Home

Author: gourgourini

Group show “Bestiary: Artefacts, allegories, representations”

Bestiaries were medieval encyclopaedias of mythical and real animals, containing illustrations, allegories and moral lessons. These manuscripts were enriched with a large number of imaginative entries whose images and symbolism have had a lasting influence on our collective imagination in relation to animals. Inspired by these bestiaries, the exhibition explores and brings together a series of contemporary artistic practices that refer to animals in terms of mythologies, histories and their relationship to humans, with the ultimate goal to record topical readings around their symbolic status in contemporary art.

Humans have never lived independently of animals, both at times when they feared them and today, where they tend to annihilate them. As a result, the animal themes in art remain inexhaustible. This intertwining of human and animal is fatal: very often the human condition can resemble an animal hybrid. There have always been times when we our hearts felt like lions’ hearts, our feet like goats’, and our teeth a little sharper. But who is the “beast” today in a nature relentlessly persecuted and menacingly shrinking because of human activity? What are the allegories and lessons we ought to identify in our cultural production that is taking place within an environmental collapse?

Works of the exhibition refer to languages, postures and imitations that refer to our connection to the animal world, to old and modern mythologies, psychoanalytic interpretations and symbolisms, to new animal hybrids of our contemporary world, waiting to be transcribed. The exhibition presents an anthology of approaches, a new classification that expands and activates our admiration for a mysterious and fascinating world, of which we are a part.

Participating artists:
Maria Antelman, Calliope Bekou, Guy van Bossche, Katerina Christidi, Ιsabelle Cordemans, Bryony Dunne, Nicole Economides, Alexis Fidetzis, Thanos Foudas, Dimitris Fragakis, Vangelis Gokas, Renate Graf, Anestis Ioannou, Andreas Kalli, Kapurani Bros, Panagiotis Kefalas, Kosmas Kosmopoulos, Stephanie Lagarde, Varvara Liakounakou, Caroline May, O.lala, Stavros Papagiannis, Ilias Papailiakis, Fotini Poulia, Evi Roumani, Nina Saunders, Pieter van der Schaaf, George Stamatakis, Kostas Tsolis, Sarah Vanagt, Brian Whiteley, Katerina Zacharopoulou

*Nicole Economides, Alexis Fidetzis and Anestis Ioannou are SNF ARTWORKS Fellows

BESTIARY: ARTEFACTS, ALLEGORIES, REPRESENTATIONS
09 FEBRUARY – 25 MARCH 2023

Crux Gallery
Sekeri 4, Athens 106 74, Greece

BESTIARY: ARTEFACTS, ALLEGORIES, REPRESENTATIONS

Open studio with Alexandra Waierstall

On Friday February 3rd, we welcomed to Athens Alexandra Waierstall, choreographer, dance artist and member of our dance selection committee. Alexandra, along with her colleagues Rita McBride, Scott Jennings, Giorgos Kotsifakis and Eftychia Stefanou, organized an open studio for our #artworksfellows inspired by Rita McBride’s Arena (1997)–a modular sculpture that is activated by the presence of audiences.

During the open studio, cyclical encounters between the performers and our fellows unfolded in the space again and again: vertical and horizontal connections, resonances, transitions, changes of perspective and transformations were manifested. An ever changing and growing process which was not characterized by fixed points, beginnings or departures. Through her choreographic work Alexandra poetically responds to all those situations that are never entirely completed, are process-driven and indicative of the infinite perspectives on the relationship between man and space, body and structure, the individual and the collective.

The open studio culminated in a group discussion moderated by Anastasio Koukoutas around the ideas and values of democracy, the evolution of the arena concept, spaces within spaces, the economy of gaze and the importance of momentum.

Born in England and raised in Cyprus, Alexandra Waierstall is a Düsseldorf based choreographer and artist practicing for over 15 years. Her conceptually, physically detailed, crafted investigations are expressed through choreographies, installations, films, situations, sounds, texts and images. She approaches choreography as a vehicle for developing new skills and knowledge for living together, connecting bodies, life-forms, and environments. Choreography as a practice, as an act of empowerment, a way to reimagine and reinvent our world anew. She advocates for a form of radical attentiveness, across different contexts including theatres, galleries, museums, publications and in public spaces. Internationally, she has presented works at Musée du Louvre – FIAC, Sadler’s Wells, Dansenshus Oslo, Mousonturm, Crossing Festival Beijing, Fringe Festival Shanghai, International Festival Seoul, Dansenshus Stockholm, Sesc Pompeia (São Paulo), De Pont Museum of Contemporary Art, Kunsthalle Mannheim, Bauhaus Museum amongst others. Alexandra Waierstall has choreographed the companies National Dance Company of Wales and tanzmainz. Her choreographic work has been selected and supported by networks such as Aerowaves, Modul Dance, IDEE – Initiatives in Dance through European Exchange as well as Chin-A-moves. Since 2007 her work has been co-produced by tanzhaus nrw in Germany.

