The installation Unfading Memory is the result of a shared vision between artist Alan Magee and REMA, a cultural organization based in Zakynthos committed to sustainability and artistic innovation. Together, they bring to life a work that not only honors the island’s past but also provokes reflection on memory, transformation, and the environment.
Irish artist Alan Magee brings his deeply conceptual and materially poetic practice to the shores of Zakynthos with Unfading Memory, the inaugural public installation commissioned by REMA. Known for his labour intensive artworks and sculptural performances, Magee’s art explores the boundaries between presence and impermanence, labor and landscape, memory and material.
Magee works between Dublin and London and holds a Master’s degree from Central Saint Martins. He has exhibited in prestigious venues such as White Cube and Castor Gallery. His practice is both conceptual and visceral, grounded in traditional sculptural techniques and expanded through time-based processes. His previous works have addressed themes of labor, erosion, and the human condition within capitalist systems. In Unfading Memory, these interests converge with a profound sense of place and a dialogue with the natural environment.
Inspired by the legendary shipwreck at Navagio Beach — an icon of Zakynthos that has gradually faded beneath the sand since running aground in 1982 — Magee’s installation evokes the slow erosion of history and the endurance of cultural memory. The installation, constructed on Alykes Beach, features a large sand sculpture shaped like a mound of sea turtle eggs. The form references the nesting of the Caretta caretta turtles, a species deeply associated with Zakynthos. As the sculpture naturally begins to collapse, it mimics the hatching of turtle eggs—an evocative metaphor for the cyclical renewal of life, memory, and identity.
At the heart of this organic structure lies the true centerpiece: a metal sculpture, forged from upcycled materials sourced from a local scrapyard. This central element embodies REMA’s environmental ethos—transforming industrial waste into enduring cultural expression. The weathered steel core, concealed within the sand “egg mound,” gradually emerges as the surrounding sand dissolves—suggesting that even as time erodes the surface of memory, something vital and lasting remains.
A striking detail within the sculpture are bronze limpets—shells of marine invertebrates once common on the shores of Zakynthos but now nearly vanished. Magee cast these from real specimens dating back to the 1950s and 60s, symbolically preserving an endangered species whose disappearance echoes broader environmental concerns. The bronze forms function as poetic relics—preserving lost life and urging reflection on what must be protected.
This process-based artwork will unfold in two phases. The first, in April 2025, focuses on the creation and natural degradation of the sand sculpture, which will be documented in a time-lapse sequence. The second phase presents the outcome of this transformation: the revealed metal structure, photographs, and video projection will be exhibited in Zakynthos.
More than just a visual experience, Unfading Memory is a meditation on temporality, resilience, and cultural identity. Magee draws a personal connection between this project and his childhood memories of a similar shipwreck on Inis Oírr, an island off the Irish coast. This connection between two distant but culturally rich shores—Zakynthos and Inis Oírr—echoes the broader goal of the installation: to build artistic and emotional bridges between communities on the periphery of Europe.
REMA’s choice to open its program with this work signals a long-term commitment to projects that blend artistic innovation with ecological awareness. Through this collaboration with Magee, REMA contributes to Zakynthos’s vibrant and evolving cultural landscape — an island marked by environmental sensitivity, historical depth, and a population eager to engage with new artistic stimuli.
Unfading Memory is more than a sculpture — it is a living gesture. As the sands shift and time passes, what remains is the memory, etched not only in steel and bronze but in the consciousness of the community.
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