The Olive Tree a Rooster Called Home

Below is the catalogue for Loukia Richard's recent project "The Olive Tree a Rooster Called Home". It includes works from the show, background information and related essays.

Just click the link to see it full size.

The Olive Tree a Rooster Called Home.catalogue

The Olive Tree A Rooster Called Home: The Highlights

Visual highlights of Loukia Richards latest project.

The Internet is such a good tool for sharing what we do and for being able to see what is happening within our specilaism at home and overseas...it makes the world much smaller and the possibilities wider.

I hope you have enjoyed seeing the development and outcomes of Loukia's project and I hope to share the e-catalogue with you soon.

'The Olive Tree A Rooster Called Home'

The show concluded on May 28th at Coco-mat Rotterdam. An extra workshop had to be organised at Coco-mat Amsterdam as they had so many people wanting to take part in the embroidery sessions.

Loukia Richards in now in the process of planning for Part 2...

'The Olive Tree A Rooster Called Home' Groetjes uit Amsterdam! (Greetings from Amsterdam!)‏

Window-knitting Greek style rugs + playing
@ Coco-mat Amsterdam, Overtoom 89

Wouldn't it be nice if we all got to work in a chaise longue!

Free Greek Embroidery Workshops daily 10-12.00 until 19 May
(On 21 May the show begins at Coco-mat Rotterdam)
For more info, please write: loukiarichards@yahoo.com
or call Coco-mat Amsterdam (+31 (0)20 4892 927)

Photo credit: Thijs Siegenbeek van Heugelom

Greek Embroidery workshops @ Coco-mat, Antwerpen‏

Loukia Richards in Antwerpen; sunny day; finger-training before class...


Coco-mat Antwerpen

De Keyserlei 11

+ 32 (0)3 2316 806

from 3 to 10 Μay, 10.00 am to 6.00 p.m.

Please note that on Sunday 8 May the shop remains closed

During the show, the artist will teach fee free Greek Emboidery workshops (in English):

From 3.00 to 5.00 pm at Coco-mat in Antwerpen (but for Sunday 8 May)

If you wish to participate in the fee free Greek Embroidery workshops you do not need to give previous notice.

Do not forget to bring with you the following materials:

a piece of textile to embroider - cotton or/and silk threads - embroidery needles - a soft pencil - a notebook - scissors

and (optional)

textile colors - pencils, pastels or markers - pins - your questions

The Olive Tree A Rooster Called Home: Update

"The Olive Tree A Rooster Called Home" Has a new corporate Sponsor
Sarah Mesritz Jewellery Design

Read more about the project on Loukia's Facebook page

PRESS RELEASE 'The Olive Tree A Rooster Called Home'

PRESS RELEASE
'The Olive Tree A Rooster Called Home'
A solo textile art exhibition and fee free Greek Embroidery workshops by Loukia Richards
@ Coco-mat Antwerpen, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, MAY 2011

It will be hard to trace any olive trees or roosters in Loukia Richards's solo exhibition at the new Coco-mat stores in Belgium and The Netherlands but in the title.
Richards, a textile artist, a Hochschule der Kuenste Berlin graduate and Fulbrighter, makes use of a stereotypical image of Greece in her show title 'to attract ''unaware visitors'' and surprise them with unorthodox works and doings'.
Richards's textile work (tapestries, soft sculptures and selected textile jewellery) reflect the influence of modern Greek culture and weaving traditions, while the artist's personal Odyssey through techniques, materials and foreign influences is prominent in the show.

The show, as well as the e-catalogue the visitor may download for free, is divided into four relevant chapters or colors:
Red for Greece's national insurrection in the early 19th century, for the fatricidal civil war of the late 1940s and for the rejuvenating power of joyful Greek Easter - Black for death and mourning reflecting the dark sides of Greek history, inflated with wars and foreign invasions, as well as for the Hesiodeian chaos which gave birth to cosmos, according to mythology - Green for the plant deities, spring, flourishing hope and creativity - Blue for the sea surrounding, connecting and enriching the country of over 3,000 islands, a source of innumerable myths and legends.

Richards's work shown in the exhibition includes her 'embroidery notes' on Washington DC (The Washington Diary), her fiber experience from working as an AIR at Ted Noten Atelier in Amsterdam's Red Light District (Holy Bitch), her family's recollections from the bloody civil war that shadowed her childhood with pain and mourning (Death Dolls).
The focal piece of the show is the old style Greek flag, embroidered with Greek Embroidery motifs from the 17th and 18th century.
Its title: 'NO!' (OXI!) refers to a word echoeing the resistance of Greek people to foreign invadors throughout their history: from the Persian wars in the antiquity to the nazi occupation in the early 1940s.

There is another element in the show which may surprise the visitor. She/he may participate in the fee free Greek Embroidery workshops taught by the artist (in English). 'In a way, visitors are encouraged to perform the craft that lead to this show and by becoming active participants of the event, they get a better understanding of the living Greek culture and the background that produced this work', Richards says.
Guests will also have the possibility to try their newly acquired skills on a piece of textile which will be used to build the world's biggest mattress, an ecology-focused international event Coco-mat organizes on June 15th in Marathon, Greece.
(For more information on the 'Marathon project', please visit www.coco-mat.com or e-mail: edavlamanou@coco-mat.com).

Richards completed her research on Greek Embroidery at The Textile Museum in Washington DC funded by a Fulbright Foundation grant. The results of this work - sketches made of traditional 17th and 18th century motifs - are published in the e-catalogue. "It is: a) a much cheaper alternative compared to print material b) 100% eco-friendly d) can be home-printed and finally e) sponsors may also 'e-publish' it in their websites thus 'spread the word' to their respective audience', the artist says.