Anastasio Koukoutas is working in the field of dance theory, dramaturgy and writing. He studied (BA) Communication and Marketing at the Athens University of Economics, (MA) Performing Arts Administration at Accademia Teatro alla Scala (in collaboration with Bocconi University), Ethnomusicology at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (within the e-learning course Greek Music Culture and Education). He has worked, in the publishing field, as a contributor and editor, for art institutions and organizations, such as: Athens & Epidaurus Festival, Stegi Onassis, Dimitria Thessaloniki Festival, Megaron — The Athens Concert Hall et.al. He has worked as a dramaturg in theatre and dance performances (Athens Festival, Stegi Onassis, Experimental Stage of National Theatre in Greece, Arc for Dance Festival, Porta Theatre — Athens et.al.). He writes frequently about dance for the websites springbackmagazine.com, artivist.gr, und-athens.com, and teaches Dance History at the dance college ΑΚΤΙΝΑ. Last but not least, he has worked as a performer for Denis Savary (Lagune –National Museum of Contemporary Art, Athens — 2016), Virgilio Sieni (Biennale Danza / La Biennale di Venezia — 2016), Pierre Bal Blanc (documenta14–2017), Dora Garcia (Megaron, The Athens Concert Hall — 2018) et. al.

Guided tour by Syrago Tsiara

Last week, Syrago Tsiara, Director of the National Gallery, welcomed us warmly to the recently refurbished building and guided us through the history of the institution outlining its mission and exhibition program. She highlighted the role of art in observing, creating, disseminating history as well as in shaping the collective memory. The tour was a stimulating experience, elaborating on certain works of the permanent collection and walking us through the exhibition currently on view “Konstantinos Parthenis (1878–1967) – Painting an Ideal Greece”. Thank you Syrago for sharing your knowledge and wisdom.

Syrago Tsiara is an art historian and curator. She is the Director of the National Gallery – Alexandros Soutsos Museum. Until recently, she directed the ΜΟΜus – Museum of Contemporary Art and the Thessaloniki Biennale of Contemporary Art. She is a member of our selection committee for the 5th SNF Artist Fellowship Program in the discipline of curating.

6 Fellows take part in the group show “we tell ourselves stories in order to live”

“And all of the sudden I was taking my friend to the hospital. My friend smiled at me, put her fist in the air and entered through the glass door. My friend is a very strong person. My friend is a fighter. My friend is Beate and this is dedicated to her.”

In the frame of a circle of friendship, nineteen femininities come together to address the notion of receiving and providing care in order to survive in environments that challenge their very existence. Going beyond the fixed notion of the family and the recent commodification of wellness via life coaching and individualist self-care app trends, they focus on affectivity, solidarity, relationality and interdependence over charity, self-indulgence, self-preservation and resilience. They push back against disadvantages by bringing forward vulnerability and codependence, as ways to go through the world with one another, in a spirit of radical kinship and hope.

With works by Eva Anerrapsi, Maria F Dolores, Anastasia Douka, Dora Economou, Selma Köran, Irini Miga, Rallou Panagiotou, Nina Papaconstantinou, Natasha Papadopoulou, Nana Sachini, Georgia Sagri, Beate Scheder, Sofia Touboura, Marina Velisioti, Kyveli Zoi and 1992 (Ioanna Mitza & Pegy Zali); codependent curatorial by Xenia Kalpaktsoglou and Olympia Tzortzi

*Eva Anerrapsi, Anastasia Douka, Irini Miga, Marina Velisioti, Kyveli Zoi and Pegy Zali are SNF ARTWORKS Fellows in visual arts

we tell ourselves stories in order to live
17 February – 11 March 2023
Opening day: 17 February, 7 pm – 10 pm

3 Fellows at European Short Pitch

European Short Pitch, initiated by NISI MASA – European Network of Young Cinema, is an annual program aimed at discovering and supporting young European talents in the development of their short films, and fostering coproduction and collaboration between industry professionals from all over Europe.

European Short Pitch combines mentoring on short film development with a pitching and networking event, our Coproduction Forum.

