With «TRELA» from Paris to Tinos
She discovered Greece at a very young age, through Melina Merkouri, Zil Dasen, Theodoros Aggelopoulos and Kostas Gavras. She is a Digital strategy consultant & information architect that has chosen to share her time between Paris and Tinos. We present you, the French woman, Carol Guinebert, who decided two years ago, in the middle of the financial crisis in Greece, to make a “Trela”. To create in Tinos, a shop with antique furnishings and objects, as well as pieces of contemporary art, located in the center of the city, in a building that housed an old café overlooking the sea.“Carol has always been an art and antique objects collector and Trela is the fruit of her passion for the “old and the new”.TRELA curate a subtle selection of antique objects and contemporary pieces that tell the story of France and Greece creating the bridge between today and yesterday and reflecting the two cultures”says in the introductory note of the presentation of “Trela” on the Internet https://www.trelatinos.com/.
Carol’s relationship with the island began much earlier than the creation of the Trela. “I followed the person I loved for the first time in Tinos, and then a second time and then every summer for 10 years.” she says at Humanstories.gr and continues: “And from the first days, I fell in love with Tinos.I knew the Greek islands very well, but Tinos had something in common between the idyllic image of Cyclades and its maritime landscapes and the richness and beauty of its valleys and farmland.I liked this duality right away. Maybe that’s why I chose to buy a house 4 years ago that is facing the valley rather than the sea”.
What is your relation with Greece in general?
“I discovered Greece very young by the movies first, Melina Mercouri, Jules Dassin, but also Theo Angelopoulos and Costas Gavras of course!
Then the trips came after 30 years with always the pleasure of discovery. I feel close to this culture. From the kindness of the inhabitants. The sweetness of life. And then the crisis is something that we also live in France and so we also have in common”.
You decided in the middle of the financial crisis in Greece, and after a period of 4 years that you were staying in a village of the island, to start a business in a Greek island. How was that decision made?
“I worked a lot to give to the home that I bought his original character. It was a village house that was built in several stages. In 1840 first with his Katoï, then in the 30s. I wanted to give him back part of its history with antique Greek furniture but also French, while using the talents of local artisans or young Greek designers for decoration.
Many friends then asked me to help them find similar items. And the idea has germinated to open a place where I would propose all the objects that I like.
And then I wanted to promote these young Greek designers I met who were full of enthusiasm and ideas despite the crisis”.
Your friends back home were telling you that you attempt in Tinos was a “Trela?”
“Often, that’s why I called the shop “Trela”. When I bought the house, my friends told me that I was “Trela” and when I told them I was going to open a shop …
With your background of traveling all over the world, and working in big projects why you decided to stay in Cyclades and Tinos?
“Because there comes a time when one also wants to live more slowly, more serenely, more in agreement with what one has acquired in experience … and since I am very active, I continue to travel, to find ideas, to also make objects for the shop…”
What is your impression about your decision to open business in Greece, after one year?
“I was very well received, I met a lot of Greeks who helped me a lot. It’s also something I really like in Tinos, if you have a problem or you do not understand something, the locals are always available and patient to help you”.
Why you named your shop “Trela”?
“Because I am “Trela” and then also a Greek friend told me that my objects were also very “Trela” (I did not know the second meaning ;-)”
What are you plans for the future, about Trela?
“To propose more and more objects and furniture, to try to be always more creative, original, to promote more and more Greek and French designers, to make them meet, to create myself objects with the help of the craftsmen of Tinos who are all full of talents”.
“TRELA curate a subtle selection of antique objects and contemporary pieces that tell the story of France and Greece creating the bridge between today and yesterday and reflecting the two cultures” you say on your web site. Have you seen things in common between Greek and French culture? Usually in Europe, when they are talking about the Greek culture, they mean mainly the Ancient Greece. What have you seen in modern Greece? Are there any remains of the glory of ancient Greece to the modern one?
“France is turning more and more towards Greek design and designers, who are currently bringing something new and fresh that is probably linked to the crisis. That’s what I feel on my side. And when I show these objects to people who come into the shop, they are surprised and very interested. On the other hand, I often say to young designers, “Do not try to copy other designers from other countries, as we can unfortunately see for example on Instagram, but rather turn to your rich history”. I often advise them to go to the Benaki Museum for inspiration. Some ceramics are absolutely modern!
