Institute for Mediterranean Studies

Research Projects

Η Πόλις γεννιέται

nomades artcore: «Η Πόλις γεννιέται»

Μια «κατακερματισμένη» παράσταση, εμπνευσμένη από τις ανώνυμες μαρτυρίες ανθρώπων, οι οποίοι έζησαν και μεγάλωσαν στο Ρέθυμνο του χθες και του σήμερα. Φωνές σημερινών γονιών, νέων, μαθητών. Ένα συνονθύλευμα καθημερινού λόγου, ακαδημαϊκής γνώσης, σωματικότητας, ποίησης και ζωντανής μουσικής.

PanArtExh

The Institution of Panhellenic Art Exhibitions, 1938-1987

The proposed research project aims at the systematic documentation and critical analysis of the fifteenth Panhellenic Art Exhibitions, which were organised between 1938 and 1987 and were the most important periodical large-scale art exhibition in 20th century Greece. This study based on extensive research in state and private archives, state and private art collections, as well as in the daily and periodical press, shall provide us with essential information about the artistic production of each era (e.g. the dominant artistic trends), the means of State intervention in the arts and the trends within the art market. Finally, it will look at the art criticisms, which formed the dominant aesthetic canon, by promoting certain artistic criteria and consequently influencing the reception of the artworks by the public and the direction of the artistic production in Greece.

VHSS

Virtual Historic Sailing Ships

Promoting the maritime cultural heritage with the development of an integrated platform of 3D digital representations of historical ships.

GeSuLaQ

Geography of Surveillance. Lazarettos and Quarantine Services in the Greek State, 1821-1923

The aim of the research program is to record the lazarettos and the quarantine services that operated in the Greek state from the declaration of the Greek Revolution in 1821 to 1923, when its borders were finalized after a decade of wars (1912-1922). The research will focus on lazarettos, quarantine services and health stations which were established and operated by the central administration, as well as on those constructed by municipalities, mainly islanders, in an effort to protect their population on one hand and their economics operations on the other hand.

UNLPUBLISHED LAND REGISTERS

Land Ownership and Family Farm Income in Nineteenth-Century Greece: The Unpublished Land “Registers” of the Kapodistrian Period (1830)

The aim of the research project “Land Ownership and Family Farm Income in Nineteenth-Century Greece: The Unpublished Land “Registers” of the Kapodistrian Period (1830)” is to study a number of local agricultural statistics produced during the tenure of President Ioannis Kapodistrias (1828-1831) and hitherto unknown in the literature, and to utilise them in order to draw conclusions about the distribution of wealth and farm income in rural Greece at the end of the War of Independence.

VCAT-Gr

A Value Chain Analysis of Tobacco in Greece (1949-1981)

The purpose of this research project is to produce a historical account of the evolution of Greece’s tobacco sector in the period that spans between the end of the Greek Civil War (1949) and the country’s accession into the EEC in 1981.

International Film Productions in Greece: The Case of Crete

International Film Productions in Greece: The Case of Crete

This project focuses on international film productions that were shot on the island of Crete, Greece, which, since the late 1940s has attracted many foreign film crews. In particular, the project examines the reasons behind producers’ choice of Crete as a shooting location, the legislation under which these productions became feasible, and their consequences for the local economy and society. This project is implemented by the University of Crete, Greece.

Stratis Karras

Stratis Karras's Theater and Contribution to Modern Greek Culture and Society

The aim of  this project is to record and digitalize the theater work of Stratis Karas, prepare an edition of his plays, and give prominence to his contribution to modern Greek culture.

MAPFARM

Mapping the Early Farmers in Thrace

Τhe Laboratory of Geophysical-Satellite Remote Sensing and Archaeo-environment participates in the project MAPFARM which is held under the auspices of the Democritus University of Thrace and funded by Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation. The lab has undertaken the task of the large scale geophysical mapping of various neolithic sites in Xanthi and Rodopi.

Aegean Sponge Fishing

Aegean Sponge Fishing and the Island of Kalymnos, 19th-20th Centuries

Project Co-ordinator: Professor Gelina Harlaftis
Funded by: IMS-FORTH
Duration: 2019-2023
Research team ΙΜS/FORTH: Professor Joyce Goggin, Michaela Stergiopoulou

JaNet

Janissaries in Ottoman Port-Cities: Muslim Financial and Political Networks in the Early Modern Mediterranean

ERC

European Research Council Starting Grant scheme (StGr2019 no. 849911, Funded under: H2020-EU.1.1.)
Principal Investigator: Dr. Yannis Spyropoulos
Start date: 1 February 2020, End date: 31 January 2025
Overall budget: € 1,498,389
Hosted by: Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas, Greece

DE.F.I.C.I.T

DEcision system For Irrigation in Crete based on Innovative Technologies - DE.F.I.C.I.T

The purpose of the proposed project is to establish an integrated spatial decision-making system in large-scale (Crete Water District) with the aim of: (a) precisely identifying irrigation needs, according to optimal crop yields and proper management of water resources; b) designing optimal adaptation scenarios for the agricultural sector in the light of upcoming climate change; and c)  the dynamic integration of the above information through the creation of a platform for immediate and real-time updated information to be provided to businesses and entities, whose actions are directly related to the optimal design and management of land improvement projects in the Region of Crete.