This year, 3 Fellows join with their short movies

SAJBIJA
Director: Carmen Baltzar
Producer: Danai Anagnostou
https://www.europeanshortpitch.org/sajbija

THE UNRELIEVED WEIGHT OF AN INERT MASS
Director: Eirini Vianelli
Producer: Danai Spathara
https://www.europeanshortpitch.org/the-unrelieved-weight-of-an-inert-mass

HONEYMOON
Director: Alkis Papastathopoulos
Producer: Maria Hatzakou
https://www.europeanshortpitch.org/honeymoon

*Danai Anagnostou, Eirini Vianelli and Alkis Papastathopoulos είναι SNF ARTWORKS Fellows

GALLERY WALK AT PIRAEUS

2023 was kicked off with a gallery tour at Piraeus. Our Fellows were walked through Rodeo, The Intermission and Carwan gallery, learning about their history and exhibition program. They had the chance to see the current exhibitions and learn more about the hub that has been created in the neighbourhood of Pireaus.

Our Fellows were guided through the solo show “A KNIFE WITH NO BLADE, MISSING ITS HANDLE” by Guglielmo Castelli and the group show “ΝΕΟΚΛΑΣΙΚΟ” at RODEO Gallery. They then visited Carwan Gallery and the first retrospective of the late Aleko’s Fassianos design works. Finally, Artemis Baltogianni – art advisor and owner of The Intermission – welcomed us in the space and talked about the philosophy of the space, contributing to the creation of a market that attracts collectors and a hub for global artistic dialogue.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY & ARTISTS’ RIGHTS. WORKSHOP BY MARINA MARKELLOU

SNF ARTWORKS Fellows 2022 attended a workshop about intellectual property and artists’ rights led by Marina Markellou. What is the legal framework that protects and enforces creators’ rights? How can the artist fortify his rights when creating? Through several case studies and q&a sessions, Marina Markellou mapped the general framework of intellectual property for artists in Greece.

Dr. Marina Markellou is a lawyer specializing in Intellectual Property Law. After obtaining a degree from the Faculty of Law, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and a Master’s in Intellectual Property (Master 2, Spécialité Créations Immatérielles) from the University of Montpellier I in France, she continued her studies in Montpellier I with a PhD thesis entitled “The Copyright Contracts under French, German and Greek law”, studying under a scholarship from the State Scholarship Foundation in Greece. Subsequently, she completed a post-doctoral thesis on artistic appropriation at the Faculty of Law, University of Poitiers, France. In the last decade, she has been lecturing on intellectual property law, cultural heritage law and business law at the Ionian University, Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences, Hellenic Open University, University of Nicosia and Open University of Cyprus, on both undergraduate and postgraduate level.

“Articulating the personal, forming the collective”, workshop by Ioanna Gerakidi

Ioanna Gerakidi, Curatorial Fellow 2021, designed and moderated a workshop for SNF ARTWORKS Fellows 2022. Entitled “Articulating the personal, forming the collective”, the workshop thinks through and aims to work with diverse methodologies of researching, engaging with and producing a work. How can verbalizing, writing, or sharing processes of thinking through or making a work can be used as means to situate a practice, to find our words, to learn how to individually and collectively become otherwise.

Ioanna Gerakidi is a writer, curator and educator based in Athens. Her research interests think through the subjects of language and disorder, drawing on feminist, educational and anti-colonial studies. Poetry and other diaristic and archival schemes are often embedded in her practice.

GUIDED TOUR: “THIS CURRENT BETWEEN US”

On Thursday, February 16th, we visit the group exhibition “This Current Beteween Us” at the first steam-electric power station in Greece. Panos Yiannikopoulos, the exhibition’s co-curator and member of ARTWORKS team, guided our Fellows through the exhibition spaces and works and talked about the curatorial rational. He presented all 42 works exhibited in the show, 12 of which have been created by SNF ARTWORKS Fellows.

The exhibition examines the factory as a centre for the production of both power and materials, and moreover views it as a social model, a system for the organisation of space and human – and nonhuman – life, an architectural management of existing relationships and a generator of new ones.

