“The labyrinth is the beginning and the end.
What awaits for you in its centre?
Could it be the mystery of the artwork?
The path is the way to discovery. It resembles more a journey of self-awareness,
of a circular rotation with ourselves at the centre.
The turtle is the thread which connects us.
Remember that, while a turtle’s pace is slow, it moves towards its destination without
minding the obstacles and the challenges it encounters along the way.
Embracing the turtle’s pace will allow you to listen, smell, feel, touch the sun, the water, the earth, the air, the light, the sounds surrounding you.
Let the journey consume you passionately. What is important now is not time, or a purposeful walk,
but the course of discovery.”
The Turtle Walk is a one-of-a-kind cultural and educational experience, specially designed for the Sculpture Garden of Minos Beach Art Hotel. It invites students, educators, and art enthusiasts to explore ten sculptural installations, each carefully integrated into the garden’s landscape. Equipped with the “Tortoise Wandering Kit”—a portable toolkit—participants set off on a tailored journey of discovery.
The Cretan labyrinth design features seven concentric paths, representing the journey of life. Unlike the Renaissance maze, the Minoan labyrinth has no obstacles or dead ends; it offers a single, continuous route, resembling the structure of the brain. Walking its paths provides a physical and mental experience that feels deeply personal and reflective—much like the aimless strolls of 19th-century Parisian flâneurs, who walked their turtles as an exploration of their surroundings and inner landscapes.
The act of wondering can become a meditative practice, grounding us in the present moment and fostering a deeper connection with ourselves.
Before beginning this journey, participants take a moment to listen to a dramatized reading of a Borges poem connected to one of the Sculpture Garden’s ten installations. The poem helps them uncover the “word of the turtle,” marking the starting point of the thread. Following this thread will lead them to the centre of the labyrinth, where the secret artwork awaits.
Along the journey, participants traverse a mental maze with seven stops, mirroring the seven rings of the Minoan labyrinth. At each stop, they engage with a code consisting of seven parts, representing the physical and intangible elements of the world. These stops guide them out of a passive state, encouraging openness to whatever arises— feelings, sensations, memories, or intuitions.
Once at the centre of the labyrinth, they will see and interpret the sculpture, having already built a deeply revealing relationship with it through the “knowledge” you acquired on your journey.
Think of the writer’s words:
If the world is chaotic, then we are lost.
But if it is a maze,
Then there is still hope.
The Turtle Walk awaits you.
The Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges had a profound engagement with Greek mythology, delving into it like few other foreign poets or writers. The myth of the labyrinth recurs frequently in his work. In 1984, Borges received an honorary doctorate from the University of Crete. During the ceremony, he remarked, “You may consider me a Greek exile in South America who is repatriating, or you may say that I have always been in Greece, not physically but in spirit.”
For students of Secondary Education.
Designed by: Very Young Contemporary Art
