* "Our problems were problems of states or politicians, far away from the real feelings of people. We have to keep our identity, not to be nationalists but to be proud of our nationality and  to keep our  culture and traditions." 

* "As artists,  if we want to create something substantial, we should respect our roots, our tradition as well as the universal values."

Born in Athens, Pelagia Angelopoulou ("Pelly") studied  painting, art history and mosaics at the University of Fine Arts in Athens, from where she graduated   with honors in 1974. In 1984, she became assistant professor of mosaics at the same university,  and one year later was appointed full professor, a position she held until 1993. Pelagia Angelopoulou is a truly unique artist. She integrates the traditional techniques of mosaics with sculpture and painting and combines these elements into a new, more contemporary form of art.

She is one of those people with whom one feels familiar at the first moment. A very typical Mediterranean face with dark hair, dark eyes, enlightened with a warm smile.. an exceptionally easy-going and friendly person..We had a chat around art and mosaic in her apartment in Brussels:

EU. Uresin: Pelly how can we describe the art of mosaic?

PA: Mosaic is one of the visual arts but it's something quite different. It's not painting, it's not sculpture. It's absolutely something else. Perhaps it's a combination of sculpture and painting. It's done with small cubes of stone and  has a very special, very strong design compared with painting.

EU: I see around your works in different sizes. I notice that you use not only cubes of different stones but also  pieces of glass, bottles and cans, even coca-cola cans and other material, is that a kind of modernisation of mosaic?

PA: Yes, I tried  to develop my own style..in the beginning I started to study painting and mosaic in the University of Fine Arts in  Athens, then I started to teach mosaics. I have been working on mosaics for nearly 30 years. When I started to work I just wanted  to develop my own way, and I chose that material because it was unexplored. The most developed mosaics belong to the 15th century. What I have done was to go to the past, to learn, to listen and  I to try to see every work of mosaic. Either I visited the places of antique mosaics or I saw them on the slides. I had a few models in  my mind,  than I tried to implement the influences of those mosaics and  tried to create my own way which is a combination of painting, sculpture and mosaic. I wanted to make something more contemporary and  thought that mosaic is very well combined with the new buildings with very clear simple lines..There are not many objects to be put on the murals in a public places, so I though mosaic would be a good idea. Also because companies want advertisements, art was also an advertisement of ideas, of  kings and emperors. Today we do not have kings or emperors of old times but there are big companies. How do they advertise themselves? It is not always very pleasant all these boring advertisement boards, it's possible to have an advertisement which is also an art-work, so  I  started with coca-cola which bought a work of mine, than I continued  with a wine company in Greece and I  liked it.

EU: Yes, they are really beautiful and unusual..Could you tell me about the noble faces in some of your works, they are very impressive..who are they?

PA: First of all, I want to say that the way I work  with the faces is very different from the way I work  with coca-cola..I like it, because it is a challenge for me to jump from one style to the other. The faces are portraits and a portrait has a story. There is a person, it has expression, it means something..These people are rather symbols. For instance this is Saint Helene, the other one is Saint Constantine..they are both commissions. They were saints but they were also politicians, they were important for the history, so I had to include everything on their portraits to symbolize the historical importance of what they have done and what they created.  There is another one which is the symbol of Eros. Eros was an ancient god, but is the symbol of love even today. When  you hear Eros, you know  it symbolizes love..Eros had wings which are the figures of every culture, not only in ancient Greek culture, but also in Byzantine culture, as well as in Eastern culture..so it is more of a  symbol than being an ancient Greek god.

EU: When you talk about Byzantine mosaics..can we say that they belong to Anatolia?

PA: Yes..Byzantine art was developed in the East. If you compare the Byzantine mosaics of the East and West, there are differences. This is the difference of culture of East and West. I cannot say which one is better, but  they are just different. When you compare the mosaics of St.Vital in Ravenna (Italy) with the ones in  Saint Sophia, you can see the difference.  Also the famous mosaics of Theodora and mosaics of  the empress of Hagia Sophia are totally different in style, the concepts of color  and abstraction of symbols are different. Because in my view,  the culture of the East is more  symbolic. Let's say it's more spiritual compared to the western which is  more intellectual.

EU: In Anatolia tile is another important art. What do you think about art of tile?

PA: Yes, I have seen them and I liked them very  much. Many times  I got influences from their decorative designs and also from the colors. What I like most is the sage of the blue which recalls me the sea and sun of Greece and Turkey. Sometimes I need them as I live in a northern country, I need their light. Art of mosaic started in 5th century in Pella (the birth place of Alexander the Great) but another art similar to mosaic begun in Mezopotamia. They were  on the fronts of the Assyrian temples, these were also tiles with  glass enamel. They were very very similar to the Anatolian tiles.

EU: Have you ever been in Turkey?

PA: Yes I have been in Izmir in 1972 and really liked to be there, I felt at home and I travelled all around the ancient sites. I was very much surprized when the guard of the Museum spoke Greek with me in Ephesus.

EU: Do you have  family ties with Turkey?

PA: Yes my grand mother was from Izmir..

EU: Are there still members of the family in Izmir.

PM: No, she was a Greek from Izmir, she came to Athens in 1922, but I used to hear the Turkish language from her, she kept the Turkish tradition and cooked Turkish food. I always heard about their excellent relations and friends in Turkey.

EU: Talking about East and West.. I know that you had a very successfull exhibition in Japan. What was your impression about this very East of the world?

PA: When I  went there, I felt very comfortable and in my contacts with people I observed  the similarities of our cultures. Their attitude and the way they treat  people are almost the same with ours.  I consider my education as  eastern education.  In our cultures we like giving rather than taking,  we are hospitable, we like to have guests, we like to cook and offer. This is why  in Japan I really felt this comfort.

EU: Why do you live in Belgium?

PA: I have been in Belgium just to visit my brother, then I had the chance to exhibit my works  in the European Parliament. Later on,  the municipality  of Brussels organized  another exhibition. I had  the opportunity of meeting with many people from different nationalities and I developed  professional relationships here and in Germany. I have many  Turkish friends here, they are close friends. I like very much to be in the international environment of Brussels.

EU: Did you have exhibitions  in Greece?

PA: Yes, of course. I started  my career in Greece, I was a professor in the University of Athens. I had two big and successful exhibitions. Some of  my works are in private museums and in National Gallery. I had another exhibition last month in Athens. But I like to develop relations with other people.

EU: Did you have exhibitions in other countries?

PA: I had exhibitions in the Netherlands, Germany , the USA and Japan.

EU: Will you be interested  in having an exhibition in Turkey?

PA: Yes I would love to have an exhibition in Istanbul to be able to bring together  the tradition and contemporary mosaic.

EU. Would you like to send a message to Turkish artists or  Turkish people  through the Lightmillenium?

PA: What I would like to say is  that we have to develop our friendship which exists and always existed. Our problems were problems of states or politicians, far away from the real feelings of people. We have to keep our identity, not to be nationalists but to be proud of our nationality and  to keep our  culture and traditions. As artists,  if we want to create something substantial, we should respect our roots, our tradition as well as the universal values.

Signature of Pelagia Angelopoulou