—–

This Current Between Us
PPC Historic Electric Steam Power Station of Neo Faliro
Solomou 1 & Dimitriou Falireos, 185 47 Piraeus, Greece

Thursday–Sunday: 4pm–8pm
Exhibition duration: Friday, December 16, 2022 – Sunday, March 12, 2023

Participating artists: Nikos Alexiou, Micol Assaël, Eleni Bagaki, Eleni Christodoulou, Kostas Christopoulos, Anastasia Douka, Panayotis Evangelidis, Hypercomf, Konstantinos Giotis, Eleni Kalara & Valia Papachristou & Evaggeli Fili, Dimitris Kamarotos, Mikhail Karikis, Ali Kazma, Athina Koumparouli, Anna Lascari, Virginia Mastrogiannaki, Marina Miliou-Theocharaki & Marianne Tuckman, Petros Moris, Bill Morrison, Olga Migliaressi-Phoca, Paola Palavidi, Natasha Papadopoulou, Dimitris Papaioannou, Kostas Sahpazis, Louis-Philippe Scoufaras, Maria Sideri, Miriam Simun & Daria Kaufman, Iris Touliatou, Alexandros Tzannis, Theodore Tzannetakis, Jeph Vanger, Zafos Xagoraris, Marina Xenofontos

Participants from the Athens School of Fine Arts Lab: Alexandra Apsokardou, Despina Vaxevanidi, Anna Mastromichali, Katerina Messini, Olga Souvermezoglou

Curated by Panos Giannikopoulos & Georgia Liapi

Concept, research, coordination: Eleni Kalara

The exhibition “This Current Between Us” takes place within the framework of the project “The Other Body”, in collaboration with Blow-Up, Athens School of Fine Arts (ASFA) and the PPC, with the support of the Hellenic Republic Ministry of Culture & Sports . Powered by PPC.

*Eleni Bagaki, Anastasia Douka, Konstantinos Giotis, Athina Koumparouli, Virginia Mastrogiannaki, Petros Moris, Paola Palavidi & Ioannis Kolliopoulos (Hypercomf), Maria Sideri, Iris Touliatou, Alexandros Tzannis and Jephn Vanger are SNF ARTWORKS Fellows

‘Sprouts of a dragon’s teeth’, directed by Danae Io, at the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA)

Palimpest Landcapes
Film Program and Q&A
Thu, 02 Mar 2023
Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA), London

‘Sprouts of a dragon’s teeth’, the latest short film by Danae Io, will be screening at the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA), London on March 2nd, along with Jean-Marie Straub’s ‘à propos de venise’ and Marianna Christofides’ ‘Days in between’.

Like palimpsest pages on which new writing has been superimposed on the traces of old, this programme of short films looks at landscapes as sites where multiple histories have been inscribed and overwritten on the physical terrain. In their varying filmic languages, the selected works explore landscapes not just as backdrops to narratives but as devices partaking in historical processes.

The selection of films ties in with Danae Io’s research during her residency at Delfina Foundation into ways of depicting landscapes through film as spaces where different histories co-exist over time, blending social and physical spheres. The programme operates by bringing her work in relation to filmmakers that explore the connection between people and land as well as the ways dominant narratives are formed in adjacent locations to her research.

The screening will be followed by a Q&A with Delfina Foundation artist in residence Danae Io and Viviana Checchia, Residency Curator at Delfina Foundation.

Find more information about Palimpest Landcapes Film Program and Q&A here.

Curator’s Talk: Galini Notti

Galini Notti, curator and member of our curatorial selection committee for the 5th SNF Artist Fellowship Program, gave an extensive talk about the exhibition “Nikos Velmos (1890-1930) Drawings” that she recently curated and which is currently on view at Radio Athènes. Prior to her talk, we visited the exhibition space where Helena Papadopoulos guided us through the artworks and also spoke about the artist’s archive and the curatorial approach behind the show.

Galini Notti (b. 1980) is a curator who lives and works in Athens, Greece. In 2020, she curated the show Statues that don’t move, don’t speak, don’t laugh in three public squares in Athens. She has also curated one of the “Top Tens” for the project Shadow Libraries: UbuWeb in Athens at Onassis Cultural Centre, the exhibition Survey in the context of Art-Athina 2017, co-curated the show (Im)material Gestures as part of the project PIIGS_An Alternative Geography of Curating at Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo in Turin, curated the exhibition Overseas at The American College of Greece in Athens and the show Fireworks out of Season – Riviera at the Riviera open-air cinema in the Exarcheia neighborhood of Athens. She has participated in the curatorial team of the 4th Athens Biennale – Agora as well as curated and co-curated exhibitions at independent, artist-run, municipal and commercial spaces. In addition, she often writes about artists and exhibitions. In 2013 she was the recipient of the NEON Curatorial Award. She holds a BA in Philosophy from the University of Ioannina, Greece and MAs in Aesthetics from Paris 1 University and in Museology from the Ecole du Louvre, Paris, France. She has worked in museums and galleries in Paris, New York and Athens. For many years she was in charge of the Art Collection of the American College of Greece and is currently assistant curator at NEON.

