In 480 BCE, the naval battle of Salamis took place, and the Greeks defeated the Persians. This victory holds a dominant place in the collective memory of the Greeks, and from the 5th century BCE, the Athenian Republic used it as the supreme symbol of the cultural superiority of the Greeks over the barbarians. This narrative has persisted into modern times. The naval battle of Salamis marks a crossroads between East and West. Representations of the battle in the 20th and 21st centuries have become silent carriers of nationalist discourse, permeating consumer society. The “real” casualties of the Battle of Salamis were not only the Persian warriors but also all the ethnic, gender, ideological, political, and cultural minorities who were exterminated by the dominant system as Others. Today, Kynosura, the landmark of the naval battle, has been turned into a modern ship graveyard. The very dominant system that produces political surplus value from the Greeks’ victory over the Persians also participates in the economic exploitation of the historical landscape of the naval battle.
Bio: Athens. His work mainly focuses on photography and archives, although he often employs the entire multimedia spectrum, constructing a hybrid, transmedia space. His artistic practice incorporates research as a fundamental element of his narratives. His work explores issues of (anti)memory, (anti)history, power, and identity with references to conceptual art.
