Spetses island 18050
Greece
The Anargyros Art Residency aims to host artists from all disciplines annually at the Foundation of Anargyrios and Korgialenios School of Spetses premises, providing a necessary framework for the production of new, original artworks. The School serves as both a place of residence and a workspace for the artists, a site for exhibiting their final works, and a meeting point for the local community through a series of public activities. Participating artists are encouraged to explore hidden aspects of the island’s landscape, beyond stereotypical touristic depictions, and to process and interpret their social significance for the local community. The unique condition of island life, characterized simultaneously by isolation and connectivity through an archipelagic network, forms the broader conceptual framework of the program.
The Anargyros Art Residency takes place entirely at the Foundation of Anargyrios and Korgialenios School of Spetses (AKSS).
The school, which opened in 1927, functioned as a model private school and exemplary boarding school for boys with a pioneering presence in Greek intellectual life. Among the school's graduates were Iannis and Kosmas Xenakis, while the writer John Fowles taught at the school as a professor, who based his experience on the island for his novel The Magus. The school was suspended in 1983 and has since been operating as a conference center. It also hosts the Spetses High School and the International Music Academy, a classical music educational program that operates every summer. The school has a rich library with over 5000 titles, equipped laboratory and conference rooms, and outdoor spaces such as the open theater for events.
