Giannis Marinos : The storyteller of Kasos
“Everything comes from somewhere”. Reviving the forgotten stories of Kassos is Giannis Marinos mission. Having been a true part of this little Greek island hidden in the Dodecanese, he has gone from organising cultural activities all the way to helping the island with its stray cat's problem. With a voice full of passion, humour and love, he explains how a dot on the map went from the Homeric-Minoan era, all the way to being a popular tourist destination.
Giannis Marinos is a man of many lives. A playwright, a painter, a gay rights advocate, a veteran of the anti-dictatorship resistance and a deeply committed volunteer. Born in Athens but connected to Kasos by both marriage and heritage, his personal grief — the death of his in-laws, his partner’s breakup— led him back to ancestral soil. What began as mourning became rediscovery of the past. A person, with passion, who always knew what he wanted to do, he wanted to keep learning no matter the difficulty. In his barbershop, you can see how the self-expression is a part of his identity. “It looks like a brothel”, he said while chuckling.
From a place of exile to a tourist destination
Giannis Marinos starts his storytelling by explaining how Kasos came to be. He begins with the mythological and Homeric roots of Kassos, referencing the earliest mention of the island in Homer’s works — the deep-sailing ships that remained hidden from view until one came close. He also even touches on the possible connection between Kassos and Atlantis, explaining that fossilised sea life has been found in the mountains of Kassos, since the island was underwater until a big earthquake happened. “When did the tourism in Kassos start?”, we asked Marinos. “After 1974, it started in 1975, just right after the junta”. “What really made me interested in the history aspect of Kassos, was the theatre.”, he adds. It was very important to him, to actually play theatre that corresponds to reality.
Art as a testimony
For Marinos, painter and playwriter, art is not just a decoration, it is a spiritual experience. He’s not dogmatic, yet he liked to draw biblical imagery, more specifically of the Virgin Mary, Magdalene, and Jesus Christ. “Each painting I sold, felt like selling my child” he adds. Broken homes were rebuilt through art, liminal spaces were filled with emotions, silence was filled with voices. “I studied it”, he said, “It was my way to express myself.”
"We used to go out in our Vespas and throw out the proclamations"
Courage in a society that is not welcoming
Giannis is not just an artist, he is a man deeply shaped by his political and ideological beliefs. In his youth he was part of the anti-dictatorship movement, organising the movement of Polytechneio in Athens, a student uprising occurred in November 1973 entailed by the popular rejection of the Greek military junta of 1967-1974; “I was in the anti-dictatorship struggle. I was sitting and thinking, we used to go out in our vespas and throw out the proclamations.’’ Giannis explains.
Later, he would be the first openly gay person in the island of Kasos. “I didn’t hide it, I respected myself so it mattered more than what others thought of me”. With the support of remarkably progressive parents, he came out with dignity, first to his mother — who accepted — and then to his father, who simply said: “If you don’t accept him, step out of the door but don’t come back”. Although he was repeatedly asked to run for public office — even to serve as mayor — Giannis refused. He preferred to serve without titles, helping the community with true leadership without expecting something in return. “When something fills you, it becomes your child.” True to that, he refused payment for municipal publications, granting rights only on the condition they be distributed freely.
Text : George Rampotas, Gregory Oikonomidis, Julia Gaul, Alex Tsekouras
Photos : George Rampotas