FROM THE NORTH TO THE SOUTH – IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF MEMORY
Photographs by Nikos Basias
Opening: Sunday, August 10, 2025 at 20:00
Duration: until August 31, 2025
Opening hours: Daily, 24 hours a day
FREE ENTRY
A poetic photographic journey by Nikos Basias through the old Primary Schools.
The “Holy drop” exhibition is a tribute to the tradition of Crete and to the ritual of distilling tsikoudia — an act that goes beyond taste and touches the boundaries of the sacred.
In the island’s cauldrons, bathed in the light of autumn and the scent of boiling grapes, a small rebirth takes place each year; it is there that memory, labor, and the joy of the community come together.
This series of photographs is the result of many years of wandering through the villages of Crete, in search of those moments when time seems to stand still.
The flame of the still, the gleaming copper, the face of the distiller reflecting decades of experience — all become vessels of memory, testimonies to a way of life that resists oblivion.
Tsikoudia is not simply a drink.
It is the distillation of the land and the soul.
With a glass of tsikoudia, Cretans offer their wishes and welcome their guests; with it they converse and joke in the cafés, and with it they overcome their sorrows.
Each photograph is a tribute to this shared experience, which keeps the thread of tradition alive.
Tsikoudia takes its name from ‘tsikouda’— the remnants of grapes after they are pressed for wine — from which it is produced through distillation. Where the cauldron, like a dragon, breathes fire and vapors into the night; where steam merges with light; where the old meets the new, and where the authentic remains steadfastly present.
These images do not seek nostalgia, but continuity; the bridge between generations, between the earth and the person who continues to keep the flame alive.
Photography, for me, is also a form of distillation.
A distillation of moments, sounds, gaze, and emotion.
In the cauldrons of Crete, I found my own metaphor for creation — a slow process that requires patience, respect, and love.
Thus, each frame is a breath of the place, a reminder that tradition is not something static, but something that is constantly reborn, like the vapor that rises through the fire and becomes light.
The Photographer
Nikos Basias – Photographer and Educator
Nikos Basias was born in Athens and studied at the Department of Physics of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. He has attended international photography seminars, has been awarded in international competitions, and has served as a juror. His work has been presented in 6 solo and 78 group exhibitions in many countries. He lives and works in Chania.