Zoumboulakis gallery presents Ioanna Ralli’s new solo show titled «The worn-out dancing shoes», a concept and installation based on the Grimm brothers’ fairy tale known as the “The Twelve Dancing Princesses” from April 29 to May 24, 2025.

As the curator Eleni Kipreou writes: “Ralli, who has established a personal trajectory in painting, photography, and sculpture, in this 12th solo exhibition of hers, presents -an allencompassing work of art where, in addition to her own contribution, literature, music, and narration engage in a dialogue”.

“In this exhibition, Ralli frees herself from the conventional depiction of the human body— which she has thoroughly explored in the past—and seeks new forms: genderless, colourful, with multicultural characteristics that swirl within the two-dimensional space of paper and ultimately detach and expand into the surrounding space”.

The installation featuring 24 pairs of handmade knitted women’s shoes, crafted from wire, fabric, and thread, 12 painted couples (diptych tempera on paper) and 72 smaller paintings symbolizes free will and self-determination, as well as the artist’s freedom to express herself through any medium.

Ralli firmly believes that a child’s favourite fairy tale reveals something about his/her psyche. Her own favourite fairy tale was The Twelve Dancing Princesses by the Brothers Grimm. However, ever since childhood, Ralli has resisted—and continues to resist—the story’s ending, which she perceives as reinforcing the disciplining of independent will, the imposition of authority, and ultimately, punishment.

For this reason, she invited four writers -Cécile Inglessis Margellos, Lenia Safiropoulou, Maria Kaliabetsou, and Christos Sakellaridis—to rewrite the tale with a different ending. The gallery visitors will have the opportunity to read these texts, view them on a screen, or listen to them through headphones in the exhibition space.” At the same time, Ralli asked Astrinos Karagiorgakis to compose original music for the artworks, which will play throughout the exhibition.

Performance
On Tuesday, May 6, at 6:00 p.m., and Saturday, May 24, at 12:00 p.m., visitors will have the opportunity to hear Mary Sideri Vlassopoulou narrate the original fairy tale, while Efi Papadopoulou and Tasos Apostolou will present one of the rewritten versions. The story tellers will be accompanied by guitar from Astrinos Karagiorgakis and clarinet from Ioanna Karagiorgaki, bringing Ralli’s vision of a multidisciplinary artistic collaboration to life. Dates will be confirmed in due course.

Catalogue
The exhibition is accompanied by a book-catalogue published by Cube Art Editions, featuring photographs of the artworks, literary texts, and a QR code allowing readers to enjoy the music as well as the performance.