Map of the Jewish Quarter (Ovraiki), Hania, Crete, March 2019 In partnership with Etz Hayyim Synagogue.

The process of creating a physical map of the Ovraiki Area of Hania, Crete, in partnership with Etz Hayyim Synagogue.

LEICESTER UK
Day 1

Setting up for the creation of a map can be tricky, as I need a lot of information and access to a computer. But perhaps, the biggest challenge is to understand the layout of the city before I start. To do this, I use a lot of photographs, this time kindly supplemented by photographs of every building from street level, by Maike, an Austrian volunteer at Etz Hayyim.

Days 2 and 3

Creating the 'footprint'.

The footprint of the area. That basically means the estimated or as accurate as possible size of buildings from above. Their ground floor area. After that, using all the photographs and Google maps I construct the 3D buildings, basically raising them up from the 'footprints'. This is a tricky bit, as I am using a tilt factor that allows me to show the facades as far as possible. I think I like working like this since I did my first map of the Punta area in Izmir, using a 1920s map, showing the city before it was destroyed by war.

I had had a challenging time getting into this particular work, primarily because it has to be as accurate reconstruction and as clear as a visitor guide as possible. I got worried about marrying the past and the present together. To give you an example, at the corner of Portrou and Kondylaki streets, I have 'reconstructed' the now non-existent Beth Shalom Synagogue. I based this on the Etz Hayyim design but orientated the garden differently. At that point, I felt that the many days trying to set the map on paper were worth it. It is a task that can fill you with dread and wonder. Suddenly the past raises a hand to greet you.

Pen over draft drawings, where the disparity between footprint and 3D becomes apparent. Lots of adjustments needed.

Day 4

Cleaner pen work, where I begin to imagine how things might have looked 80 years ago. Some concrete flat roofs have been replaced with tiles, for instance, and some ruins at the south end of Parodos Kondyllaki are 'restored'.

Day 5

The current inclination is an artistic convention rather than mathematically correct. This allows me some license to show parts of the buildings facing west. Skoufon street 1 is a case in point. I have also used multidirectional lighting, slowly building up the 3D appearance of buildings. More layering necessary, and more toggling between street views, Maike's photographs, 3D Google Earth and building footprints.

Time to call it a day. 12 hours straight. Lots to think about, some ups and downs, too.

Day 6

Skoufon and Portou streets...

Day 7
Zambeliou street and thoughts about integration with the archive.

Day 8

Between Kondylaki and Chalidon Streets

Day 9 first stage completed

And then...... I am off to Crete at the invitation of Anja the director of Etz Hayyim Synagogue.

Draft copies of my #maps of Chania winging its way to #etzhayyimsynagoguein Crete in preparation for my visit/residency next week. I feel immensely moved to be asked to help map the area of the former #jewishquarter and honour the memory of the #Jewish #Greeks who perished in the war. The restoration of Etz Hayyim against all odds, by #Nikosstavroulakis and the careful curatorship of its treasures, makes it very dear to my heart. It is an honour to be associated with the international staff and volunteers who are the keepers and custodians of this part of our history. In this time of division, it is a beacon of hope.

Crete Hania (Chania)

15th to the 21st March 2019

Days 1-3

Looking at the map's accuracy by comparing to aerial photographs and descriptions of the area during and after the war. A walk in the neighbourhood with staff and volunteers from the Synagogue and Chief Rabbi Gabriel, who flew from Athens for the occasion. Of particular interest was the exact location of the destroyed Beth Shalom Synagogue. A further meeting with a local historian whose work is often published in the local newspapers Mr. Manousakas contributed to the discussions. Here with director Anja and historian Katerina.

Drawings and paintings of houses in the Ovraiki, made between the 17th and the 19th March 2019.

Day 4, 20th March.

Looking at the area near the former Jewish cemetery

Typefaces from old newspaper printworks

The beautiful Crete Archives building

At the Cretan archival office looking at articles around the time of the arrest and deportation of the Greek Jews in May 1944, shortly before the end of the occupation. They all perished alongside Greek and Italian prisoners of war when an allied torpedo sank their unmarked transport ship, Tanais on June the 9th 1944.

Tantalising traces of the past or wishful thinking? Could this have been where a Mezzuza (Prayer scroll and its container) was affixed to this house before the war?

There have been many amazing moments during this residency. Meeting Gabriel, the Chief Rabbi of Greece and undertaking the exploratory walk with him, Anja the director. Konstantinos, Maike, Katerina, and Marianna the Chair of governors on Monday, to establish the position of the 'lost' Beth Shalom Synagogue, destroyed during the war.  Today, Wednesday only two days later but a lifetime in terms of the learning, I have experienced, another walk with Anja, Katerina, and Maike to see the site of the old Jewish graveyard and some of the old houses occupied by Greek Jewish families before the war, now all gone and the record office, itself a property with a history to be discussed at another time, perhaps. 

