Concept Design
June 2023 - discontinued
Sustainability Initiative & Award for Aegean FF
Made from solid clay, pressed into a makeshift mould to standardise the design, each seahorse undergoes multiple hours of intensive hand-burnishing to achieve their shined surface. Fired for the first time over a 30 hour, slow bisque firing, they are then set alight following the ancient tradition of pit firing. The porous unglazed surface of the burnished clay absorbs the smoke from the firing which gives it unique colourings and patterns ranging from honeyed browns to charcoal blacks. Dependant on their location in the pit they will take on more or less of the smoke, and therefore each seahorse is truly unique. They are each finished with a beeswax polish which gives them the impression of horn and locks in their bonfire scent. The marble base was created to mimic the organism the award was designed to protect, Poseidonia, and was created in collaboration with Babis Georgiou, a marble artist working in Athens.
Inspired by the creativity, ideas and emotions that independent cinema evokes.
Drawing from Cycladic Forms and testing ancient pottery firing methods, the Award reflects the rich history of the Aegean while drawing attention to the marine ecosystem of its living counterpart. A symbol for a larger sustainability initiative to aid in the protection of one of the oldest and most integral organisms in the Mediterranean - Poseidonia meadows - these awards will be placed underwater in areas of conservation to be redesigned by the salt and ecosystem of the Aegean Sea. In the following years they will be reclaimed by Aegean FF Teams, and exceptional filmmakers will be presented with their own unique seahorse for their contribution to cinema.
Sustainability Initiative
The second phase of the project develops an initiative of collaborative action between the festival, NGO’s and local communities to map Poseidonia meadows in the archipelago and contribute to their preservation. One of Poseidonia's biggest threats is the damage inflicted by anchors, which act like ploughs, removing parts of the meadows that have taken hundreds of years to grow.
Our proposal includes:
A. The creation of a digital map and an incentivising campaign to bring this knowledge to every crew sailing in the Aegean.
B. The submerging of trophies underneath the sea, acting as guardians of the meadows, therefore establishing a secondary level of responsibility.
C. Installation of special buoys as alternative mooring for boats to avoid anchoring.
