Christos Riganas–Sculptor
Christos Riganas was born in 1944 in Kalamata, Messenia. In 1963-1968, he studied Sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts under Yiannis Pappas, while in the two years 1965-1967, he attended the Bronze Casting workshop of A.S.K.T. His presence in the field of sculpture has been continuous since 1970. Since 1980, he has been living and working in Kalamata, where he creates his works in his "Kolastario (Purgatory)", as he usually calls his workshop, which is located at the "Panagitsa" area on the Kalamata-Sparti Road.
Its austerity and expressive density distinguish his work, and as characteristically mentioned by Theodoros Papagiannis, the professor at the School of Fine Arts, "... Christos Riganas makes an art of great times and his works go beyond the ephemeral, I would say that they withstand the eternity and teach forever...".
Christos Riganas has carved his own "imprint" in the field of sculpture by drawing shapes and forms from nature and creating spectacular sculptures of a monumental character, but also of smaller dimensions, from marble, granite, bronze and wood with cubist and post-cubist influences of Cycladic art. He has presented his work in eight individual and many group exhibitions and taken part in ten sculpture symposia. Works of monumental and visual sculpture of large dimensions can be found in the National Gallery, the Ministry of Culture, etc., while others have been set up in public places in Konitsa, Kalamata and Limassol in Cyprus ("Messenian Proclamation", "Fallen Dockworkers", "Missing People of Cyprus"). Also, his sculptures are in private collections in Greece and abroad.
For several years, Christos Riganas has sponsored the awards of the "International Documentary Festival of Peloponnese", as well as the newly established "International Short Documentary Festival of Kalamata", while in the last decade, he has made public his intention to give away his work (sculptures, drawings and constructions) in the Municipality of Kalamata.
He has been the director of the visual arts department of DEPA Kalamata ("Municipal Cultural Enterprise of Kalamata"). In December 2022, the Academy of Athens awarded him (along with sculptors Kyriakos Rokos and Konstantinos Dikephalos) the Excellence of "Letters and Fine Arts" for his multi-year important work.