WHAT SIMPLY HAPPENS: AN ODE TO THE HILLS OF ATHENS
I discovered the work of Nicolas Melemis while spending some time in Athens this Fall. Since then What Simply Happens has become one of my Winter essential. Beautifully designed by Matto, the Paris-based creative studio, the publication is a collection of photographs punctuated with texts of Ioanna Gerakidi, Marc Delalonde and Odysseas Simos. More than an art book, What Simply Happens is an observation of the nature within the urban landscape and an ode to the hills of Athens.
Fabienne Ayina: You were born and raised in France but you live in Athens. Why did you choose to be based in the Greek capital?
Nicolas Melemis: I was born in Paris of Canadian parents. My grandfather is Greek and I used to go to Athens every year during the summer to see family. In 2016 I came to Athens for a workshop with the school of architecture of Paris-Malaquais. I photographed the Western part of Athens and in 2017 I exhibited the work at the Lyon Biennale of Architecture. At that point I felt something was changing in the city, there was an energy that was really strong and interesting. Since then it turned out that huntch was correct, and another change is happening, we’ll see where that goes. I went back in 2018 to work on my finals project, that work developped into the book What Simply Happens. Now I still have to go back to Paris for work as it’s still hard to work in Athens. It’s nice to be able to have different energies. I also think Athens can be a bit tricky if you don’t go with a plan, something specific to do.
F.A: You have a background in architecture, did it influence your work? If so, how?
N.M: My architecture studies have been very important in the work I do. I work with architecture studios and designers in commissioned works. For more personnal projects it always evolves around city planning and studies of territories. I let myself being more poetic and free in how I approach places. The way I go about it and the vocabulary both visual and theoretical I use, comes from my studies and growing up around architects.
F.A: You just opened a residency, an art space in Athens. Can you tell us more about it?
N.M: It’s called Big Table! The idea is to have a shared production space dedicated to images. It’s something I feel is missing in Athens. A place people can come for a period and make projects, slowly we hope to get tools in, to print, develop and make images!
We also host events, film screenings, dinners, exihibitions. We’re still at the start of the project and it’s going to be an organic development. Things will happen and we will have the freedom to follow them to play it by ear!
F.A: What are you currently working on, what are your future projects?
N.M: Appart from Big Table, I did a residency, Création en Cours by the Atelier Médicis, in the French island of Mayotte (of the coast of Madagascar). I’m now working on an exhibition and hopefully another book will follow.
F.A: You published What Really Happens, a photography book which what seems a declaration of love to your city of adoption. I found it poetic and a bit melancholic. Can you share with us the process of this project?
N.M: The book is a love letter for sure! In 2018, I came to Athens to work on my thesis project. I did a number of interviews and talked to many people. From these conversations and my personal experience I decided to work on Athenian green space. As I went further and walked around I began to be fascinated by the hills. They felt so important yet somehow a bit outside of the people conception of Athens. From there I started exploring, trying to be as comprehensive as possible, i would go for days out and have a general destination, then I would let myself be moved by events and spaces. I got chased by dogs, found parties, talked to people saw a new space from a top. This would lead me through the hills.
For the book I decided not to keep any events, any anecdotes. I wanted to make people feel what the hills are like in their most common state. How people experience them daily. This might be where the feeling of melancholy comes from, but I would say, melancholic is the exact opposite of how I feel for the hills. They are a vital space, one of the most free and vibrant examples of city space I ever encountered. They are now being attacked as spaces of freedom by trying to make them into more of a traditional urban space but hopefully they are stronger than that!
F.A: What are you currently working on, what are your future projects?
N.M: Appart from Big Table. I did a residency, Création en Cours by the Atelier Médicis, in the french island of Mayotte, it’s a small island of the coast of Madagascar. I was there working on a project and now I’m working on making an exhibition, and hopefully another book from that work.
Interview | Fabienne Ayina
Photos | Nicolas Melemis