ART AND ARTISTS IN DIAFANI

 from the  Diafani  A to Z   list  of  the website  WELCOME  TO  DIAFANI  (www.diafani.com)


Many of the local people of the community Diafani-Olymbos in Northern Karpathos have become well-known painters, photographers, writers, craftsmen, musicians. Below you will find a few examples of the talented people who come from this community.

There is a well-known artist who comes from Diafani, Manolis Anastasiadis.
He now lives in Rhodes with his family and has exhibitions of his work in Athens, New York etc. You will see some examples of his early painting hanging in the traditional Kafeneion of Diafani.

The father of Manolis Anastasiadis was one of the highly skilled craftsmen of the village, working in the carving of wooden panels for the church and the "Souffas" bed platforms of the traditional Karpathian house interior.
Manolis and his brothers are also very good photographers and you will see several examples of Giorgos Anastasiadis’s work on the postcards of the village.
Giorgos has held many exhibitions of his photographs and he has generously allowed some of his photographs to be included in this Diafani Website.

Another talented artist from Diafani, Ioannis Tserkis, painted the breathtaking icons, which cover the walls and ceiling inside the main church in Diafani.
He also now lives in Rhodes but, like all the local people, he comes back to Diafani with his family for all the main holidays and local events.

Three other local brothers, Yannis, Manolis, Antonis, who learnt their art from their well known artist father, Vasilis Hatzivasilis, have produced statues around the village, depicting the traditional Diafani woman, and some plaques on the outside school walls representing scenes of Greek history and mythology.
There is a charming book with many illustrations about the work of this artist published in Athens (in English), on sale in the village.
See also the fountain on the seafront of Diafani, recently restored with its surround of decorated tiles depicting scenes from the traditional daily life of this community.
These brothers have also opened a lovely museum in Olymbos (Summer 2008) to honour the life and work of their father.

In addition to the local artists and craftsmen of Diafani many foreign artists have come to Diafani and have been inspired to produce work which is now shown in exhibitions all over the world - and some of which were shown in the very successful exhibition held in Diafani in 2005.

CLICK TO SEE :

Bibliography, Art
Churches and Chapels in Diafani
Crafts and Craftsmen, local
Photos