Ierapetra Harbour Survey

Geoarchaeological research in the broader area of Ierapetra harbour, Crete

In October 2019 the Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities in collaboration with the Laboratory of Geophysical Satellite Remote Sensing and Archaeoenvironment of IMS-FORTH undertook a scoping survey of the ancient harbour of Ierapetra (anc. Hierapytna) in Eastern Crete. The objective was to increase our understanding of the ancient harbour and its relationship with the present landscape. The survey examined the eastern mole, the modern harbour area and the western foreshore. The survey revealed a complex landscape, with changes over time that had not been previously noted and which affected the interpretation of the location and access to the ancient harbour. A series of previously unrecorded Roman structures were also identified.

DIATOPO

Διαχρονικά τοπία πολιτισμού της Κρήτης: Αναδεικνύοντας τον θαλάσσιο και ορεινό πλούτο του Μιραμπέλου

Κεντρικός στόχος του έργου ΔΙΑΤΟΠΟ αποτελεί η ανάπτυξη κατάλληλου πλαισίου εφαρμογής πρακτικών τεκμηρίωσης και ανάδειξης του θαλάσσιου και ορεινού πολιτιστικού και φυσικού περιβάλλοντος και πρόληψης κινδύνων συνδεδεμένων με φυσικούς και ανθρωπογενείς παράγοντες, με έμφαση στο ανατολικό Μιραμπέλο. Το έργο πρόκειται να ενεργοποιήσει και να εφαρμόσει δράσεις που θα περιλαμβάνουν την συλλογή πρωτότυπου αρχαιολογικού και ιστορικού υλικού, την ενοποίηση του θαλάσσιου (Ελούντα) και του ορεινού (Οξά) τοπίου στο πλαίσιο της δημιουργίας συνδυαστικών θαλάσσιων και χερσαίων γεωαρχαιολογικών διαδρομών, την μελέτη και ανάλυση των περιβαλλοντικών συνθηκών των αρχαιολογικών θέσεων, την τεκμηρίωση και χαρτογράφηση θέσεων με μεθόδους γεωπληροφορικής (αεροφωτογράφιση, υποβρύχια τεκμηρίωση, παράκτια, χερσαία και υποθαλάσσια γεωφυσική χαρτογράφηση, τρισδιάστατη τεκμηρίωση τοπίου και αρχιτεκτονικών δομών), την υλοποίηση εφαρμογής εικονικής πραγματικότητας για την ανάδειξη και προβολή του φυσικού και πολιτιστικού τοπίου και την ευρεία διάχυση των αποτελεσμάτων. Το έργο βρίσκεται σε συμφωνία με τις προτεραιότητες της περιφερειακής στρατηγικής της έξυπνης εξειδίκευσης και της βιώσιμης ανάπτυξης και τα αποτελέσματά του θα ενδυναμώσουν την περιφερειακή οικονομία στον τομέα του εναλλακτικού τουρισμού και της τουριστικής επισκεψιμότητας, μέσω της ανάδειξης της πολιτιστικής κληρονομιάς και του φυσικού περιβάλλοντος, ως βασικών πυλώνων στην προσπάθεια εμπλουτισμού και αναβάθμισης του τουριστικού προϊόντος.

Το πρόγραμμα εντάσσεται στο Επιχειρησιακό Πρόγραμμα «Κρήτη», “Έργα επίδειξης πειραματικής ανάπτυξης, που προωθούν την έρευνα και καινοτομία σε τομείς της RIS3Crete” της Περιφέρειας Κρήτης, και θα έχει τριετή διάρκεια στην περίοδο Μάρτιος 2019-Μάρτιος 2022 με συνολικό προϋπολογισμό 212.266,25 Ευρώ. Συμμετέχοντες φορείς Ίδρυμα Τεχνολογίας και Έρευνας (Συντονιστής) Εφορεία Εναλίων Αρχαιοτήτων Εφορεία Αρχαιοτήτων Λασιθίου Πανεπιστήμιο Κρήτης/Τμήμα Ιστορίας-Αρχαιολογίας.

5DARE

Development of an integrated 5 Dimensional space based methodology for Assessing and modeling the Response of Erosion dynamics to land use and climatic changes in Mediterranean watersheds

The purpose of the project is to develop integrated methodologies for using  space technology to estimate soil erosion rates in Mediterranean basins. 5DARE project will assess the impacts of a changing climate, land use, soil moisture, hydrology and vegetation cover on the quantity of erosion processes in catchments areas in the Mediterranean.

RICONTRANS

RICONTRANS: Visual Culture, Piety and Propaganda: Transfer and Reception of Russian Religious Art in the Balkans and the Eastern Mediterranean (16th - early 20th c.)

ERC

The Russian religious artifacts (icons and ecclesiastical furnishings), held in museums, church or monastery collections in the Balkans and the Eastern Mediterranean, constitute a body of valuable monuments hitherto largely neglected by historians and historians of art. These objects acquire various interrelated religious, ideological, political and aesthetic meanings, value, and uses. Their transfer and reception constitutes a significant component of the wider process of transformation of the artistic language and visual culture in the region and its transition from medieval to modern idioms. It is at the same time a process reflecting the changing cultural and political relations between Russia and the Orthodox communities in the Ottoman Empire and its successor states in the Balkans over a long period of time (16th- early 20th century). In this dynamic transfer, piety, propaganda and visual culture appear intertwined in historically unexplored and theoretically provoking ways. Applying the cultural transfer approach in combination with the recent challenging openings of art history to visual studies and social anthropology, RICONTRANS aims: to map the phenomenon in its long history by identifying preserved objects in the region; to follow the paths and identify the mediums of this transfer; to analyze the moving factors of this process; to study and classify these objects according to their iconographic and artistic particularities; to inquire into the aesthetic, ideological, political and social factors which shaped the context of the reception of Russian religious art objects in various social and cultural environments; to investigate the influence of these transferred artifacts on the visual culture of the host societies.