in the surrounding villages, traditional arts and crafts are still practised in much the same way that they have been for centuries. Well, yes, but tourism on the island has clearly had an impact, too! Still, even in the better known villages (examples include Margarites and Alpha, renowned for pottery and stone masonry respectively) if you look hard enough, you will be able to find genuine locally produced items along with mass– produced imports. Tourism has not been the only reason that traditional domestic handicraft has evolved into modern-day commercial enterprise, of course. In some cases, this has arisen out of sheer necessity in tragic circumstances –the town of Anogia, in the Psiloritis mountains, being a prime example. It was here, in 1944, that most of the males in the vicinity were executed by German forces as reprisal for local resistance activity. The women of the region turned to commercial textile production as a means of survival.

Andonis Pothoulakis

The sea-front in Venetian times

Local artist Andonis Pothoulakis epitomizes the Rethymnon tradition of incorporating art into daily life. Andonis, a familiar figure to Galero regulars, used to own and run Retimo Gifts until he retired this year. He is a self-taught painter, who works with oils and acrylics, frequently using resalvaged wood as canvases. His paintings focus on traditional and historical representations of the region, many depicting Rethymnon and environs during the Venetian and Turkish eras.

Art out in the open - Renaissance figures displayed on a garden wall

Other influences on his work include religious figures and local myths and legends—for example, one of his works is a representation of the myth of the ssoulites at Frankocastello on the South Coast. The Drossoulites are the shadowy images that manifest themselves in the dawn sea mists that occur in mid May. Legend has it that these are the ghosts of Cretan soldiers massacred by the Turks in the in a battle that took place in 1828 in and around the fortress. If you want to find out more about Andonis and his art work you can email KateBrusten@hotmail.com or editor@rethymnonnews.com and we will put you in touch with him.

Historical and Folk Art Museum of Rethymnon

The Historical and Folk Art Museum of Rethymnon provides the visitor with a fascinating insight into the social history of the region. The museum is located in a beautifully restored Venetian town house in the centre of the Old Town—the sympathetic restoration of the house and the garden in itself allows one to visualize what life must have been like for the well-to-do town dweller during the latter half of the seventeenth century. The museum aims to promote and preserve all aspects of the traditional Cretan lifestyle. On the first floor, along with displays showing arts and crafts of the area—weaving, lace making and pottery and basket making to name just a few— you will find exhibits relating to farming practices and occupations and domestic activities such as copper-smithing and breadmaking. Many of the displays are accompanied by informative accounts of the historical background and social and religious significance associated with the techniques employed. On the ground floor, two new exhibitions are currently ’under construction’. We were lucky enough to be given a sneak preview of one of these– a recreation of a traditional Cretan shopping street, including a replicas of a kafeneion and shopfronts displaying work of local artisans (for those familiar with the Castle Museum in York, this is in a similar vein to the Victorian Street, though on a smaller scale). This exhibition is due to open on the 10th June. The second exhibition, which unfortunately is unlikely to open before autumn 2007, promises to be equally interesting, providing the visitor with a historical timeline of life in the area from the Minoan era up until the Battle of Crete. Museum opening hours 09.30—14.30, daily, except Sundays and Bank Holidays. Admission 3 euros adults, 1.50 for students.