Exhibition in Beijing, September 2016: Aura from the island of Sappho

EXHIBIT:“Aura from the Island of Sappho”

Works by poet Lan Lan and photographer Tzeli Hadjidimitriou

On September 2016, Tzeli Hadjidimitriou presented at The Zero Space Gallery  in the Bejing’s renown 798ArtDistrict the exhibition “Aura from the Island of Sappho”

The exhibition is a collaboration between Chinese poet Lan Lan and Greek photographer Tzeli Hadjidimitriou in honor of Sappho, the great poet of antiquity, and the mythic Orpheus.Sappho and Orpheus are the symbols of lyric poetry in the Western world.Lan Lan and Hadjidimitriou met two years ago on the Greek island of Lesvos, the birthplace of lyric poetry in the West.Sappho was born on the island in 630 B.C.Lesvos was also the landscape for the myth of the death of Orpheus.After he is killed by the Maenads, his severed head – still singing -- washes ashore on the island.

Lan Lan and Hadjidimitriou felt a strong bond through their art and decided to create this exhibition, based on their mutual respect and admiration of Western and Eastern culture, ancient history, nature and poetry.

Lan Lan is the nom de plume of Hu Lanlan, born in 1967 in Yantai, Shandong Province, She is one of China’s most important lyric poets.Her work was introduced to Greek audiences at the 1st Athens World Poetry Festival in 2013.Writing for Cerise Press, Fiona Sze-Lorrain calls Lan Lan “a significant female poetic voice” in the “male-dominated Chinese poetry world today.”In World Literature Today, Canaan Morse says that Lan Lan’s poetry is immediately recognizable.”Her language is cool and clean and strong, like glacial ice. Her messages are intimate without being sentimental, bearing the sincerity of secrets. Her inimitable quality is the result of an adherence to simplicity and sympathy, as her poems speak directly to the reader and use white space as consciously as they do words.As part of the exhibition Lan Lan will present her latest collection of poems, “Sappho: A Loose Bouquet,” Inspired by ancient Greece and her trip to Lesvos island.

Tzeli Hadjidimitriou is a fine art photographer, travel writer and the author of ten photography books, including the award-winning “39 Coffee houses and a barber’s shop.” She shows her work regularly in individual and group exhibitions in Greece and abroad.“In the photographs of Greek photographer Tzeli Hadjidimitriou, we experience the island of Lesvos through its diverse “nature.”This natural diversity is above all due to the light -- not just the sunlight but also the light of the moon and the stars.In her compositions we can observe the diversity of the island’s lights and colors and gradually discover its powerful identity, its inexhaustible beauties and its hidden sensations.Her photographs of Lesvos are not simply a presentation of a beautiful landscapes:They invite us to hear the sounds of its waters, calm and stormy; to feel the heat of its earth, burnt by the sun; to gaze at its moonlight; and to feel the humidity of its forests.’Ulrike Weinholt, Lesvos the Island of Hidden Harmony.

In addition to her photos, Hadjidimitriou will also present the debut screening of her short film, “Lan Lan in the land of Lyric Poetry .”In a world full of barriers between religions, nations and political ideologies, the two artists bring the message of love, forgiveness and faith to the possibilities of human spirit through art.“Aura from the Island of Sappho” is sponsored by the architect Mr. LiangZhi and Zero Space gallery.