Η ΡΙΖΑ ΠΟΥ ΠΑΛΛΕΤΑΙ/ΤHE PALPITATING ROOT

The exhibition series The Palpitating Root opens on 24.11.25 in the city of Florina and turns its attention to the magical channels running through manifold realities. Each chapter will present new works by contemporary artists, developed through on-site research in this borderland region where nature, rich historical narratives, and diverse traditions coexist within a cinematic landscape. For the first episode, Konstantinos Kotsis and Despina Charitonidi conduct field research and present a performative sculptural intervention titled The Last Map in the neighborhood of the municipal market which will be presented on 24/11 at 19:00 on Tagmatarhou Naoum Street.

Drawing from magical realism, as it appears in literature and as explored in feminist and postcolonial studies, the exhibition highlights the inescapable entanglement of the natural and the spiritual, searching for the elements that constitute “the mystery breathing behind things.” By allowing ground-up, local, and oblique narratives to emerge on surface, The Palpitating Root challenges singular interpretations of history, nature, and gender, inviting us instead into a queer perspective, attuned to their countless expressions.

Konstantinos Kotsis creates multimedia installations informed by sculptural thinking, focusing on naturalistic and folkloric observation within broader social and economic landscapes to intertwine personal and historical narratives. Despina Charitonidi, working across sculpture and performance, investigates the relationships between nature, materiality, and human-made structures. In their collaborative research and final work, “materiality becomes a starting point for reflecting on the relationship between locality, collectivity, and historical linearity, drawing from the dawn of human societies,” as they mention.

The Palpitating Root inaugurates the ΦΑΝΚΑ Florina Art Residency Program, produced by A-DASH. Later episodes throughout the year will feature Maria Varela, Catriona Gallagher, and the artist duo Phantom Investigations (Ino Varvariti and Giannis Delagrammatikas). Curated by Christina Petkopoulou, the Residency Program aims each year to welcome artists, writers, and curators to Florina, offering them the opportunity to conduct site-specific research, produce and exhibit work through collective processes, in response to the curatorial prompt of each thematic chapter. Its annual themes draw inspiration from local narratives, the sensibility of liminality, and the unique qualities the above can offer to artistic practice, production, and research.
The Palpitating Root is supported by and under the auspices of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture.

The Palpitating Root
Ep. 1: The Last Map
Konstantinos Kotsis / Despina Charitonidi
24.11.25, Florina
Curated by: Christina Petkopoulou

*Κonstantinos Kotsis & Christina Petkopoulou are ARTWORKS Fellows