NIKOS VELMOS (1890-1930) DRAWINGS
Curated by Galini Notti
29 January – 12 March 2023
RADIO ATHÈNES

The current exhibition’s work is comprised of many people and places – taverns, graveyards, the house of Rodakis in Aegina, Panormos in Tinos where he went to meet Chalepas, Athens, and Mount Athos. It approaches the drawings of Nikos Velmos as contemporary work. It is presented at Radio Athènes in Plaka, which is very near Nikodimou street, where Asylon Technis used to be.

More info here.

“HARD TIMES GOOD TIMES” BΥ Sophia Danae Vorvila

In this performance project, six (trained) dancers and six artists from various disciplines, including music, cinema, and visual arts, explore the themes of discomfort, pleasure, and tenderness through their own solos or duets, which were developed during 16 hours of studio work. Twelve performers share a (fictional) space where they unfold and map their experiences of daily life by sharing their own texts and memories; they create room for vulnerability, while caressing each other and enjoying themselves (because hard times can be good times as well) The project builds on previous research by Sophia Danae Vorvila which explores the potential of discomfort and uneasiness of daily life as a source of artistic creation and was developed during her MA studies at the Royal Conservatoire Antwerp. Her artistic practice is linked with improvisation and instant composition; in 2022, she presented the performance project ”this_is_a_never_ending_sunday.jpg” alongside Aliki Leftherioti at Kaaistudio’s in Brussels with the support of various organizations.

by and with

Giorgos Athanasiou
Dimitris Apostolakidis
Olga Vlassi
Eleni Vlachou
Christina Zacharia
Rallou Karella
Johnny Labelle
Aliki Leftherioti
Theano Xidia
Elpiniki Saripanidou
Christina Skoutela
Chris Scott

concept and research
Sophia Danae Vorvila

with gratitude to Tasos Koukoutas, the whole M54 team and our friends for their invaluable support in bringing this project to fruition.

*Sophia Danae Vorvila is SNF ARTWORKS Fellows (2022)

HARD TIMES GOOD TIMES
an ode to what gets itchy and may still hurt
Saturday 18 March & Sunday 19 March, 20:30-22:30
M54 studio (Menandrou 54), Athens

trailer: https://vimeo.com/800274193

Talk: Ektoras Lygizos & Konstantina Stavrianou

The art and labor of making a film.

Director and filmmaker Ektoras Lygizos and film producer Konstantina Stavrianou, both members of our moving image selection committee for the 5th SNF Artist Fellowship Program, gave yesterday at Romantso a joint talk, where they discussed with our Fellows important aspects of filmmaking: from the conception of an idea to script development and eventually the production of a film.

Thank you both for sharing your experience and personal input.

Born in Athens in 1976. He studied Greek Literature, Linguistics and Film Directing. His feature film BOY EATING THE BIRD’S FOOD (2012) premiered at Karlovy Vary Film Festival, won several awards and was in Competition at the International Film Festivals of Toronto, London, Montreal, Seville, Reykjavic, Hong Kong, Linz, Brussels, Leeds, Goa, Haifa, Thessaloniki, Bergen and Tallinn among others. It has also won the Best Feature Film, Best Leading Actor and Best Newcomer Director Awards from the Greek Film Academy (2013). His short film PURE YOUTH was premiered at Venice Film Festival 2004 – Official Competition. He has directed for the stage plays by Aeschulus, Euripides, Shakespeare, Moliere, Ibsen, Beckett, Verdi, Checkov, Jarry, Frayn, Boretz and Murray, Koumendakis, Walsh, Minyana, Owen and Klaus at the National Theatre of Greece, the Athens and Epidaurus Festival, the Onassis Culture Centre, the Greek National Opera among others.

Konstantina Stavrianou co-founded Graal, a production company and a post-production facility, based in Athens, Greece. She oversees the production & co-production sectors for both Greek and international productions and is Graal’s co-managing director. The company has co-produced 65 films to date and has a portfolio of approximately 430 titles. In 2012 & 2013 she has been in the Hellenic Film’s Academy organizing committee of the two-day conference “Riding the Greek Wave” in Athens. Its first instalment focused on project development and festival strategies, while in 2013 on international co-production & distribution. Since 2014, attends workshops as post-production tutor collaborating with FOCAL Digital Production Challenge, Doha Film Institute, Red Sea Lodge and others. She is a member of the preselection / selection committee at the Berlinale co-pro series, Torino Film Lab, Locarno Open Doors consultances and Biennale College Cinema. She is a MEDIA programme expert, a Berlinale talents alumna and member of the EAVE network. Since 2021, she is an awarded member of the Hellenic Film Academy.

