Louli Tsamantani: 'Faith?'

Editor's note

The following poem is a textual reflection on Maria Tzanakou's pieces Corrections: Faith and Failure, included in this exhibition. The word 'fyki' (Gr: φύκι), is the greek word for 'seaweed', and is also the material that Tzanakou is using to make her poetical statement in her artwork. The word 'fyki' in this case, provides an opportunity to Tsamantani to create also a linguistic 'game' around the letter 'f'. Tsamantani examined similar poetical patterns in her book Symfonoi Ichoi (Σύμφωνοι Ήχοι, Athens: Gavriilidis Publications, 2010) - the title of which could be translated as 'consonant sounds'.

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Under her scarf fykia like ribbons keep tight her hair. Fykia around her heart warm and protect her hope. But her face, her face is empty, her eyes wide open staring the deep blue failure of the war.

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Louli Tsamantani is a poet living in Athens, Greece. She has studied biology, clinical biochemistry and french literature. She has published five poetry books, and her work has been included in Greek journals and anthologies.