Less known facts and information about CHANIaRT and the Elaiourgeion (olive mill) Art Space in Dromonero

The program “CHANIART – Visual Routes” is implemented by the “Museum of Contemporary Art of Chania Elaiourgeion (Olive Mill see below*)” in collaboration with the Regional Unit of Chania, all the Municipalities of the Prefecture of Chania and by the Cultural Bodies that aim to explore and develop Culture and Fine Arts in the entire Prefecture of Chania.

The aim of the “CHANIART – Art Routes” program is to highlight the artistic potential in the Prefecture of Chania and to become one of the most important centers of artistic activities in Greece, an arena of new artistic trends and a forum for artistic dialogue and creation, a melting pot of interactions between local cultural values and international avant-garde currents, the stage for the presentation of visual actions and searches, both for the established Masters of Art, and the talented Young Creators.

 Alongside the promotion of our place and the highlighting of the local cultural potential, the goal remains the construction of an interactive communication network between all Cretan Visual Creators, the local community, the wider artistic community and the global cultural web.

The Non-Profit Cultural Organisation “Elaiourgeion – Art Factory”  («Ελαιουργείον – Εργοστάσιο Τέχνης») was created with the aim of saving the old Olive Mill of the Agricultural Cooperative in Zibragos in the Prefecture of Chania (map), Crete, from
decay and annihilation. Its aim is to host cultural events in its spaces, turning it into a place of memory and a field of cultural activities in the interior of the island.

The building of the Old Olive Oil Mill consists of the central core of the building (stonework) built in the 1920s and of wings – satellites built in successive building phases until the 1970s.

 In 1980 its operation as a mill was stopped and it was allowed to collapse rapidly. During its reconstruction the aim was to preserve the primary materials of the building with its original technological equipment with as few interventions as possible. The mechanical equipment of the olive press is of Greek manufacture (!) from the early 1960s and was preserved as a memory and reference point of the original operations of the site.

Today the “Elaiourgeion – Art Factory” is a multidimensional cultural organization. It consists of the “Gallery of Visual Arts of Chania” organizing educational programs and periodic visual exhibitions, and the “Museum of Contemporary Art of Chania” the purpose of which is to preserve, present and highlight the permanent collections of the “Olive Mill” » and the promotion along with the study of the interactive contacts of Contemporary Art with Man. 

At the same time, six major programs of Communication, Cooperation, Development & Cultureemanate from the “Elaiourgeion – Art Factory”: 

1. “The Road of Museums”

 2. “The Circle of Canyons”,

3. “HANIaRT – Visual Routes”

4. “Art & Wine – The Wineries of Western Crete create Culture” 

5. “Creative Artist Hospitality – Olivepress Art Residency”

 6. “The Step of Art”.

• The former Olive Mill (Elaiourgeion), which was reborn as an “Art Factory”, is located in the village of Dromonero, 33 kilometers southwest of the city of Chania, on the road that leads to the picturesque village of Paleochora with its magical beaches.
  

A further Art Space included in the ChaniART programme is the MATCH MORE GALLERY in Platanias (opposite Lidl).

Source: Municipality of Platanias, photo L. Isola

Current exhibition in Dromonero, open every Sunday 11.00 – 19.00 until 29th October – click here.

Not to be missed:

SUNDAY, 15th October at 14:00, at Dromonero:

The second performance “WAITING IN THE BOUDOIR ” with the participation of the guest artist Apostolis Filippou in interaction with Lambrini Boviatsou and her works.

“The performance “WAITING IN THE BOUNDOIR – MITOSIS” is about unity and duality, white and red. White representing purity and appreciation of beauty, red representing love and blood. The two colors combine both as a union and division. Together as a union and the process of dividing the cell core into two identical cells.
This is what we expect to happen. The unique and duality of the action, it may also refer to the ancient myth of Hermaphrodite. The visual artists Lambrini Boviatsu and Apostolis Philippou perform a boudoir action between fantasy and reality.”(L. Boviatsou)