8
LIMERICK play
A Passage to the Years of Innocence…
PERSISTENT ART
Epimoni Techni
Foundation – Inspiration – Curation:
Chrysa Barzoka
Artists:
- Manos Ioannidis
- Katerina Vlachou
- Marilena Bitzani
- Ioanna Tsiamourtzi
- Dina Bakaniari – Andonoglou
- Melpomeni Karakitsou
- Joanna Ampatzi
- Glykeria Kalfa
- Syni Vizovitou
- Anastasia Zampetoglou
- Aris Bottas
- Vasilis Bottas
- Ioannis Adamopoulos
- Marianna Patinioti – Xristou
- Konstantinos Gogalis
- Chrysoula Pavlidou
- Irini Lazaridou
- Foteini Bouchara
- Stauroula Andreou
- Kelly Kontzamani
- Dimitra Atsou
- Eleni Klapada
- Alexander Athanasiou
- Eva Juli
- Art Vaitsis
- Nectar Aze
- Dorothy Paszyńska Karailia
- Andronikos Trouk – Maria Karapanagioti Dance School
- Chrysostomos Troukis
- Dryades En Plo
- Miltiadis Sarigiannidis
- Charis Giannakos
- Aram Toros
- Anna Botou
- Kirsikka Soustiel
- Miltiadis Sarigiannidis
- Antonia Gampoura
- Charis Giannakos
- Chris Barjoka
Theme:
A thematic approach in line with the style and atmosphere of childhood—a crucial point of reference throughout our lives.
Villa Petridi:
Villa Petridi, an eclectic mansion on Anagenniseos Street, is a preserved estate in Thessaloniki. It was built between 1900 and 1910 in the western part of the city. The mansion is located at the intersection of 26th Oktovriou, Anagenniseos, Kazantzakis, and Tantalou streets, opposite the Courthouse, in an area that was once the seaside Garden of Princes (Bechtsinari). The establishment of the Garden of Princes and its later connection to the tram terminal gave the area a significant character, attracting crowds, strollers, and various orchestras that entertained the public.
In 1984, the Greek Ministry of Culture declared it a preserved building, recognizing it as a work of art in need of special state protection. The property was transferred to the Municipality of Thessaloniki. In 1995, the municipality commissioned a restoration study, and in 2006, restoration works began. The project also included the redevelopment of the surrounding space of the neoclassical building and was completed in October 2013. Today, the building serves as a cultural venue for the Municipality of Thessaloniki, hosting events such as the Dimitria Festival and the Thessaloniki Biennale of Contemporary Art.
Limerick:
A limerick is a type of poetry characterized by a short, humorous stanza of five lines with a specific rhyming pattern. These poems tell a short story and conclude with a punchline.
Limericks lean toward surrealism and are innovative in style. They are typically satirical or purely comedic, often “nonsensical,” blending the logical with the illogical, the possible with the impossible. Their primary aim appears to be fostering children’s imagination, inspiring humor, and guiding them from imaginative to logical/critical word associations.
For the Greek poet George Seferis, limericks—with their spirit of absurdity, sarcasm, and tragicomic tone—served as a conscious resistance to realism, a counterbalance to the deadlock, harshness, and absurdity of wartime reality.
In Greece, George Seferis was the first to attempt writing limericks. He even tried to translate the term into Greek as “lirologima,” a combination of Lear (after Edward Lear, the English limerick master) and “liros” (meaning nonsense or incoherent speech).