Richards dedicates her show and e-catalogue to the animals and plants of Greece inspiring her work and life.
......................................................................................
'The Olive Tree A Rooster Called Home' details:

Where: Coco-mat (Antwerpen, Amsterdam, Rotterdam)
The event is under the auspices of The Theoharakis Foundation (www.thf.gr), a private museum of modern and contemporary art in Athens.
Corporate sponsors of the show are: Coco-mat (www.coco-mat.com), Pireaus Bank (www.piraeusbank.gr/), Superfast Ferries (www.superfast.com), Domain Skouras (www.skouras.gr)
Communication sponsors are: British 'The Needle Files' - Dutch website for international embroidery www.berthi.web-log.nl - US digital plaftorm for the arts http://www.findartinfobank.com/
Show and e-catalogue curator: Dr. Alexandra Tranta, Archaeologist - Museologist
Digital communication + E-catalogue design: Vagelis Stournaras
......................................................................................
Schedule:
Coco-mat Antwerpen
De Keyserlei 11
+ 32 (0)3 2316 806
from 3 to 10 Μay, 10.00 am to 6.00 p.m.
Please note that on Sunday 8 May the shop remains closed
During the show, the artist will teach fee free Greek Emboidery workshops (in English):
From 3.00 to 5.00 pm at Coco-mat in Antwerpen (but for Sunday 8 May)

Coco-mat Amsterdam
Overtoom 89
+31 (0)20 4892 927
from 12 to 19 Μay, 10.00 am to 6.00 p.m. (including Sunday 15 May)
Please note that on Monday 16 May the shop opens at noon.
During the show, the artist will teach fee free Greek Emboidery workshops (in English):
From 10.00 am to noon at Coco-mat in Amsterdam (but for Monday 16 May)

Coco-mat Rotterdam
Westblaak 25
+31 (0)10 2829 807
from 21 to 28 Μay, 10.00 am to 6.00 p.m. (including Sunday 22 May)
Please note that on Monday 23 May the shop remains closed.
During the show, the artist will teach fee free Greek Emboidery workshops (in English):
From 3.00 to 5.00 pm at Coco-mat in Rotterdam (but for Monday 23 May)
......................................................................................
If you wish to participate in the fee free Greek Embroidery workshops you do not need to give previous notice.
Do not forget to bring with you the following materials:
a piece of textile to embroider - cotton or/and silk threads - embroidery needles - a soft pencil - a notebook - scissors
and (optional)
textile colors - pencils, pastels or markers - pins - your questions
......................................................................................
Loukia Richards (Athens, 1965)
The Onassis Benefit Foundation funded my studies at Hochschule der Kuenste, Berlin (1988-1993). A perplexing kilim design fueled my desire to study fibers. A Fulbright Foundation grant facilitated my research on Greek Embroidery at The Textile Museum in DC (2008). My soft sculptures inspired by the Red Light Disctrict 'sex workers' in Amsterdam, while an AIR at Ted Noten Atelier (2009), express contemporary agonies through traditional techniques. The 'Hillary Clinton' doll I created for the touring exhibition 'I Care A Lot' on the Middle East conflict (Trier, Stockholm, Lisbon - 2010), convinced me 'toys' can talk politics. As the curator of the first Greek municipal AIR program last summer, I used 'female crafts' to express death, mourning, civil war.
For more information, please contact:loukiarichards@yahoo.com


The Needle Files Blogspot is a communication Sponsor for "The Olive Tree A Rooster Called Home".

Press conference "The Olive Tree A Rooster Called Home"

Photographs taken at the well received press conference for "The Olive Tree A Rooster Called Home" the upcoming solo exhibition from Loukia Richards.

Top Image, photo credit:The Theoharakis Foundation

Bottom image, photo credit: Vagelis Stournaras
Dr. Alexandra Tranta (right)
Loukia Richards (left)

Loukia Richards solo show will be shown with the Greek-Dutch company Coco-mat in Antwerpen, Amsterdam and Rotterdam.

3 - 10 Μay Αntwerpen, 12 - 19 Μay Amsterdam, 21 - 28 Μay Rotterdam.

More updates soon....

Coming Soon...

The Needle Files are proud to be sponsoring:
'The Olive Tree A Rooster Called Home', BENELUX, MAY 2011

What is it? A solo textile art show by Loukia Richards + fee free Greek Embroidery workshops taught by Richards.

Show and e-catalogue curator: Dr. Alexandra Tranta, Archaeologist - Museologist

E-catalogue design: Vagelis Stournaras

Where: Coco-mat shops Antwerpen, Amsterdam, Rotterdam.

Dates: 3 - 10 Μay Αntwerpen, 12 - 19 Μay Amsterdam, 21 - 28 Μay Rotterdam.


"The Rooster is a symbol of abundance & fertility in Greek Embroidery; the olive tree is the holy tree of Athens (my hometown) and a characteristic motif of my paintings.
The title is also a reference to the rooster who nested in the olive tree of a former (deserted) kilim factory in Leonidio in SE Peloponnese - a town internationally known for its kilim industry in the 19th century."

The event is under the auspices of The Theoharakis Foundation (www.thf.gr), a private museum of modern and contemporary art in Athens.

Communication sponsors are: British 'The Needle Files' - Dutch website for international embroidery www.berthi.web-log.nl - US digital plaftorm for the arts http://www.findartinfobank.com/

Corporate sponsors of the show are: Coco-mat (www.coco-mat.com), Pireaus Bank (www.pireausbank.gr), Superfast Ferries (www.superfast.com), Domain Skouras (www.skouras.gr)

The E-catalogue will be avaliable soon via this blog. More updates and images to follow soon...