Islands, linked by a shared sea.
For the first time in Athens, Archipelago Network presents the rich and multifaceted maritime traditions of the Cyclades through the multimedia exhibition Crafts of the Sea. The exhibition traces interconnections between these maritime communities of past and present through archival material and contemporary photographic, sonic, and audiovisual documentation.
Highlighting the concurrent value and precarity of the wooden boatbuilding, fishing and seafaring crafts in the region, this exhibition invites the public to reorient their senses towards a future seen with, and from, the sea. Visitors will encounter a universe of objects, landscapes, boats and portraits spanning historic locations such as the Tarsanas boatyard in Syros, Ai Giannis bay in Paros, the Armeni boatyard of Santorini, and the fishing ports of Amorgos and Koufonisia. The exhibition also features historic archival materials from the Historical Folklore Museum of Naoussa (Othon Kaparis Collection) in Paros and various private collections from Syros, Amorgos, and Santorini.
About the project:
Curated by Maurizio Borriello and Jacob Moe, Crafts of the Sea maps the rich maritime traditions of the Cyclades and explores today’s boatbuilding, fishing, and seafaring communities across the islands of Amorgos, Koufonisia, Paros, Santorini, and Syros through archival materials, contemporary photographic documentation, sound collages, and short documentaries.
Through a grassroots approach to sourcing and preserving community heritage, the Crafts of the Sea exhibition series celebrates less tangible and monumental forms of maritime culture, advocating for their continued relevance and existence in the years to come.
Both the historical archival material and the contemporary audiovisual documentation are the result of on-site research conducted by Archipelago Network throughout 2023-24 as part of the Maritime Trades of the Cyclades project, also presented on the organization’s online platform as an interactive digital map.
Dr. Maurizio Borriello
Dr. Maurizio Borriello is a maritime ethnographer, shipwright, and documentary photo-/videographer. He has worked at various maritime museums and ship preservation centers in Norway restoring wooden ships recognized as historical maritime treasures by the Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage, and has conducted extensive field research in shipyards in South-East Asia, India, and the Mediterranean. His doctoral research focused on developing a sustainable wooden boatbuilding method by combining modern technologies with techniques documented during his comparative ethnographic study. He is currently working as boatbuilding instructor at Albaola Itsas Kultur Faktoria. He holds an MA in Asian and African Languages and has received a PhD from the University of Naples l’Orientale.
Jacob Moe
Jacob Moe is a documentarian and archivist. He is founder and principal investigator of Archipelago Network, an initiative for research and documentation of audiovisual heritage and knowledge on the Cyclades islands. As a film and radio producer, he has led fieldwork and community-based media projects in the Aegean islands and Brazil, addressing local material culture, traditional crafts, and indigenous media. He holds a BA in Political Science from Pomona College and an MFA in Social Documentation from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and has been awarded fellowships for independent research at the University of São Paulo and Academy of Athens, among others.
About Archipelago Network
The Aegean islands are havens of diasporic culture, traditional knowledge, and biodiversity. Yet today, accelerating forces such as overtourism and the global climate crisis exert local pressures on these coastal communities, threatening knowledge systems and environmental equilibriums. In this context, Archipelago Network takes up the Cyclades islands as laboratories for field research, residencies, publications, online projects, and public programs. The initiative works at the intersection of visual practices, cultural life, and the natural environment, providing open access to its digital collections while contributing to the development of local and regional memory through documentation and outreach activities.
Visiting Hours
Monday & Thursday: 8 am – 7 pm
Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday: 8 am – 5 pm
Saturday & Sunday and all of August : Closed
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