Category: ARTWORKS

On Thursday November 18th, the moving image selection committee members for the 4th SNF Artist Fellowship Program – Giorgos Karnavas, Timon Koulmasis and Sofia Michailidou- sat together and discussed their work and the journey of a filmmaker, a producer and a programmer through sharing their personal and professional experiences as well as the challenges that arise. Thank you all for joining and thank you to our selection committee members for this stimulating discussion.

Giorgos Karnavas is a film producer at Heretic, a boutique film house producing and selling films on a global scale.
Timon Koulmasis works as a film director, writer and producer in Paris and Athens.
Sofia Michailidou is a programmer. For over 30 years she planned and organized cultural events, mainly related to cinema, at the Goethe-Institut Athen.

Konstnatina Georgelou, performing arts theorist, dramaturg and researcher, and  also a member of our Dance Selection Committee this year held an zoom talk and spoke about her interest in exploring discursive, artistic and activist practices as articulations of the political and how “practices of undoing“ can become means of creating space to formulate and express the collective.

Konstantina Georgelou is an Amsterdam-based performing arts theorist, dramaturg and researcher. Her research is on the practice and theory of dramaturgical activity, especially regarded from a political perspective, which is part of her ongoing inquiry on embodied practices of resistance and forms of dis/order as these are thought and expressed within dance, performance and artistic activism.She works in the MA programmes of choreography and theatre at DAS Graduate School (Amsterdam University of the Arts) and she is a senior lecturer in the Department of Media and Culture at Utrecht University, teaching courses on dramaturgy, spectatorship, artistic interventions in the public space and on performance theory. In 2011 she received her PhD from Utrecht University, with a thesis entitled Performless: The operation of l’informe in post-dramatic theatre. Together with Danae Theodoridou and Efrosini Protopapa, she edited and authoredThe Practice of Dramaturgy: Working on Actions in Performance(Valiz, 2017). Her publications have appeared in journals and books internationally, and she collaborates with dance and performance artists, such as Zhana Ivanova, Efrosini Protopapa, Billy Mullaney, Danae Theodoridou, Janez Janša. Konstantina also has an ongoing engagement with modes of production in theory and in the arts, which has been taking different formats in primarily collaborative projects.

After so long, we finally had the pleasure to host our first curator’s talk in person! Our guest speaker was Marina Fokidis, curator, writer, lecturer and also member of the Visual Arts Selection Committee for the 4th SNF Artist Fellowship Program.

Juxtaposing notions such as entitlement vs relevance, translocality vs global fiction, empathy vs exoticism, Marina elaborated on her curatorial practices and presented some of the major projects she has undertaken: the 3rd Thessaloniki Biennale as a member of the curatorial team, Documenta 14 where she served as Head of the Artistic Office in Athens, Kunsthalle Athena as the founding and artistic director, as well as the bi-annual arts and culture journal South as a State of Mind produced in Athens and distributed internationally that she founded before it temporarily became the @documenta14 journal for several years.

On November 1st, we visit with our cohor of Fellows the Takis Foundation in Gerovouno hill, Attica. We were immersed through the unique world of Takis: kinetic sculptures, magnetic fields, cosmic and invisible powers, telesculptures, telepeintures (telepaintings), telelumieres (telelights), musicals, electromagnetic sculptures, hydro-magnetic sculptures, erotic scupltures.

Panayiotis Vassilakis, known as TAKIS, was one of the most prominent personalities of both international and greek art scenes. A pioneer of kinetic art, he unfurled his talent after the end of World War II, and he asserted himself by offering a different approach to kinetic art. Self-taught artist by conviction, he managed to create an inextricable link between art and science by combining elements of nature and physics in his sculpturing. Takis, as a “tireless worker of the magnetic fields …” continues to this date to experiment and create kinetic works of art that have inspired painters, sculptors and poets of his generation, as well as his contemporaries.

Takis Foundation – Research Center for the art & the sciences History has been the birthplace of Takis’ research and art with the aim to promote knowledge and appreciation of the visual arts to the general public, as well as to provide services, facilities and support programs for both education and contemporary art.

