When Visual Art meets Muay Thai
Background: Elena is my host of the apartment for my stay in Athens before I leave Greece. Observing the layout and design of the house make me feel curious about her life in Greece.
1. Why did you first started to use your apartment as Airbnb?
At the beginning I wanted to earn more money. With the good experience I have and different people I have met, I decided to continue with this. I had no prior experience in staying others’ flat though. Many flats in the centre of Greece are now Airbnb.
2. What do you think about Greece?
It is a warm place. There are nice landscapes here. I love this place, the myths, summer, the islands, the sun and the sea!
3. As a nature lover, have you considered moving to settle on the islands?
Yes I do. I may move to the island later in the future with my boyfriend.
4. What do you think about the people in Greece?
I like people in Greece in general. They are passionate and expressive. Some people are aggressive, and are passionate on relationships. While another group of people feel so proud of the Greek history, while they may not be 100% clear of what happened in the past.
5. How would you describe living in Greece?
People in Athens are stressful, and the pace is fast. People have to earn a living busily but we have a different vibe in spring and summer when the peak season of tourism is here.
The 2 famous islands, Santorini and Mykonos, are pretty and visitors can feel the tranquility.
When people in the city are too stressed, they can calm and relax themselves in the island areas.
6. I can see that there are many cats in Greece, what’s the general perception of Greek towards cats? And what’s your story with the 2 cats?
Some people keep cats to make sure their houses are free from mouse and snake. In general, Greek are friendly to cats and other animals. They live in harmony.
Bobby was a very tiny and thin kitten when I met him and I decided to bring him home. 2 years later, I saw Benny on the street. He was injured and without hair and I brought him home for treatment.
7. I can see that you have some paintings at home. Do you mind sharing about your job?
I’m an artist and art teacher. I teach private classes, one is for kids and one is for students sitting for exam of the University Of Fine Art.
8. Is it easy to work on the art field in Greece?
It’s never easy to be an artist. It is often given the impression artists are “useless” and “lazy”. With our long history, we are familiar to general art form and we are working more on art promotion like holding more exhibitions now.
I don’t expect something big as an artist. I draw whenever I have something to express and I hold a exhibition with the others every 2-3 years.
As for the education system, it’s sad to see it’s more about “relationship”. Some private school teachers may have better relationship with university professors and they may know better what the professors want and work on that in the exam. Sometimes we can see that even the professors in the university focus more on creating noise on art than on art creation.
9. I can see you have stuff for Thai boxing at home. Can you tell us something about this hobby?
I started Thai boxing 6 years ago. At that time I broke up with my ex boyfriend who had mental health problem and i needed a way to overcome that. I could express my emotion and sweated a lot during Thai boxing and in 2016 I won the Champion for a Thai boxing competition in Athens.
10. Have you tried to incorporate the more active side with your artistic side?
Yes. I started to draw images of competition and the Thai boxers.
I asked Elena if she would agree she is an expressive person. She needs both drawing and Thai boxing to express herself and she nodded with a smile.
When I asked her to take a photo with her master-piece, she took this piece of work “Darling you look so deadly tonight”. When I asked if she wanted to add any explanation to that, she said it’s a secret.
Hong Kongers, envy Elena for her huge flat where she can have her working station and Thai boxing area!
I explained the HKDSE Visual Arts exam format to Elena and she said it’s difficult!
She shared with me about the Greek exam too! Interested students can ask me for that!
有故事的人 Story Teller | Kenry Lee 