“Socially Engaged Art Practices” WORKSHOP BY KOSTAS SACHPAZIS

Within the framework of the 5th SNF Artist Fellowship Program, visual artist Kostas Sahpazis designed a workshop on art and social engaged practices.

During the the workshop, Kostas Sahpazis talked about the boundaries between personal practice and collective action, about the social role of art and the consequences of its aestheticization. The aim of the workshop is to establish the theoritical framework for the social role of art through the experience of Kostas Sahpazis’ collaboration with KE.TH.E.A. THERAPY CENTER FOR DEPENDENT INDIVIDUALS

Workshop duration: February – April 2023

ARTWORKS SUPPORTS EP JOURNAL 7

ARTWORKS inaugurates its collaboration with Enterprise Projects and supports the making of the upcoming EP Journal issues commissioned to some of SNF ARTWORKS curatorial Fellows.

EPJ x ARTWORKS collaboration begins with the publication of the 7th EP Journal written by SNF ARTWORKS Curatorial Fellow 2019, Mare Spanoudaki.

Download EP–J 7 here.

Find more information about EPJ x ARTWORKS collaboration here.

“The sound is never instantaneous to the flash” | Nikolas Ventourakis

Considering an inner urge to collaborate with every artist and estate without any obstacles on the way, Callirrhoë is happy to introduce a new curatorial series under the (sub)title ‘one work show series’, which will be presented in a section of the main exhibition space. All participants will have a 10m2 exhibition space, a 25 days long presentation time frame and they are going to showcase either one work or an in situ installation. The purpose of these short exhibitions is to work closely with selected artists that, besides their importance to the program of Callirrhoë, play a significant role in the contemporary art scene either in Greece or internationally.

Nikolas Ventourakis and his work “The sound is never instantaneous to the flash” will be the first presentation of the series. He explores within the medium of photography the ambiguity of the image and the relation (in-)between generations. With [discontinued] instant film Ventourakis seeks to capture conclusive portraits of individuals grouped together. How does the collective narrative shape the personal narrative and the other way around?

one work show series
The sound is never instantaneous to the flash
Nikolas Ventourakis

15 March – 08 April 2023
Opening day: 15 March 2023, 7 pm – 10 pm

Callirrhoë
Kallirrois 122
Athina 117 41
Greece

LC X OMS Vol.2

Eleni Bagaki, Jean-Damien Charmoille, Florent Frizet, Konstantinos Giotis, Iasonas Kampanis, Katerina Komianiou, Karolina Krasouli, Lapin-Canard, Charlotte Nieuwenhuys, Louis-Philippe Scoufaras, Erica Scourti, Dimitris Tampakis, Iris Touliatou, Paky Vlassopoulou

Curated by Eric Stephany

Lapin-Canard was founded in Paris Belleville on the 1st of May 2015 and does artists’ posters. It offers visual artists it enjoys carte blanche on a single A0 format (840 x 1188 mm). The posters are pigmented inkjet prints on 189g/m2 matt paper. They are released in affordable editions of 10 alongside 1 exhibition print and 1 artist’s proof. The prints are made on demand by Atelier Martin Garanger in Paris. Lapin-Canard is non-lucrative and remits 60% of profits to the artist. Releases are always celebrated with music, libations and dances, in Paris or elsewhere.

*Eleni Bagaki, Konstantinos Giotis, Iasonas Kampanis, Katerina Komianou, Karolina Krasouli, , Iris Touliatou, Paky Vlassopoulou are SNF ARTWORKS Fellows

Opening
Friday 17th of March / 7pm – 10pm

One Minute Space (OMS)
Marathonos 71, Athens 10435
T: +30 6949085521
[email protected]

LECTURE PERFORMANCE BY XENIA KALPAKTSOGLOU

Xenia Kalpaktsoglou, independent curator and member of our visual arts selection committee, presented her work through a lecture performance she put together for our current cohort of Fellows. Moving between informal historiography and anecdotal storytelling, she demonstrated bits and pieces from past talks, feedback from peers and shared considerable information about her overall professional experience in the art world.

A heartfelt thank you to Xenia for taking the time to prepare such a stimulating lecture and to everyone who attended.

