Bey Hamam
Room installation
Concept: Theemetra Harizani
Artists: Theemetra Harizani, Elena Giannadaki, Ioulia Charalampous, Maira Gerouki-Zisi,
Marianna Rossiadou, Aliki Sitzoglou
The city of Thessaloniki, Greece, has long been, and will likely continue to be, a place that hosts a diverse mix of national, racial, and cultural identities.
In 1912, the year it was integrated into the newly established Greek state (1821), Thessaloniki was home to Greeks, Jews, Turks, Franks, Armenians, Slavs, and members of the Sabbatean community. These groups often lived in distinct neighborhoods but would occasionally come together through marriage, friendships, and business.
However, one place where everyone was welcome—sometimes even required to visit—was the hamam. For centuries, hamams provided a shared space for the people of Thessaloniki, especially women, as they were one of the few locations where women could gather and converse away from the male gaze, with rooms traditionally separated by gender.
This project was created when a team of six female* artists, including myself, was invited to participate in an exhibition at Bey Hamam (Μπέη Χαμάμ / Λουτρά Παράδεισος), which now functions as a museum under the care of the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki.
The installation consists of one dress and five pieces of cotton cloth, made from a textile historically used as towels. Each towel would typically have an embroidered mark to indicate its owner, often a name, initials, or a family emblem.
In keeping with this tradition, each of us chose a language tied to our origins and created a fictional design, which was then hand-embroidered onto the fabric.
Before embroidering, the fabric was lightly dyed with green and black tea to give it a soft cream color, infuse it with a subtle aroma, and honor the beverage commonly enjoyed by visitors after their bath in the hamam—a drink closely tied to the city’s identity.