More info: https://takisfoundation.org/

On Tuesday October 26, our Fellows from the 4th SNF Artist Fellowship Program had the chance to visit the exhibition “I heard it from the valleys” and be guided through its works by the curator and SNF ARTWORKS Fellow Eva Vaslamatzi. The exhibitoin is the result of the participation of Eva Vaslamatzi (SNF ARTWORKS Fellow) in the Curatorial Residency Program at SAHA Association in Istanbul (May-June 2021) made possible by the ARTWORKS association and with the support of Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) and presents a series of new productions linked through techniques, narratives and symbols related to the wide field of folk art. Folk production and forms of knowledge, mainly anonymous, are approached here as a field of inspiration and possibility for understanding forms and behaviors, which function individually and independently from grander national narratives.

Artists: Hera Büyüktaşçıyan, Aslι Çavuşoğlu, Anastasia Douka, Marina Papazyan, Evi Souli, VASKOS (Vasilis Noulas & Kostas Tzimoulis)
Curated by Eva Vaslamatzi

Haus N Athen
Kairi 6, 105 51 Athens, Greece

From October 23rd until October 26th 2021, we hosted the workshop “How to Develop a Film Collaborating With Actors” designed and led by Syllas Tzoumerkas. Moving Image and Visual Arts Fellows immersed themselves in liberating, norm-defying, head-on and market-protected paths to develop and enrich their projects through direct collaboration with actors.

We are delighted to inaugurate a new collaboration with Delta Restaurant and the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre (SNFCC), offering a thematic initiative of artistic visits in two parts, exclusively for SNFCC Members!

Delta, the fine-dinning restaurant by Dipnosofistirion at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC), driven by the cultural character of its operation, αs well as being a lively promotion platform of contemporary visual arts, collaborates with ARTWORKS and presents works of Greek artists in the restaurant’s venue. The restaurant embraces art and organically integrates yearly rotating artworks in its interior and surrounding spaces. Following the concept of sustainability, we are invited to think of art as part of diverse ecosystems and interdependent interactions.

In this context, the Membership Program has planned exclusively for the Members of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC) a group of thematic visits from November 2021 to March 2022. The visits are structured between two parallel axes: initially in the Delta area, where through monthly tours, the works of the 5 participating artists that have been awarded the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Artist Fellowship Program by ARTWORKS will be presented, and then off the premises of the SNFCC, at the studios or in exhibition spaces of the up-and-coming artists.

During SNFCC members’ visits to Delta Restaurant, the initiative and the philosophy behind the partnership of Delta with ARTWORKS will be presented, and members will be guided in the selected works of the 5 artists, which are harmoniously integrated in the restaurant space. Then, the artists will welcome the members to their space, presenting their work and creating the space for an open discussion.

The events are dedicated to all our members who love art and culture and want to immerse themselves in the concept of artistic creation and its practice, in every form. They are also addressed to all those who are interested in getting to know the modern ambassadors of the domestic art scene.

Participating artists: Petros Moris, Malvina Panagiotidi, Katerina Komianou, Manolis Daskalakis Lemos and Dimitris Efeoglou

The 5 artists presenting their work this year have been awarded by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Artist Fellowship Program, ARTWORKS, thanks to the founding donation of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation.

Visits Schedule:

November:
Monday 8/11, 18.00 | 1st Visit to Delta Restaurant
Saturday 20/11, 12.30 | Off Premises: Petros Moris- Solo exhibition at Radio Athènes
December:
Monday 6/12, 18.00 | 2nd Visit to Delta Restaurant
Thursday 9/12, 18.00 | Off Premises: Studio Visit | Meet the Artist: Malvina Panagiotidi
January:
Monday 10/01, 18.00 | 3rd Visit to Delta Restaurant
Saturday 15/01, 12.30 | Off Premises:Studio Visit | Meet the Artist: Katerina Komianou
February:
Saturday 12/2, 12.30 | Off Premises: Studio Visit | Meet the Artist: Manolis Daskalakis Lemos
March:
Saturday 12/3, 12.30 | Off Premises: Studio Visit | Meet the Artist: Dimitris Efeoglou

Delta was created through an initiative and a grant by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) to the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center A.E. It aims to become a landmark culinary destination in line with the high standards of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC) and to share Greek cuisine around the world.

