MEET THE SAARI FELLOW: Dimitra Kondylatou, Visual artist

“During my residency in the Saari Residence, I will research and lay the groundwork for a new project, entitled Shallow spring (working title), that will investigate, through different media, the social, environmental, corporeal, and aesthetic aspects of thermal tourism. Tourism has been my research topic for the past couple of years. In this new project, I chose to focus on thermal tourism, as it seems to condense some of the aspects I am mostly concerned with, such as its social and environmental impact and the generation of desires and fantasies within the tourism industry. Thermal tourism, being one of the first forms of tourism, has changed over the years, along with the perception of healing. Initially prescribed as a medical cure, thermal baths are now part of the leisure and wellness culture. This change is aesthetically and administratively imprinted in the infrastructures built around thermal springs. I am interested in understanding their transformation from social spaces into commercial spaces for individual treatment and well-being and the management of natural resources embedded in this process.”

photo credits: Jussi Virkkumaa