The Outset Greece team had the pleasure of visiting the group exhibition ‘Once We Were Gardens’ presented by
@deoprojects on the occasion of its 5th anniversary, at the historic Karavas estate in Kampos, Chios. Curated by Akis Kokkinos, the exhibition examined the inevitable cycles of growth and decay, exploring the deterioration of bodies, ideas, spaces, and relationships through the evocative symbolism of the garden. Outset Greece proudly supported DEO’s exhibition ‘My Past is A Foreign Country’ in 2023.
‘Once We Were Gardens’ brought together newly commissioned, site-specific works alongside existing pieces and one garden recreation by twelve international artists each exploring how acts of care and states of decay coexist, tracing the shifting boundaries between growth, neglect, and transformation. Their works traverse the fragility of the body, the erosion of ideas, the transformation of landscapes, and the vulnerability of relationships, weaving a narrative that is as much about loss as it is about renewal. The exhibition contemplated the tension between preservation and transformation: in a world that prioritises the new and discards the old, the works questioned our desire to remain vital and relevant. Decay, so often feared, was reimagined as a form of beauty: a process of transformation rather than a conclusion. Just as a garden requires constant tending and yet remains subject to the forces of time, so do our bodies, our histories, and our relationships.
#outset #bethereattheoutset #chios #deo
