For the needs of the film, Caniaris studied and visually documented neoclassical houses in Plaka during the post-war period when a significant number of buildings in Athens were demolished during a reckless reconstruction.
In an atmosphere of political freedom and a ferment of artistic trends and ideas, he opened himself up to new influences from the international avant-garde, although in reality, he remained independent.
In 1959, a group called Gruppo Sigma was created by Caniaris, Yannis Gaïtis, Nikos Kessanlis, Dimitris Kontos, and Costas Tsoklis.
Despite the political content of the artworks, he attempted to keep a low profile so that the exhibition would not be banned by the dictatorial regime and to avoid discouraging those involved in resistance activities.
[4]: 375–381 In the spring of 1973, Caniaris settled in West Berlin as a fellow of the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service), amidst a climate of radical left-wing ideas in the political aftermath of May 1968.
Germany, as a host country for economic migrants in the post-war period, offered him the opportunity to closely investigate the dimensions of this phenomenon and to simultaneously expand his exploration of space, artwork within it, and the role of the viewer.
In 1975, Caniaris was appointed professor in the Department of Painting at the School of Architecture of the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), and the following year he permanently settled in Greece.