Un Été à Hydra

Curator Leslie Kabla presents Un Été à Hydra, an exhibition uniting designers, ceramicists, painters, sculptors, and artisans whose work engages in direct dialogue with Greece, its landscapes, and its rich craftsmanship traditions. Set within the historic stone Melina Mercouri building on Hydra’s harbor—just steps from the DESTE Foundation—the show transforms the space for the summer into an inhabited Mediterranean living room. Designed to feel like visiting friends, the installation allows art to blend seamlessly into everyday gestures, featuring a piano facing the sea alongside furniture, textiles, and vintage items that curate the rhythm of an island day. Moving freely between a living room, dining area, and reading corner, visitors can pause for a recital, linger over a drink, or play backgammon, honoring a Mediterranean way of life rooted in slowness, sharing, and quiet architectural simplicity.

 

Through this project, Kabla continues her ongoing exploration of regional craftsmanship, following Une Maison à Saint-Tropez with a new chapter inspired by Hydra’s distinct maritime history and preserved local identity. The exhibition highlights works by contemporary talents such as Leda Athanasopoulou, Elina Belou, Daphne Leon, Lina Zedig, Jeanne Chardin, Claudio Coltorti, Leonie Specht, and Romain Cadilhon, presented alongside historic pieces from Saridis of Athens and Martinos Antiques, as well as works by local Greek artisans. All displayed items—including furniture, ceramics, and limited editions—are available for purchase during the exhibition and will subsequently be accessible through LK Shop, Leslie Kabla’s forthcoming online platform designed to extend Un Été à Hydra and future curatorial editions.
View through a stone archway into a gallery space featuring checkered marble floors, a round wooden table, chairs, and abstract wall art.
Wide view of the Un Été à Hydra exhibition room inside the historic Melina Mercouri building, featuring arched whitewashed walls, checkered marble floors, a round wooden table with chairs, traditional rugs, and a grand piano near large windows facing the sea.
View through an open arched stone doorway in Hydra showing a white wooden chair inside and the blue Aegean Sea with coastal hillside houses across the harbor.
Extreme close-up of a handcrafted wooden chair frame detailing fine curved joinery and woven leather strap lattice work.
Four terracotta clay jugs painted with white spiral motifs arranged in a line on top of an antique carved wooden chest.
Overhead view of a handcrafted ceramic chess set with green and cream glazed pieces on a custom bull-patterned tiled board.
Wide view of an exhibition space featuring white stone arches, checkered marble floors, a black grand piano in the foreground, and curated furniture, art, and rugs in the background.
A bright orange-red lacquer console table against a white wall with a dark geometric sculpture on top and three small colorful column paintings above.
High-angle close-up of ceramic backgammon and chess sets made with blue, green, and cream glazed pieces on a wooden table.
A long dark wood console table against a white wall displaying a ceramic chess set, a textured woven bowl, a black table lamp, and two framed artworks above.
A sleek dark wood and leather folding stool with brass hardware sitting on a geometric checkered marble floor next to a white wall with a textile wall hanging.