01 The Call of the Open Sea

Το Κάλεσμα της Θάλασσας

Santorini |

Greece

Greek

Behind the scenes

Oia, on the island of Santorini, one summer evening thirty years ago.

It was not the most intimate sunset I have ever witnessed… but there was something deeply moving in that gathered crowd. All generations, many nationalities, brought together for the most beautiful free spectacle in the world: nature in motion.

As eyes turned toward the horizon, mine settled on the faces. I imagined stepping into their lives, speaking their language, sensing their stories and emotions. That is where the idea was born of what would later become LiberSila: an intimate and open journey across the world, where languages and feelings connect people beyond borders.

On a piece of paper, I sketched a first drawing-the sea, a bougainvillea, a cat-to capture the moment.

Echoes of the world

Το Κάλεσμα της Θάλασσας literally means “the call of the sea.” In Greek, θάλασσα – Thalassa – evokes both vastness and origin. It was by observing the sea that this Greek text, The Call of the Open Sea, was born-the starting point of LiberSila.

Ancient Greece remains one of the great cradles of civilisation: mathematics, philosophy, theatre… Even when militarily conquered by Rome, it continued to shape it-“Graecia capta ferum victorem cepit” (“Captive Greece captured her fierce conqueror”), as Horace wrote.

Beyond Greece, travel remains for me an irreplaceable source of reflection and creativity.