The wooden-creation workshop
as well as the exhibition is housed in a neoclassical building in the central
square of Othos village, Karpathos.
George Kostetsos creates wood carving works, in turning lathe and by hand, such as: vases, boxes, bowls, pens, strings
of beads, and many more ornamental along with useable wooden artifacts.
For the construction of his
wooden creations he uses mostly local wood (olive tree, mulberry, lentisk,
eucalyptus, and other wild Karpathian wood), as well as wood of good quality
available on the market (ebony, walnut etc).
He is also a "lyra"
maker, the traditional musical instrument of Karpathos Island.
The Karpathian Lyra, a tri-chord, pear-shaped fiddle, is the basic musical
instrument of the Karpathian traditional music.
The Karpathian lyra consists
of three chords that are tuned by a fifth. Lyra is played set against the left
thigh and the music comes mostly from the first chord. The musician produces
notes by touching the chords from the side with his nails without pressing them
as in the violin. The fiddle bow always touches two chords simultaneously.
Laouto (string-instrument) always
accompanies lyra, enriching its melody and tempo. Also, lyra is played along
with tsambouna (wind instrument) that completes the traditional Karpathian
musical instruments, and it is often found at the Northern villages of
Karpathos accompanying local songs and dances.
The Karpathian lyra is not simply a musical instrument, but at the same time it
is an integral part of the interior decoration of every Karpathian house
showing the deep devotion of the Karathians to the folklore of their land.
The lyra is part
of every social gathering such as, engagements, marriages, christenings,
festivals, feasts etc. Each lyra is unique, taking into account that the
majority of lyra-makers are self-taught and there's no typical model of its
construction. The dimensions, curves and details of each Lyra vary from village
to village and from lyra-maker to lyra-maker.
Thus, we encounter lyras that
have the traditional wooden keys (called "striftaria" - twisters),
violin-type, or contemporary metal keys mandolin-type, with or without
"glossa" (fingerboard), with or without the spiral end of the violin,
known in Karpathos as "kalaouras" (snail-like).
For its construction
wood of cypress, mulberry, walnut or askelino (wood similar to cedar) are used.
Its cover is made of katrani (a kind of black pine-tree) or fir, the
fingerboard and the keys are made of hard wood.