Xenia Kalpaktsoglou (1974) is a curator and a founding member of the Athens-based collective Laboratory for the Urban Commons (Neo Cosmos). Her curatorial practice is rooted in collaboration, the creation of (trans-)local projects and initiatives, and in the reconsideration of the protocols of exchange and production between cultural producers and institutions/organizations. She co-founded the Athens Biennale and co-directed it from 2005–2016; during those years she was primarily active with the curatorial team XYZ. Between 2006-2008 she was the director of the DESTE Foundation. She is currently a PhD candidate at the Artistic Research department at the Zurich University of the Arts / Linz University of the Arts.

www.neocosmos.gr

Eleonora Siarava participates in TANZ:DIGITAL – Process, Dynamics, Discourse (Berlin)

Eleonora Siarava was selected to participate in the international interdisciplinary project TANZ:DIGITAL – Process, Dynamics, Discourse for the artistic research and experimentation with applied tools of Digital Technologies in Dance in a team of choreographers, dance artists and media artists.

Berlin, Kunstquartier Bethanien, February 2023

The program TANZ:DIGITAL – Process, Dynamics, Discourse is a cooperation of the Dachverband Tanz Deutschland and ITI International Theatre Institute Germany/Media Library for Dance and Theatre.

Funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media in the programme NEUSTART KULTUR, tanz:digital aid program of the Dachverband Tanz Deutschland.

In parallel, the program organized a group exhibition – video installation where extracts of the following pieces of Eleonora Siarava were presented:

BLUE BEYOND (2022)

BLUE BEYOND, drawing from the chi-fi book of the beginning of the 20th century “Last and First Men: A Story of the Near and Far Future” by Olaf Stapledon, explores corporealities, cartographies and images of the Future and seeks to invent how the vision or the fantasy of the Future is depicted, reflected, embodied. Through an interplay with realities, dramaturgies, fictions, topologies, imaginary spaces of the future, memories of the live present and embodied traces of the past, BLUE BEYOND turns the stage into an active hybrid space with movements, objects, sounds, words and creates a live moving capsule of imprints and visions forming a Memoir for¦of the Future, a cyclic schema to represent time.

The piece questions how the body can map the future, with what material and movement landscapes. With what mythologies do we invest it, what archives it carries? In reverse, the performance, as a living space with memories, predictions, scenarios seeks to detect atmospheres and impressions of tomorrow floating in the sea of now, tune in to resonances, movements, waves of what is not yet here, has not arrived but it is already inscribed within us and within the dance to be made. What if the present through the moving body already encapsulates echoes of Future in a dance just before it ‘comes into being’.

Trailer:

The piece, was supported by the Ministry of Culture of Greece and presented in Theseum Theatre in Athens and the National Theatre of Northern Greece.

The Body and the Other~ (2020)
Premiere ΤANZHAUS NRW, Temps d’ Images Festival (Düsseldorf)

The Body and the Other~ is a dance performance / choreographic installation about the multiple body as a physical, digital and hybrid in-between corporeality placed in a mixed reality topology. There, temporal linearity is shattered and digital algorithms create random past, present and future blendings and overlappings. Through an experimental scenography involving video, projection mapping and motion tracking and the use of surfaces, objects and materials that follow their own technology and potential of movement, the aim is to unfold a performance as an unpredictable and unprescribed living entity with autonomous choreographic dramaturgy. By revealing what escapes or slips away from technology, The Body and the Other~ invites the elusive real in a piece based on an interplay between tactility and emptiness, appearing and disappearing imagery, absence and presence, with the moving body as a mediator and reminder of the deep human essence.

The project was co-funded by the program »Transfer International« of NRW KULTURsekretariat, the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany) and
i-Portunus (Creative Europe), with the support of Tanzhaus NRW in the framework of TEMPS D’IMAGES Festival and is an interdisciplinary collaboration between Eleonora Siarava | Per_Dance Choreographic Research Platform and Mixed Reality and Visualization Institut | Department of Media, Düsseldorf University

Trailer:

Eleonora Siarava is choreographer and artistic director of Per_Dance Choreographic Research Platform working between Greece and Germany. She studied ‘Dance Μaking and Performance’ (MA-Distinction, Coventry University) and ‘Choreography and Performance’ (Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany). She has presented her work in Greece and internationally. For her piece The Body and the Other~ premiered at Tanzhaus NRW, Temps d’ Images Festival (2020), was supported by the program »Transfer International« of NRW KULTURsekretariat of Germany, Ministry of Culture and Science of NRW, artistic mobility grant I-Portunus/Creative Europe and collaborated with Mixed Reality and Visualization Institut (Düsseldorf University) for the use of digital technology. She worked as a performer for Marina Abramović’s project ‘A different way of hearing’ at Alte Oper Frankfurt and was resident choreographer at SE.S.TA Centre for Choreographing Development/Interdisciplinary Incubator 2019 (Prague) and Duncan Dance Research Center (Athens). She participated in ‘Moving Digits’/Creative Europe project for Dance and Digital Technologies (2018-2020) and was fellow of START program by Robert Bosch Stiftung & Goethe Institut. As an artist she is interested in abstraction in dance and her intention is to create enigmatic multilayered performances through the experimentation with aesthetic forms, imaginary and real spaces, overlapping temporalities, multisensory perception, hybridity, atmospheres. Her site & time specific choreographic installation “Step-in” was presented at Thessaloniki Concert Hall. Since 2020 is supported by the Ministry of Culture of Greece. During that period she created the pieces Who knows where the time goes-potential destination #1 and BLUE BEYOND (National Theatre of Northern Greece) and developed the choreographic research UnderScore, Choreographic Objects and more.