Later, a walk with Ioanna the PhD undertaking her research at Etz Hayyim to retrace some of the steps of the Monday walk, looking for traces of the past, and  being introduced to another aspect of Chania,  the astonishing  Catholic Cathedral of Assumption, the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Crete, next to the destroyed Beth Shalom Synagogue. All these experiences feel out of the ordinary, life-changing in fact.  What a fascinating visit, residency and what amazing insights. 

In the courtyard of the Catholic Cathedral

Celebrating Purim with a multilingual and multifaith community.

Working in the cool sunshine outside the library opposite the roof of the Synagogue. Painting on the right is entitled 'The Neighbourhood'. 

Trying to make sense of the layout of the streets. I woke up early and went to record the buildings in quick sketches in my little pad. One of the most wonderful things, sobering as well as hugely meaningful was the studio which staff and Besnik the caretaker had prepared.  It was situated inside the library where many beautiful books beckoned to be read. 

A few words at the end of the day. 

I think this experience will surface in my artwork and in my life, in many ways.  For now, I want to make a worthy map, but later, I know that something significant will ensue.  I am grateful that I have lived through these days. These sunny days and cool nights, the medieval city and the city that sleeps beyond this later skin, prostrate before the white snow-capped Lefka Ori mountains. They sit beyond the rooftops, telling their own story, reminding us of our ephemeral existence. No wonder the nights still feel cold, one breath away from spring. But inside my heart, a fire...in fact, many small fires, some beautiful like candles in a place of worship, others harsh and sharp like the memories of past hurts, others still burning in memoriam.  

I am writing late at night, a man, raised a Christian Orthodox, having just recited the Book of Esther, also known in Hebrew as "the Scroll" (Megillah), at the Synagogue for Purim. An old(er) man, feeling like the last few decades have never passed before me. A foreigner in some places, a local in others. A human being, grateful, sad, happy, looking for the traces of the holy and finding it in friendship and shared values.  No more art to be made by me today, only these words and the photographs above and soon, happy dreams of a beautiful life, very similar to one lived today. I think that is what 'living the dream' may actually allude to, without any trace of irony. Goodnight, amazing day four. See you soon beautiful day five. 

Day 5, making sure I do not forget the layout of the streets.

I spent a sleepless night retracing the houses of the area.  I woke up early determined to take as much visual material back with me to the Uk, just in case I forgot something. The following video is one of two which trace Kondylaki street starting from the south to the north and then back the other side of the street. I also took around 80 photographs of both sides, both of Kondylaki and Skoufon.

Later, I had the honour to see the house where Mr. Stavroulakis lived whilst in Chania and engaged in the restoration and life of the Synagogue. This was an experience afforded to me through the Chair of the Synagogue, who was closely associated with this remarkable artist and man. The body of work which he created until his death in 2017 is extensive and quite beautiful. I left the house and my meeting with Marriane feeling both inspired and sad.   

I did not feel that I could photograph his amazing work, but I allowed myself the luxury of taking a picture of this one beautiful woodcut, simply to give an idea of the quality and scale of his work. This is an image which has been published before as a set of woodcut prints at the Synagogue, so I felt that I could share a detail of it here. It is printed, as all his woodcuts appear to be, on lovely Japanese paper. 

Day 7, the return home and some images 

drawn from reference photographs at various points of departure. 

I had a nineteen-hour journey pre-planned.  This was mainly due to the change-over time in Athens and the waiting time for the train back to Leicester. During that time, the following images and several dozen versions of them (all slightly different, whilst I experimented on my phone and computer) emerged. Here is a small sample. 

Back in the United Kingdom

I had planned to rest because the emotions of the past few days were intense, but I woke up full of ideas and thoughts. I made several little drawings, whilst I delayed, on purpose the process of setting up to repaint areas of the map that we had established needed attention. Finally, here we are, the actual map, a smaller copy that we used in Chania for the walks and my notes and changes, which we decided needed to be made.  

The walk with the chief rabbi and the talk with local Chania historian Mr. Manousakas helped to establish that the Beth Shalom Synagogue was situated second in Kondylaki, not exactly on the corner as in my illustrational map. The rabble seen in the archival photographs in Mr. Manousakas collection shows that the corner building had taken the full blast of the aerial bombardment.  The  Synagogue, which all accounts place next to it had sustained damage, but it was destroyed later possibly by the later detonation of explosives or other mechanical means by the Nazi occupying forces.

And finally, after several different versions and lowering the Etz Hayyim windows, I have what I think are four contenders for the final map.

 Quiet Day: 

Dusk

Dawn

Spring Day