ARTEX in Athens Cannabis EXPO 2018

In the context of the new Cannabis Project and its collaboration with “the Kannavi”, ARTEX takes part in the first Greek Cannabis Expo that will be carried out from Friday 12/1 until Sunday 14/1 in the Tae Kwon Do Stadium, Faliro.

ARTEX’s participation in the exhibition intends to illuminate the diachronic, mostly industrial, use of hemp and to underline its usefulness as a raw material. Hemp counts among ARTEX’s research interests, since, at the same time with its euphoric and medicinal use, it was one of the materials most used in textile and rope production from ancient times until today. It studies the references of hemp in ancient texts and inscriptions, as well as finds of archaeological textiles discovered in excavations. Research shows that hemp was used in Greece for textile production and for ropes, especially for ships, in the first millennium BC. Moreover, one extant fabric from Trachones, Alimos, dated to the 5th c. BC, has been identified as being made from hemp.

ARTEX will have a stand at the exhibition where visitors will have the chance to be informed about the variegated use of hemp fibre in weaving and rope production in Greek antiquity, as well as have a closer look to the raw material and its fibres in different stages of preparation. During the whole Expo, fellows, volunteers and collaborators of ARTEX will carry out mini workshops in ARTEX’s stand using hemp fibres and threads. Stay tuned for more details.

Furthermore, the stand will host samples of ARTEX’s new thematic creations made with hemp threads. Ancient objects of various materials (textile, metal, jewellery…), as well as ancient Greek iconography, are the inspiration for ARTEX’s thematic creations with natural threads (flax, cotton, hemp, silk).

On Sunday, 14/1, 17:30, ARTEX’s director, Dr. Stella Spantidaki and ARTEX’s collaborator, Argyris Mountzouris, will give a lecture about the “Use and usefulness of hemp in Greece from ancient times until today”.

The Expo will be open from 12:00 to 22:00 on Friday and Saturday and from 12:00 to 21:00 on Synday with a daily (6-10€) or a 3-day pass (16-20€) and visitors will find out about all products and innovations in the field of cannabis, as well as the newest achievements regarding its medicinal, pharmaceutical and industrial use.

Many thanks to “the Kannavi” and the organisers of the Athens Cannabis Expo for inviting us!