With raw materials, recyclable materials and objects of sentimental value, Vassilis Agrafiotis has been creating for four decades hundreds of thousands of colorful jivas and tassels, which adorn the restaurant he maintains in Emporio square and donates to people from every corner of the planet, for good luck.
With skillful moves, Vassilis Agrafiotis, a former basketball player, weaves another jiva of life, which may end up in a house on the other side of the world.
With raw material fabrics, recyclable materials and objects of sentimental value, for four decades, he has been creating hundreds of thousands of colorful jivas and tassels, which decorate the restaurant he maintains in Emporio square and donates to people from every corner of the planet, for good luck.
An old propeller from his refrigerator, burnt lamps, threads, fabrics, beads, and even clothes from people who have passed away, are the objects he uses to create his unique constructions.
As he explains to the Athenian/Macedonian News Agency, it all started in the 80s, when his wife did a jiva in her hair, during their vacation in Halkidiki.
“At some point on our camping trip to Armenistis in 1986, my wife did a jiva with threads in her hair. The same day I went to Sarti, bought threads and tried to make jives. Since then I haven’t stopped!”, he explains and adds: “at first I made jives in the children’s hair at the camp and my children’s schools and then I was inspired by my travels and using other materials, I evolved and started to create jives that decorate the shop, my house and all the places where we move. The more jives I create, the more my mind opens up and I make more things.”
He creates them from recyclable materials
He creates jives and tassels with all the old objects he can get his hands on, as he points out, “any material, like cloth, old shoes, old ribbons, beads – I even went to Hong Kong and found about 4,000 beads – but also clothes that they are brought to me by people who have passed away and want to be remembered with an object.
I put them together in my mind, I see the colors, I combine them with decorative objects, I also got a small ticket from where I buy threads, I took lessons and for almost four decades now I have been creating objects of great emotional value, which I give to the world.”
“Now people come and say to me: ‘Santa, please make me a jiva with the t-shirt of my son, who now lives in Italy.’ Some people also bring me fabrics from the clothes of their loved ones who have passed away, their mom, their brother, their friend. I make them and they are hanging, beautiful and when they were swayed by the wind, by the movement in the space, it’s like a memory comes to life”, he confides excitedly and notes that his favorite jives are the ones in the center of the store he maintains and created them for his mother, who passed away, but also for his wife and two children.
His colorful jivas travel to every corner of the world
There are many customers from abroad, he says, who when they visit his restaurant, are impressed. “They really like the unique image, they show a lot of interest and I give them a jiva for good luck, so they travel all over the world: Australia, America, everywhere. From a young age I had learned to make objects, which my mother decorated our house with.
All my creations are of great value to me, they are precious and a part of my life. There are many people who ask me to give them a jiva, however I only give to those I want and I think they can appreciate my gift”, underlines Mr. Agrafiotis.
Source: Skai
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