Synastry

Human history has always been inseparable from the observation of the sky. Long before the emergence of science, archives and organised systems of knowledge, the movements of the planets and the configurations of the constellations provided orientation, measured time and shaped humanity's understanding of its place within the cosmos. The heavens became the first vast surface upon which imagination could unfold, preserving myths, fears and desires that continue to accompany civilisations to this day.

Constellations offer perhaps the clearest expression of this impulse. Stars possess no inherent figures of their own. Form arises when the human mind draws connections between distant points, granting them coherence. At the heart of every cultural construction lies this gesture: the invention of narratives through which societies sought to comprehend a cosmos that exceeded the limits of contemporary perception. Cognitive psychology describes this innate tendency to recognise meaningful patterns within seemingly random configurations as pareidolia, while contemporary neuroscience understands perception itself as a continuous process of prediction, in which the mind actively generates hypotheses about reality rather than passively recording visual stimuli.

Synastry takes its point of departure from this enduring desire to chart and interpret the unknown. Its title appropriates a term traditionally associated with the study of relationships and mutual influences. Here, however, synastry expands into a broader way of reading the world. It suggests a framework in which distinct trajectories converge and unexpected correspondences become apparent, opening new possibilities of understanding.

The works presented in the exhibition engage with the planets of our solar system and the constellations that have shaped the collective imagination for millennia as their point of departure. Across different periods, cultures invested these celestial configurations with fear, hope and speculation. Over time, they accrued associations with time, destiny, transformation, knowledge and the human condition within the universe. In the psychoanalytic theory of Wilfred Bion, thinking becomes possible when formless emotional experience acquires shape through symbolisation. From this perspective, the starry sky may be regarded as one of the earliest symbolic screens onto which cultures projected the incomprehensible, transforming it into an image that could be held in thought.

The exhibition is presented within the National Library of Greece at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre, bringing together contemporary artworks, carefully selected books and archival material from the Library's collections. Celestial charts, astronomical publications and rare volumes devoted to the observation of the heavens reveal repeated attempts to interpret the firmament through mythology, cosmography and scientific enquiry. Presented in close dialogue with the artworks, these historical traces deepen the exhibition's enquiry into memory and the intellectual journeys through which civilisations have sought to comprehend both the cosmos and itself.

Interspersed throughout the exhibition are poems by contemporary Greek poets. Their verses prolong a silent exchange between the artworks, the books and the countless words that inhabit the Library. Each poem becomes a brief suspension of time, a moment in which memory, desire and dream rise quietly to the threshold of consciousness, accompanying the visitor with almost imperceptible intimacy.

The founding of libraries and the mapping of the night sky share a common impulse: the shared need to comprehend reality, to give structure to perception through both knowledge and imagination, and to recognise recurring patterns, hidden affinities and elusive correspondences.

The sky remains visible from within the exhibition itself. The building's glass roof sustains a continuous relationship with the world beyond, where daylight and the changing atmosphere accompany the visitor throughout the exhibition. Above the artworks stretches the very expanse that once gave rise to constellations, cosmologies and methods of orientation. The sky never withdraws from view.

Each work stands as an autonomous proposition within this constellation of ideas. Some are rooted in mythology, others in scientific thought, personal experience or collective memory. Together, they consider the ways in which cultures give shape to what exceeds comprehension, constructs frameworks of meaning and continually reconsiders its place within an ever-shifting web of relationships.

Carl G. Jung introduced the term synchronicity to describe events experienced as meaningfully connected despite the absence of any apparent causal relationship. This notion quietly permeates the exhibition. As visitors move through it, an image, a book or an artwork may suddenly resonate with one of their own memories or lived experiences. Such moments go beyond the simple recognition of coincidence. They mark the point at which psychic movements encounter the external world, allowing fresh meanings to emerge without intention or deliberate design.

Synastry invites observation, enquiry and wandering. Here, planets, constellations, works of art, scientific writings and personal narratives are encountered as fragments of a broader cultural cartography. Its boundaries are left deliberately open, much like the sky stretching above it.