AMORGOS
INLAND
DESPINA CHARITONIDI
Asfondilitis, Amorgos
12 July - 24 August, 2025
Amorgos, the mystical and otherworldly Easternmost island of the Cyclades, is characterised by a rugged landscape of sharp cliffs, crystalline rocks and azure sea.
With the deepest waters of the Aegean Sea, the island’s natural landscapes are worn with an ageless and multifaceted history. In antiquity, Amorgos became one of the main hubs of the Cycladic Civilisation, with significant Bronze age antiquities and marble Cycladic figurines having been found on the south region of the island. In most recent history, Amorgos was both a place of imposed and voluntary exile. In 1988, Luc Besson based his iconic diving film Le Grand Bleu in Amorgos.
Its 8 walking paths are carved across, in and around its mountains, and are lined with rare Mediterranean herbs and indigenous plants. This intricate trail system also connects Amorgos’ main hubs and villages, unfolding a series of agricultural networks, and leading to points of interest, such as the Monastery, Ancient Minoa, pre-Cycladic settlements, and the Tower of Agia Triada.
THEME: WAYFINDING
Inland is a solo exhibition of new site-specific, outdoor sculptures by Despina Charitonidi, taking place on Trail 1 (“Palia Strata”) in the rural settlement of Asfondilitis in Amorgos. The exhibition examines human intervention on the environment and the tradition of ritualistic walking, encouraging self-navigation, the urge to wander, and finding solitude in nature.
With the support of Outset Contemporary Art Fund Greece.
With thanks to the Municipality of Amorgos.
Despina Charitonidi (b. 1991) is a sculptor and performer who lives and works in Athens, Greece. Charitonidi’s work leans towards a tendency to strip-down natural and primary elements found in urban construction sites. Her work focuses on reforming and transmuting these materials through a process of examining and experimenting with their properties, unveiling a number of sculptural gestures that holistically reconsider man’s environmental interference.
Her work has been presented at the Theocharakis Foundation, Greece, (2024); Microclima Festival, Venice - Cinema Galleggiante, IT (2022); Changwon Sculpture Biennale, South Korea (2022); Museum of Contemporary Art Vojvodina, Novi Saad for the Serbian Pavilion Venice Biennale (2022); Gemeinsamkeit und Kollektivität trotz Distanz, Zentrum für Kunst und Urbanistik, Berlin (2021); 2023 Eleusis - European Capital of Culture, Greece (2018); among others. She is a graduate of the Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma in Italy and the Hogeschool voor de Kunsten Utrecht in the Netherlands.
THE ARTIST
Despina Charitonidi, 2025. Courtesy of the artist and KIRKI.
THE EXHIBITION
LOCATION: TRAIL 1 “PALIA STRATA”
ASFONDILITIS, AMORGOS
Asfondilitis is a deserted ancient village that sits on a rocky plateau above Agios Pavlos. The settlement dissects through “Palia Strata,” an old path connecting Aegiali to Chora. At 400m above sea level, the path covers around 50% of Amorgos as it stretches across the land like a backbone. Long before roads were carved out of the mountains, Palia Strata was the main avenue of transport that connected integral trade, agricultural and housing networks between the port of Aegiali, Xozoviotissa Monastery and Chora.
Before WWII, the village of Asfondilitis was one of the most important agricultural centres on the island. Today, only a few shepherds and their cattle roam the fields. Along the path, you may come across nine wells and between 100 and 200 petroglyphs that were created by a disabled boy at the end of the 19th century, narrating stories from a bygone era.
This year’s exhibition will take place along Trail 1, amidst the dry, otherworldly landscape of Asfondilitis.