Free entrance via online pre-registration*

* Pre-registration for our monthly visits starts at the beginning of each month. The information is provided through the Newsletter of the Members of the SNFCC.

This initiative is a collaboration of the SNFCC Members Program with the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Artist Fellowship Program, ARTWORKS and the Delta Restaurant.

More info here.

On Saturday, October 23, 2021, in the context of the autumn events of the Averoff Gallery, Dimitra Nikolou – ARTWORKS Co-Founder and Director of the SNF Artist Fellowship Program  – participated in the round table discussion “Supporting the Arts Today”. The objective of the panel discussion was to explore the current conditions of the support system of the arts and discuss the possibilities and the difficulties that exist from the perspective of the state, of art institutions, but also from the viewpoint of the new generation of artists.

Participants:
Paky Vlassopoulou, Artist, Co-founder of the artist-run space 3 137
Dimitra Nikolou, Co-founder, Program Director ARTWORKS
Marios Spiliopoulos, Artist, Tutor at the Athens School of Fine Arts,
Stamatis Schizakis, Curator, Department of Photography and New Media, Museum of Contemporary Art (EMST)

Syrago Tsiara, Deputy Director of MOMus-Museum of Contemporary Art-Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art and State Museum of Contemporary Art Collection
Manolis Haros, Artist

The discussion was moderated by Irini Orati, Art historian.

Our next stop with the Fellows 2021 was at the former Public Tobacco Factory – Hellenic Parliament Library & Printing House, a city landmark that was restored by NEON; On Thursday October 21st, 2o21 we had the chance to visit an extraordinary exhibition titled “Portals”, featuring 59 artists from 27 countries, from which 5 SNF ARTWORKS Fellows (Anastasia Douka , Eirene Efstathiou, Chrysanthi Koumianaki , Alexandros Tzannis and Myrto Xanthopoulou! Congratulations!

Along with our Fellows 2021, we were warmly welcomed by members of the NEON team, Nafsika Papadopoulou , Fanis Kafantaris and Galini Notti. We learned more about NEON organization, the philosophy behind the renovation of this historic building as well as the concept and the main axes of the exhibition.

More info here

On Tuesday October 19th 2021, we held our first group visit with the Fellows 2021 at the exhibition “Anti-structure” at DESTE Foundation for Contemporary Art.

Andreas Melas, the exhibition curator, guided us through the works and talked about the concept behind the exhibition which he developed in collaboration with the collector Dakis Joannou in order to create a relationship between the installation works of Urs Fisher and artworks by Greek and Cypriot artists, while exploring the lines between order and chaos, stasis and flux, structure and fragility.

“ANTI-STRUCTURE”, DESTE FOUNDATION

Taking as its starting point an immersive installation with works by Urs Fischer and placing it in dialogue with the work of twenty-one Greek and Cypriot artists of various generations and modalities, Anti-Structure explores the far-fetched realm of fine lines between order and chaos, stasis and flux, structure and fragility.

Coined in 1969 by cultural anthropologist Victor Turner (1920–1983), “anti-structure” is a study of the state of mental and spiritual limbo that is characteristic of the second stage—the liminal stage—of any rite of passage, when the novitiate is neither here nor there but, betwixt and between, remains enveloped in abiding upheaval and disarray and a preternatural void.  Anti-structure thus describes a stage of perpetual transformation characterized by moments of dissolution where “structural hierarchies are flattened or inverted.” Whereas the dominant ideology du jour was that any such breakdown would result in anomie and angst, Turner recognized that in times of great happenstance, culture in fact reboots itself and new symbols, models, and paradigms arise.

