“The Truth is in the Soil” by Ioanna Sakellaraki

Ioanna Sakellaraki, finalist of the 2019 Inge Morath Award, explores the last generation of traditional female mourners in the Mani peninsula of Greece.

After the death of my father, my photographic practice emerged and became the passageway for walking through personal grief. Following the personal story of loss, my project led me to exploring the collective mourning of the last female community of mourners in Mani peninsula of Greece.

While most know Mani for its breathtaking cliffs and quaint coastal villages, it is also home to a tradition of ritual lament that dates back to ancient times. Considered an art, ‘’moirologia’’ can be traced to the choirs of the Greek tragedies and over the centuries, it became a profession exclusive to women. Those who were especially adept at this improvisation, and could endure the physical and emotional traumas of the work, were hired by families to lead in the ritual lament.

Today in the Mani peninsula live some of the last professional mourners of Greece. The aging of the villages in the region and the difficulties during the current economic woes besetting the country seem to be part of the reasons for the disappearance of the dying art of professional mourning.

In the process of documenting photographically their communities, my readings and inspiration from the ancient Greek laments as gradually vanishing historical marks, made me question to what extend we see ourselves as subjects of history and how mourning can become a cultural experience of loss today.