Sylvain Maestraggi's 'Les Ruisseaux d'Athènes' at Galerie-Librairie Zoème

Photographer Sylvain Maestraggi's series 'Les Ruisseaux d'Athènes' is on view at Galerie-Librairie Zoème in Marseille until December 3, 2022. The project traces the lost rivers and streams of Athens, using old maps and satellite imagery to follow the beds of the Céphise, Ilissos, and the 'Ruisseau des lauriers roses.' Maestraggi's work confronts two temporalities: the archaic, mythical nature of ancient watercourses and the anarchic urban proliferation of modern capitalism. The Céphise, once a river, now runs largely underground beneath a major highway, but its legal reclassification in the 1990s as a river rather than a sewer allowed ecological norms to apply. Maestraggi's images capture the persistence of nature within the city—unexpected ponds, fishing scenes, and shaded gardens amid industrial zones—rather than a simple narrative of environmental degradation. The exhibition includes texts and iconographic documents that highlight the contradictions of these 'cyborg' landscapes. A meeting with the artist will take place at the gallery on November 30, 2022, at 7:30 PM.