“Opposed to stone, fond of flesh” is a project developed by resident artist Dimitri.

During their residency, Dimitri explored heritage management through a decolonial lens. Specifically, they focused on examining heritage preservation practices, excavation methods, and heritage showcasing settings. These frameworks, largely developed by Western nations, often hold little to no regard for the lands and cultures from which artifacts were taken. In this project, Dimitri aims to challenge and radically transform these practices, ultimately envisioning a decolonial approach to preserving and/or destroying heritage. By rethinking these frameworks, Dimitri seeks to address the imbalances of power embedded in cultural heritage and its treatment.

Central to Dimitri’s research are South Eastern Mediterranean artifacts housed in foreign museums. These artifacts, when repurposed, challenge their status as icons of Western civilization while exposing Europe’s internal colonial histories. What if these objects had never left their homeland? How might nature and its inhabitants relate to them today? To explore these questions, Dimitri digitally scanned and 3D-printed these sculptures, creating hollow, distorted replicas that were then cast in animal gelatin, shifting their permanent, solid forms into ones capable of decay.

Through this process, Dimitri also became interested in creating hybrid ritualistic objects and processes that merge these new sculptures with existing traditions from their land of origin. These objects are designed to function within performative rituals, reimagining customs of transition, fertility, care, and consumption from the region. This approach creates a trans-heritage space of exploration, connecting past and present while fostering dialogue about restitution and transformation. Through these rituals, the sculptures will gradually integrate into their homeland’s landscape, both physically and emotionally, allowing them to decay and merge with the environment, reclaiming their connection to the land.