Androidus
The Androidus Project Tank was created in 2018 as an evolution of the TEDXAnogeia management body (2015), registered as a cultural entity under the Ministry of Culture. Its main focus is cultural production, the development of Digital Culture applications, and Creative Economy activities.
Since 2021, in collaboration with Social Cooperative Argastiri of Culture, Innovation, Research, it forms a cultural network based in Anogeia, Crete, with a thematic focus on managing cultural capital (cultural heritage and contemporary production). This involves modern forms of utilization such as cutting-edge technologies (VR, XR & AR), thematic events, cultural studies, and digital repositories of oral history.
The Androidus Project Tank & Argastiri Culture Innovation Research network was born and developed in the mountainous municipality of Anogeia. This location defines its activity, engaging with the cultural capital of rural communities, treating them as places of preservation, conservation, and dissemination of cultural elements often originating from a distant past.
The philosophy and foundation of the organization involve a global approach to culture as an endeavor utilizing global thinking while creating locally (DGML: Design Global, Manufacture Local).
Therefore, the organization’s activity in digital-based culture follows a productive cycle starting from collecting data from local communities, processing them in collaboration with research centers, universities, like-minded businesses, and external partners, creating outcomes through the dissemination and interaction of its work in digital format, accessible to all.
The projects initiated by the organization in the emerging field of Digital Culture have a significant impact, introducing the concept of culture and heritage into contemporary tools of preservation, interaction, and dissemination. Additionally, they provide unique local cultural elements with the opportunity to gain access and readability in the global digital community.
Detailed information about the organization’s projects can be found on the official website: http://www.androidus.gr/projects
Το Metartum Project
The natural and cultural heritage of Psiloritis is symbolized by the dry stone constructions of the shepherds, known as the “mitata of Psiloritis”. These constructions are scattered throughout the geographical range of the mountain, symbolically connecting humanity with the natural environment in the most harmonious way.
In the Municipality of Anogeia, whose mountainous territory demonstrates the enduring dynamism and importance of the mountain for the region’s sustainability, these constructions are unique attractions and witnesses to a bygone era.
It is essential to note that the majority of these dry stone constructions and the accompanying structures (e.g., auxiliary spaces) are not in use today, as the evolution of animal husbandry has shaped a different construction framework for the region’s shepherds, involving modern shelters, accommodations, and fences.
However, there are significant exceptions, where dry stone constructions like fences and the main mitato or hut, as the shepherd’s home, are utilized and reconstructed by the shepherds and craftsmen of the Psiloritis region. These constructions serve practical storage purposes and function as places of hospitality and companionship on the timeless slopes of our mountain.
In the framework of the Ministry of Culture and Sports’ Directorate of Contemporary Culture, in collaboration with the Municipality of Anogeia and the Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory of the Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas (FORTH), the cultural organization Androidus Project Tank has designed and completed the project METartTum Project – The Dry Stone Constructions of Psiloritis, as Spaces of Contemporary Art and Expression in the Natural and Cultural Landscape of Mount Ida.
This proposal constituted an action of utilization and artistic revitalization of the mountainous landscape of Mount Ida, with the central axis being contemporary forms of art and culture interacting with the folk culture of dry stone constructions. It placed the “Mitato of Psiloritis” at the center as an alternative artistic workshop of inspiration, expression, and creation.
By inviting artists and creators and allowing for the expansion and enrichment of the application’s content, the METARTUM PROJECT highlights the artistic creation of compositions and collaborations between local folk traditions and contemporary art, blending cutting-edge technologies and exploration in the mountainous nature of Psiloritis.
Through filming both the stages of artistic creation and as a primary cultural outcome, the aim is to create an innovative digital gateway for the first Open Art Exhibition of Virtual and Augmented Reality on the sacred mountain of Mount Ida.
The recording of alternative forms of artistic expression within the space of the shepherd’s dry stone installation of the Mitato of Psiloritis aims to create bridges between mythology, folk culture, and contemporary culture, simultaneously opening the world of the mountain to visitors and locals, providing an opportunity to reconnect with it.
The production of artistic creation, documented and then disseminated through the digital application (MetartTum app) and mapping, will give this project elements of a multi-dimensional approach combining various forms of artistic production (up to now) and works via a portable electronic device (mobile phone or tablet).
Developing the above proposal aims to utilize perhaps the most emblematic pastoral installation in Crete (the Mitato), intertwined with the folk culture of the mountain, transformed into an alternative field of artistic expression in the digital realm today.
This pastoral field can simultaneously become an artistic workshop, a music room, a place of hospitality, and a monument of living collective memory in a place that has transitioned from hunters, food gatherers, and historical outcasts of the past to shepherds, researchers, and collectors of experiences in the timeless present.
Learn more about the shepherd and the world of the Psiloritis shepherd here:
Intangible cultural heritage