Maria Theodoraki

DESTE Prize at the Museum of Cycladic Art.


My favourite:

Maria Theodoraki, 1 Irodotou St., 2013


The installation consists of a crate marked with the words 'Fragile' and 'Move Art', and two columns of A4 sheets of paper, one in Greek, one in English. I took one of the sheets of paper, and this is part of the text:


The figurine lies within its crate at the Museum of Cycladic Art, on the first floor of the Stathatou Mansion in a room overlooking Irodotou Street...

The figurine's arms are folded vertically in the middle of the body with the left arm upon the right. The white marble sparkles at places while at others it is covered with a thin pale surface which is more prominent on the outer part of the left arm. The left shoulder appears to be less angular than the right. At the edge of the left temple a piece has been broken off leaving an oval-shaped mark in its place. The eyes are depicted as faint hollows and are tilted downwards. A trace of red pigment marks the edge of the right cheek. On the lower outer part of the right thigh and along the shin, the marble has been chipped and it is rough and ice-white in five places. The feet are not vertical to the body but slant downward in line with the shin in a hyperextended position. The sole of the left foot has been marked in black with number 253...

Figurine 253 has been dated between 2800 and 2300 BC...

In a letter to the Board of the Museum of Cycladic Art...

I request permission to exhibit the figurine in a specially constructed crate, repeating the gesture that placed the figurine as a grave offering in the dark....