INOMO rejuvenates Πίναξ - the RIGA CHARTA- in an interactive stool installation at Gennadius Library.

RIGA CHARTA, the Charter of Greece is a large-scale map depicting the Greek area and the wider area of the Balkan peninsula south of the Danube. It is one of the most important works of the Modern Greek Enlightenment, the work of Rigas Feraios, and the most important example of the Greek cartography of the pre-revolutionary period.

It consists of twelve sheets each measuring 50 x 70 cm and printed in 1796-97 in Vienna.

 INOMO Team had in depth conversations and brainstorming with the American School and especially Professor Jenifer Neils, Director of the American School, Dr. Maria Georgopoulou, Director of the Gennadius Library and Pantelis Panos, General Manager of the School and it was decided to select one of the most important recent acquisitions of the Library, an extremely rare map of Anthemos Gazis that was printed in Vienna in 1800 by cartographer and engraver Franz Muller who was an associate of Reghas Ferraios (Ρήγας Φερραίος).

" We wanted to create an Outdoor installation that will not just accomodate public but it celebrates the qualities that make Gennadius Library different and unique as the fact that owns this rare map. An outdoor environment rich with connections to our history which with its own modularity creates a sense of civic vitality in the exterior space" says Vivian Paraschou, founder of INOMO.

The map is based on the Charta (Χάρτα) of Reghas Ferraios with some corrections and additions.

As stated by the American School of Classical Studies the Map called as Πίναξ has differences as the addition of the islands of Sicily and Cyprus, which appears for the first time on a map of Greece, the coast lines, and the topography of Mount Athos. It seems that Ferraios’s map was connected with his political and revolutionary vision, while the Πίναξ was printed for educational and commercial reasons. The development of an 18th-century emblematic cartographic symbol:From the Map of Riga Velestinli (left) to the Table of Anthimos Gazi (right).

INOMO's innovation comes in terms of the application of the map into an outdoor product installation that imprints crystal clear every specification of the map. It is the first map that was created in Greece as a 12 stool outdoor installation which can have educational and cultural impact to the public. The School with INOMO wanted to build an exterior environment that promotes the resonance of history, which makes residents proud of where they live.

Πίναξ Γεωγραφικός της Ελλάδος, Vienna, 1800

The Πίναξ was printed on four leaves in a still unidentified number of copies. A second edition was printed in 1810 by the Italian printer G. Cappi also in Vienna. Only a very small number of copies are recorded in WorldCat and the HBP (Heritage of the Printed Book Database). The map is colored by hand, has been dissected and mounted on linen.

"It was a real challenge to imprint each detail of the map in an Outdoor Seating Area and we are really proud that our Production Team delivered a project like this. Not to mention that each one stool was crafted by hand." said INOMO's Production Manager.

The 12 Stool Installation Map was a Custom Design and Construction and it is the first custom project that INOMO implements with such a Historical and Cultural importance.

Not to mention that INOMO's client, ASCSA, is the leading American teaching and research institution in Greece dedicated to the advanced study of all aspects of Greek culture, from antiquity to the present. The School remains, as its founders envisioned, a privately-funded, nonprofit educational and cultural institution.

In INOMO, we believe that Cities and Humanity gain value through that kind Outdoor Public Installations. They are not just stools for the person to seat - these stools describe our History and provide an intersection between past and present, reflect and reveal our society, add meaning to our cities and uniqueness to our communities.