MOONRISE
Kerkis Echo, the artistic-philosophical collective on Samos, visiting Limnionas Beach
September 6, 2025 | 7 p.m. | Limnionas Beach, Samos / Greece

Mural by Ena Oppenheimer, MOONRISE Performance by Jannis Seapark, Moonlight Bath

Thank you, Julia Benkert, head of KERKIS ECHO | kerkisecho.org and Karsten Schmitz / Stiftung Federkiel for inviting me.

Where, if not on the beach of Limnionas, can one marvel at the full moon rising, fiery red, behind the mountains of Samos? On September 6, the evening before the lunar eclipse, the moon will approach particularly close to Earth. A moon that is actually too beautiful to be true, fascinating and strangely disturbing. Kerkis Echo, the artistic-philosophical collective on Samos, aims to celebrate this celestial spectacle with a special mural and performance, and to shed philosophical light on it: Why does it touch us so much when we suddenly encounter a radiant counterpart in the night? Is it because we feel seen, because the moon soothes our loneliness? Or is it perhaps not a view from outside at all, but a view that reflects our own; a view that goes within us, into our innermost being—and that reaches our deeper and most profound layers and reveals our self. After all, the mysterious satellite is not a stranger, but, as a split-off part of planet Earth, in a sense the lost part of ourselves.

To explore this other world, the megamoon is joined by others to embody the unconscious aspect of the moon's projection of longing. A parallel moon, inspired by Haruki Murakami's great novel 1Q84.

Ena Oppenheimer lets the light of the unreal brother shine sleepwalkingly onto the quay wall of Limnionas. The parallel moon stands as a cipher for a hidden world that is just as real as the supposedly safe material world. It is an invitation to embrace the unknown, the hidden, in-between world within us, where the inexplicable and magical are at home in great beauty.

Jannis Seapark is a musician, actor and theater director. After completing his Buthoh training in Athens, he specialized in modern dance theater. In 2018, he returned to his home island of Samos to create his own stage in Limnionas with the cult bar Seapark.

Ena Oppenheimer's fascinating work explores the intangible realms of reality. In dialogue with philosophers and natural scientists, the German artist extracts philosophical subtexts and transforms them into surreal, abstract images that inspire reflection and dreams.

Kerkis Echo, the artistic-philosophical collective on Samos, was founded in 2022 by filmmaker Julia Benkert. The goal of this innovative think tank is to combine local particularities with international perspectives and to allow the resulting ideas to reverberate from Mount Kerkis back into the world as a multi-voiced echo. Part of the collective's concept is that it can have an echo-like effect everywhere. Therefore, Kerkis Echo will not be heard and seen at the Artspace in Marathokampos this time, but on Limnionas Beach.

Text: Julia Benkert