It is fair to say, that this last week has seen me experience both ends of the cultural spectrum. Four days in Crete with a beer or two in hand, was then followed by the opening of an artwork exhibition back in Athens entitled “China Meets Greece”. Story and photos below.
China Meets Greece
If there is one thing that I love about travel, it is meeting new people. Working from home really limits this, and so I wanted to find a way I could meet people, and still get that travel vibe. After discovering that there was a travel bloggers group in Athens (Travel Bloggers Greece), I joined up, and soon found myself invited to the opening day of an art exhibition.
Entitled China Meets Greece, it features the work of artist Qinghua (Ioanna) Lin. It is based in the Pallas Athena Grecotel in Athens, and runs from the 16th of May through to the 3rd of July. This was the first day of the exhibition, and we were invited to its launch.
Ioanna now lives in Athens , and her paintings were in two styles. One, is a Shuimo technique, and the other is a more western water colour style. This resulted in a mix of paintings which included traditional Chinese motifs of birds, flowers, and women, and another series of paintings influenced by places in Greece. I don't pretend to be an art expert, but it all looked pretty good to me!
As did the food! The Grecotel put on an elaborate buffet, which mixed Greek and Chinese dishes together. All of this contrasted massively with the food I had been eating a few days before in Crete. But more of that in a minute!
The event was well put together, and it was a really big deal for the artist, who was clearly taken aback by the entire affair. I've put a short video of the event together, which you can check out below.
All in all it was a good afternoon, and it was great to meet up with some of the other travel bloggers from Travel Bloggers Greece. Hopefully there will be plenty of other events to attend in the near future!
England Meets Crete
This could be described as the less cultural part of my week! A few days before going to the China Meets Greece exhibition, I spent 4 days in Crete with my brother and some friends. Now, as we all know, Crete is a wonderful island full of charm, culture, tradition, and ancient history. Did we see any of that? Nah!! Do I care?? Nah!!
It was a hazy few days, and a perfect way to catch up with people, have a couple of beers, and let off some steam! I'm looking forward to next year, lads!
I work from home as well and can definitely relate to the need to find a social outlet. The event sounds like it was a lot of fun and that food table is incredible!
It tasted as good as it looked!
I love attending art exhibits as well. You always end up learning about culture in a very interesting way. Thank you for sharing your story. I enjoyed the film as well.
what beautiful artwork!
I enjoy getting to see the perspective of other cultures from a different cultures perspective. The China exhibit looks interesting.
Great exhibition! Looks like a fun way to connect with other people as well.
I visited Crete many years ago and was constantly surprised over the weeks I spent wandering there. These two events fit right in with that. What a vibrant and fun country.
Really cool artwork!
Travel bloggers and art? Sounds like a great event!
Looks like you had quite thee globetrotting weekend all without leaving Greece.
What an interesting combination! I never would have imagined the combinations! So cool!
Natalie, The Educational Tourist
http://www.theeducationaltourist.com
The art pieces are gorgeous! I don’t know much about art, other than an art appreciation class in college…so I do know how to appreciate it! I love fusions of different countries, may it be art or food or whatever else there is.