PCAI’s Shinrin-yoku and Sheltered Gardens Publications

at the Athens Art Book Fair

PCAI is delighted to announce that the Shinrin-yoku and Sheltered Gardens bilingual publications will be available in the Futura Publications section at the Athens Art Book Fair 2024, running between October 4 – 6, 2024.

Shinrin-yoku bilingual publication is the culmination of the homonymous visual art exhibition presented from June 20 until September 29, 2024 at the J. & A. Diomedes Botanic Garden, in Athens. Featuring 15 international artists the project, curated by Kika Kyriakakou, was inspired by the Japanese phrase Shinrin-yoku 森林浴, which translates into English as forest bathing: a tentative yet not very widespread term coined in 1982 by Tomohide Akiyama, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in Japan. A concept alluding to the ancient habit of spending time close to nature, among trees and wild plants, absorbed by the surrounding wilderness, without the distress of electronic devices and the fast pace of everyday life. The project unfolded through a contemporary art group exhibition at the Diomedes Botanic Garden in Athens, complimented by a series of performances, on the occasion of the opening, and a bilingual, limited-edition publication. The Shinrin-yoku exhibition aimed to elaborate further on the discourse on environmental protection and gender that started during the Sheltered Gardens hybrid exhibition in 2022-2023.

Shinrin-yoku edition is published by Futura Publications and includes an insightful, introductory essay by Kika Kyriakakou, dedicated to the notion of the Shinrin-yoku 森林浴 as a remedial inquest for the psyche, as well as rich photographic material from PCAI’s artistic programme in the Diomedes Botanic Garden.

Available at bookstores. Shinrin-yoku exhibition and publication were produced with the support of the Ministry of Culture and the French Institute of Athens, under the auspices of the Embassy of Japan in Greece and in the context of the institution 2024 Greek – Japan Year of Culture and Tourism.

Sheltered Gardens edition includes original texts, essays and poems by Kika Kyriakakou, Chris Kraus, Selina Nwulu, Phoebe Giannisi, Fay Zika, I broke the vase, VASKOS (Vassilis Noulas & Kostas Tzimoulis) and Dimitra Ioannou, dedicated to sheltered gardens, ecosystems and the problematic issues that emerge in contemporary women’s gardens as well as rich photographic material from PCAI’s artistic programme in the Diomedes Botanic Garden.

Available at the National Museum of Contemporary Art EMΣT Athens museum shop and e-shop and at Politeia Bookstore, Athens. Sheltered Gardens programme and publication were made possible thanks to the support of the Ministry of Culture, the British Council Greece, and Flunet Productions.

 

Shinrin-Yoku Publication.                             Sheltered Gardens Publication
Photos: Maria Toultsa                                  Catalogue Images: Eftychia Vlachou

   

         

 

   

 

Athens Art Book Fair takes place at Stoa Tristrato. Enter from: Stadiou 29, Aristidou 6 & Dragatsaniou 6

Opening hours: Friday 4/10, 5pm-9pm, Saturday 5/10 & Sunday 6/10, 1pm-9pm.

MORE.


Editors – Texts: Kika Kyriakakou

Design: Michalis Paparounis

Language: Greek, English

Binding: Soft cover

Dimensions: 22.1 x 16.6 cm

Publications: Futura


  Activity aligned with Goals 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 15, 16, 17