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Park to Park Sunday walk – Tooting & Streatham Commons And Norbury Park
South of the River Thames the buildings are dense, and green spaces are in short supply. All the same, great rhomboids of park land dot the landscape on what was common land. At the time of the mid 1800’s expansion of London, local people campaigned and paid for the land to be set aside, and
Black Country Type
A video recording of the first walk · listen · cafe in 2024, exploring a cultural history of the Black Country (in the West Midlands of the UK) through the lens of walking artist and photographer Tom Hicks. Black Country Type is his ongoing photographic project. A series of images distributed via Instagram, in which he applies his unique
• Related
Park to Park Sunday walk – Tooting & Streatham Commons And Norbury Park
South of the River Thames the buildings are dense, and green spaces are in short supply. All the same, great rhomboids of park land dot the landscape on what was common land. At the time of the mid 1800’s expansion of London, local people campaigned and paid for the land to be set aside, and
Black Country Type
A video recording of the first walk · listen · cafe in 2024, exploring a cultural history of the Black Country (in the West Midlands of the UK) through the lens of walking artist and photographer Tom Hicks. Black Country Type is his ongoing photographic project. A series of images distributed via Instagram, in which he applies his unique
• The Dasserí of Prespes, presented within WAC 2025: Walking Home/Walking in Transition, is a performative walking act where all elements of the performance — giant puppet, puppeteer, theatre, and myth — interact with the local community, the walkers, and the landscape.
Walking becomes a means of mediation with the unique natural and cultural environment of Prespes, allowing participants to move from the contemporary world into the world of myth, experiencing something collective, embodied, and poetic. The giant puppet pretends to create reality across multiple universes without repeating the past. It captures its essence and proposes a vision for a better world.
This walking performance combines walking, street theatre with a giant puppet, mythology, and the landscape.
The giant fairy puppet Dasserí, standing 3.5 meters tall, was animated by the puppeteer and walked alongside the participants as fellow travelers on a two-hour journey.
Together, they crossed the village of Psarades, passing through abandoned houses until they reached the village square. There, the fairy Dasserí recounted her myth — a story inspired by local legends, transformed into a narrative for the audience. Continuing their walk, they arrived at the lake.
After completing her tale, the fairy boarded a boat and crossed the Great Prespa Lake, where the borders of Greece, Albania, and North Macedonia meet. Alongside the boatman, she sought the memories that had sunk before the lakes were formed and, as an independent spiritual being, surrendered herself to the waters — hoping for the creation of a new world founded on equality, harmony, and peace.
Walking is the central axis of the act. Through movement, participants transition from the real world into the realm of myth, experiencing something collective, bodily, and poetic.
Without this walking dimension, the performance could not exist, as the narrative itself is woven step by step through the landscape of Psarades.
On this journey, walking connects the tangible world of humans with the intangible world of spirits. It creates an experience of rhythm, duration, and collectivity that transforms the landscape into a living field of storytelling.
The Daseri narrates
CC-BY-NC: Art25 Giant Puppets
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Credits
Creative Team of the project “Daseri of Lake Prespa”
Vasiliki Sagkioti, Kiriakos Makris, Anastasia Kordari, Marina Bompou
Design and coordination of the project: Vasiliki Sagkioti, Kiriakos Makris
Narration text: Kiriakos Makris
Giant puppet construction: Vasiliki Sagkioti, Kiriakos Makris, Marina Bompou
Giant puppet animation and narration: Anastasia Kordari
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