*Eleonora Siarava has been awarded the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) Artist Fellowship by ARTWORKS in 2022 in the field of Choreography.

www.per-dance.com

The “Office of Hydrocommons” presents the exhibition “Wet Heart”

The “Office of Hydrocommons” is an interdisciplinary and interartistic program that focuses on climate and social change in relation to water and the body. Informed by the properties of water’s liquidity, the endeavor unfolds in different manifestations: an exhibition, an international artist residency, a series of weekly public events, and the Research Office. “Hydroresearchers” from different fields, such as the arts, marine biology, agronomy, urbanism, sports, and activism, are invited to participate in the program. The Office of Hydrocommons is actualized following an invitation by the ATOPOS cvc artistic director Vassilis Zidianakis to the independent curator Eleni Riga in the context of #ΟccupyAtopos.

Exhibition “Wet Heart”
From the positionality of the Mediterranean South, the artists participating in the exhibition “Wet Heart” investigate problems such as water scarcity, the deterioration of the natural environment due to industrial, touristic, and military activities, and the pollution of waters due to plastics and microplastics; at the same time, they reflect on their impact onto vulnerable human and non-human lives.

Departing from the “wet heart,” the well in the center of the ATOPOS cvc premises, five Greek visual artists – the duo Ileana Arnaoutou and Ismene King, Eleni Mylonas, Maria Nikiforaki, Despina Charitonidi – respond to crucial questions about water: Which waters are we talking from? Which waters are we talking about? On which waters are we standing? What are “our” waters?

Ileana Arnaoutou, Ismene King
Artwork: A Conservation of Water-Writings

The creation of the site-specific sculpture “A Conservation of Water-Writings” by Ileana Arnaoutou and Ismene King is fueled by encounters around the well, and based on an alternative experiential relationship with the well itself, drawing on expanded practices of care. The artists approach the well by “performing a gesture of caress” – a hand touch that carries messages of care – and try to retrieve its history, the places where water once traversed or stood, the places where the moisture eroded the stone, the hollow from the pulley in which bryophytes grew. The practice of caressing is linked to haptonomy, the “science of sensitivity” developed by Dutch healer Frans Veldman in the 1960s. In prenatal medicine, a series of targeted gestures of touching the abdomen allows for the creation and tightening of the emotional bond between parents (be they biological or foster) and their children. Similarly to a parent communicating with a baby in the womb, the artists communicate with water. It is “a way of facilitating life beyond biological pregnancy” (“gestationality” Neimanis 2017), “a form of broadly inclusive kinship” (The Care Collective 2020).

Credit
A Conservation of Water-Writings, 2023
Installation, iron, resin, aluminum, rubber, stoneware clay, dimensions variable

Ileana Arnaoutou and Ismene King’s work is realized with the support of ATOPOS cvc and the G. & A. Mamidakis Foundation as part of the Research Residency Program 2022.

Resume
The collaborative duo was formed in 2019, between Ismene King and Ileana Arnaoutou. Ismene King (b.1993) is a sculptress and ceramist, graduate from the MFA Sculpture of the Slade School of Fine Ar. Ileana Arnaoutou (b.1994) is a painter and sculptress, graduate from the BA Fine Art of the Slade and the MA History of Art of University College London. They are currently based in Athens. They have been awarded the G&A Mamidakis Foundation Art Prize 2022 for their work ‘Tender shell geophilia’, and they have both received the ARTWORKS Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) Artist Fellowship.

For photo materials visit the project’s press kit, which will constantly be updated during the course of the project.

Visiting Hours
Thursday–Saturday
17:00–21:00

Free admission with pre-booking

Contact
For more information, please contact ATOPOS cvc at [email protected]
or visit the websites:
atopos.gr/occupyatopos-eleniriga-the-office-of-hydrocommons
facebook.com/atoposcvc
instagram.com/atoposcvc

Facebook Εvent
https://fb.me/e/Xm43D7vj