Routes in Marpissa 2025

Clumsy Routes

In its hospitable courtyards, cobbled alleys, squares and courtyards of its churches, Marpissa of Paros will welcome us again this year from Friday, August 22 to Sunday, August 24, 2025.



Taking as its reference point Stellas’s invaluable work, this year’s theme invites us to travel back to a time when spontaneous folk expression gave rise to clumsy and often imperfect, yet always harmonious and functional lines, as they are reflected in various aspects of everyday cultural life. Through the proposed routes and carefully designed experiential activities, the festival seeks to explore and highlight these now rare, rough, and unrefined characteristics of the authentic Cycladic landscape. At the same time, it calls upon us to reflect on what modern, “filtered” culture sacrifices in pursuit of an elusive perfection.

This year’s programme includes, among other events, digital tours of traditional residences, an exhibition of photographs by Zacharias Stellas from the archives of the Benaki Museum, educational visual art workshops by the Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation, and a lecture on Stellas’s photographic work by the Hellenic Photographic Society.

Additionally, Koula Panagou will conduct reading-based educational workshops for children, while Katerina Dermata will engage the young visitors in playful visual experimentation through “clumsy” drawings. Giorgos Fountzoulas will offer a workshop on the concept of free expression in Greek traditional dance, and throughout the three days, visitors will also have the opportunity to co-create an original weaving installation with designer Alexandra Bissa.

For the first time this year, the festival will feature an activity dedicated exclusively to its international audience: a dynamic storytelling session in English by acclaimed Belgian author Wally De Doncker.

The public will also be able to explore a contemporary art exhibition curated by Despina Zefkili, during which there will be an open-table discussion on contemporary art and artistic practices in rural areas as an alternative to the dominant tourism model.

The musical finales for the first two days will feature Human Touch and Myrto Vasiliou, while, as always, the festival will conclude with traditional bagpipes (tsampounes) and drums (toumpakia) played by musicians from Paros and Antiparos, followed by a lively island celebration with Nikos Economides and Kyriaki Spanou.