About us
Travel as an act of art
Travel in Art was born in Syros from a simple idea: to turn travel into a living experience of knowledge, creativity and encounter.
Foradenes, the memory of a place
It all began with a house overlooking the bay of Finikas and, next to it, a place deeply tied to the village’s memory: the historic Foradenes (Φοράδενες), a seaside taverna that for generations was a place of gathering, conviviality and everyday life.
Many people in Finikas, now adults, still remember Foradenes as the place where they went for lunch or dinner as children with their parents or grandparents: a small landmark of the community, made of families, conversations, flavours and relationships.
It is a real part of the recent history of Finikas. The name Φοράδενες appears in the memories collected by Istorima, the Greek oral history archive, where the small building is recognised in a historic photograph of the village. The taverna is also documented in guides to Syros, and the Municipality of Syros-Ermoupoli still uses the expression «πρώην κατάστημα Φοράδενες», “former Foradenes shop”, as a landmark on the Finikas seafront.
Stories handed down by the villagers also live on around this place. People remember that one of the first telephones available to the community was here, back when making a call was still something rare and precious. And among the stories still told in Finikas, it is even said that Maria Callas and Aristotle Onassis once stopped by.
These are oral memories, not facts we can document historically today. That is exactly why they belong to the intangible heritage of the place: they show how alive that small seaside taverna has remained in the collective memory of the community.
When we came across this space, we felt that its memory had to live on, by transforming.
Same place. New stories.
When we came across Foradenes, we chose to start from that very memory. For us, restoring it meant giving new life to a place without erasing its identity.
The works have gradually transformed the space, keeping its relationship with the bay and giving it a contemporary purpose, once again centred on people. Where people once met to eat, talk and be together, today people, languages, cultures, generations and experiences meet again.
The meaning changes. The calling to bring people together remains. A place that welcomed people keeps on welcoming. A place of relationships keeps creating relationships. A local story becomes the starting point for new stories.
From idea to project
This is where an important part of the idea of Travel in Art takes shape: restoring a place that for years had welcomed people and relationships, and giving it a new purpose, once again founded on hospitality, encounter, sharing and knowledge.
Together with the house beside it, the space gradually became a place of hospitality, training and exchange, open to people from different countries, languages and cultures: a place where a stay can become an experience, languages become tools for encounter and mediation, art a universal form of expression, and the land itself a space to be known through the people who live there.
From the very beginning, Travel in Art wanted to go beyond the traditional idea of a trip or a study holiday: travelling to know and to learn, travelling to create and to live art, in touch with the culture, traditions, nature and everyday life of the host community.
From that first intuition, Travel in Art has grown together with the experiences, people and relationships it has created. What began as a vision has taken concrete shape through educational and cultural programmes, Erasmus+ mobility, training, place-based learning, language and intercultural mediation, art and creativity, cultural heritage, Mediterranean biodiversity, gastronomy and collaboration with local communities.
Syros, our first laboratory
Syros has become our first great open-air learning laboratory: a place to observe, experiment, build relationships and bring different cultures, languages, generations and perspectives into dialogue.
The island, with its distinctive cultural identity, its historic and architectural heritage, the harmonious coexistence of different spiritual sensibilities, its Mediterranean environment, biodiversity, gastronomy and, above all, the people who live there, becomes an integral part of the educational experience.
It is here that the original idea of travel becomes a model of experiential learning, in which the land is not just the setting of the experience, but one of its protagonists.
Mission
Reconciling people
To create conditions and activities that reconcile people with themselves, awaken our collective consciousness and reduce distances. Travelling through art, in open dialogue with science and culture, is the way to a truly inclusive society.
Vision
A destination for everyone
A quality cultural and experiential destination for travellers and artists from all over the world; a hub of educational activities that are inclusive and accessible to all; a concrete contribution to the sustainable development of Syros, all year round.
Travel in Art today
Today Travel in Art keeps evolving through collaborations with educational institutions, universities, European organisations, professionals and local communities, building experiences where education, culture, creativity and international cooperation meet.
Over the years our activities have shaped an increasingly rich project: from Erasmus+ mobility to Adult Education programmes, from training and job shadowing to experiences for students and young professionals, from language and intercultural mediation to cultural heritage, from Mediterranean biodiversity to gastronomy, from the arts to experiences designed on the principles of Universal Design Thinking.
But the principle is still the one where it all began: travel goes beyond the place we are heading to. It is what happens when people, languages, cultures and places meet.
And it is in that space of encounter that Travel in Art keeps designing its experiences, so that those who set out can know, learn, create, share and give back, returning home not only with a memory but, as we have always said, as better versions of ourselves.
What we believe in
We believe art is one of humanity’s oldest and most universal languages. Long before words existed, people communicated through music, movement, rhythm, images and stories, and these forms of expression still connect people of different cultures, generations and life experiences. Every project we design is inspired by the principles of Universal Design Thinking: experiences that are open, from the start, to the widest possible range of people, perspectives and ways of taking part.