“What would the crying land put in their tear bottle ?

Crying — humanity’s oldest healing tool. To cry is to acknowledge and to release. After

tears, we feel lighter, with a clearer mind . Through this work, I am offering Rhodos the

ability to cry. Let the island cry and express, we are listening to what she has to tell us.

I came to Rhodes with an interest in the healing properties of local plants. Upon arriving, the

land seemed to ask a different question : why should it continue to heal the humans who have

caused so much pain ? Perhaps it is not the land that must heal us, but we who must learn to

heal back. In exploring the island, meeting its inhabitants, humans and beyond, I came to

understand that true healing is circular. Healing the land and healing ourselves are one and

the same.

Visitor, ask yourself, who cares about Rhodos ? Who asks the soils, the water, the air, the

animals how they are doing ?

A male and a female deer stand at the harbour gates as guardians of the island . They are

Rhodes’s beloved symbol. In the fires of 2023, countless animals and plants were killed. In the

documentary We Will Grow, two rescued deer appear—one missing both ears, another a leg.

They hold the land’s grief in their heart and let their tears run. We killed the forest gods.

Dama Damas are crying.

Letting the island cry, I began to pull a poetic thread : in ancient Greece, tear bottles -

lacrymatories — were used in mourning rituals, filled with perfumes and oils as healing-

prayer or gifts to the dead. These small vessels reminded me of olive pits. I started to see olives

on trees as tear bottles of the land, the olive oil as its tears. I found pearls, beads, bracelets,

necklaces belonging to ancient times giants

This work is my offering. A gesture of repair. A ceramic prayer. A balm for my heart—βάλσαμο

για την ψυχή μου. The wind rises. The island breathes. The healing, I hope, begins”