In the year 2018 the cultural association of Ano Asites contacted Australian artist Mathew Halpin. Mathew runs a project in Heraklion city to help revive a neglected part of the old town. The village wanted help to find ways to bring people to the lovely but emptying place. As with most Cretan villages the younger people prefer to move to the cities. They wanted Mathew to give them ideas on how to bring people to visit the village. Mathew had been looking for a place to start a rural artists residency. He had looked at many villages, but there was always a problem. No buses, not beautiful, negative feelings from the locals. After considering all of the requirements needed to set up a residency, the village, locals and location were perfect. The cultural association of the village helped Mathew to find a good house to have artists come to work and stay. They gave him a long lease with a no rent period. After much renovation the house was ready. The house as pictured below is perfect. It has three bedrooms, a central courtyard, two terraces. with wonderful views over the lush landscape.
Note. Between artists staying we often bring up our two small dogs and a cat. If you want to book the house you must make it known if you have allergies to pets! Of course the house is well cleaned before artists stay but it would be better to prepare the part of the house where the pets don't ever go if there might be issues. Also extra cleaning in the communal rooms would happen like removal of fabrics.
The house has two double bedrooms and one single one. The house can be taken in full or in two parts. Both parts have rooms that can be used as studios. The house has a wonderful new bathroom, with a shower, toilet and sink. There is a second toilet in the courtyard. The kitchen is fully functional, and has all the things needed to cook most meals. The house has been fully rewired and has Wi-Fi.
PS. The house has been adopted by a cat called Koula. She comes and goes often. We try to keep her out but its not always easy as she is very sweet and clever! If you have an allergy you would need to keep the doors closed.
Koula the cat.
The village
The nicest thing you can do in Ano Asites is to walk the narrow winding streets of the old village. The local cultural association there has gone to great efforts to use traditional lime paint, and pigments to brightly colour many of the old stone houses. Time has stood still here and every corner makes you want to take a photo or sit down and paint a picture. When the flowers are out the village fills with the smell of jasmine and such.
As the residency grows so does the amount of murals. The residency and locals are keen to see more. There are some restrictions on what can be painted. It is less urban that its sister residency in Lakkos so the themes need to fit with the village/ rural environment.