It is not unusual to find such pockets of clandestine novelty simmering deep in the underground, the pregnant margins of normative order. It is in these lands of strangers and exiles, that one finds fertile ground for radical thought and very strange ideas. It is these ideas cultivated in the fringes of institutionalized etiquette that bring forth novel ways of dress, posture, and expression, attitudes that when fully formed feed back into the system to either break or make the mainstream.

The exhibition includes the works of: Yannoulis Chalepas, Diohandi, Dora Economou, Andreas Embirikos, Urs Fischer, Sotirios Kotoulas, George Lappas, Tony Moussoulides, Aliki Panagiotou, Christodoulos Panayiotou, Nausika Pastra, Georgia Sagri, Lucas Samaras, Christiana Soulou, Takis, Thanassis Totsikas, Iris Touliatou*, George Tourkovasilis, Pantelis Xagoraris, Marina Xenofontos, Takis Zenetos

*Iris Touliatou is SNF ARTWORKS Fellow

Curator: Andreas Melas

More info here

Eva Vaslamatzi (curator and SNF ARTWORKS Fellow) was selected to spend 6 weeks at SAHA Association and indulge in the city’s contemporary art scene. As part of the curatorial residency at SAHA, Eva had the opportunity to visit art galleries , museum and artists’ studios. Her research resulted in the organization and curation of the exhibition ““I heard it from the valleys”  at Haus N in Athens with Greek and Turkish artists.

Eva’s residency was possible thanks to the generous support of ARTWORKS’ founding donor, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF).

We are super happy to announce that we are finally able to resume our partnership with the International Studio & Curatorial Program (ISCP) and continue serving our mission: to offer our Fellows long lasting learning and networking opportunities inside and outside Greece.

Iris Touliatou (SNF ARTWORKS Fellow 2020) who was nominated by our visual arts committee and selected by the ISCP curatorial team, will have a private and furnished studio space in Brooklyn and 24-hour access to all communal facilities at ISCP (September-October 2021). During her stay in New York, Iris will also participate in the 2021 Triennial “Soft Water Hard Stone” at the New Museum . We are looking forward to seeing Iris enjoy the fruits of her labor and we wish her the best of luck.

Our residency partnerships would not be possible without the generous support of our founding donor, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF).

More info about Iri’s residency here.

We kicked off the 4th SNF Artist Fellowship Program with a celebratory gathering at the Romantso terrace. It was great to meet you all and we can’t wait to spend more creative (and fun) time with you in the months to come! Welcome everyone and cheers to the 80 SNF ARTWORKS Fellows 2021!

To celebrate the completion of the 3rd SNF Artist Fellowship Program, we gathered last week at Latraac Cafe! Getting together after a year of mostly digital encounters was a long awaited moment and we would like to thank everyone for joining. Until next time!

Photos: Ioanna Chatziandreou

The body as a tool, identity issues, navigating the boundaries between disciplines, political art in the digital era. These were some of the topics discussed during the most recent round of our Fellows’ presentations: Thodoris Trampas, Iris Touliatou , Dimitris Zampopoulos , Antigone Michalakopoulou , Vasilis Alexandrou, Konstantinos Doumpenidis  and Iasonas Kampanis .This is an important part of our Program for generating ideas and for community building. Thank you all for attending!

This series of our Fellows’ presentations was all about listening to women artists talking about their work! Their presentations were the starting point for interesting conversations around topics such as aesthetic spatialities, sonic narratives, the poetic self, self-censorship, the spaces lying between humanity and animality, distortion, absurdity. Thank you Ersi Varveri, Natalia Papadopoulou , Alkistis Mavrokefalou, Sofia Sfyri , Chara Stergiou, Elisavet Sfyri and all of you who attended!

Once again this summer, ARTWORKS is participating in SNF Nostos, presenting the works of young cinematographers and choreographers who have participated in the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) Artist Fellowship Program.

Below you may find our Fellows’ participation in the SNF Nostos:

Short Films by SNF ARTWORKS Fellows

25- 29 August 2021, 21:00 – 21:30, Panoramic Steps

ARTWORKS is participating in SNF Nostos and presenting short films by Greek directors who have participated in the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) Artist Fellowship Program, highlighting the rich dynamism of Greek cinema.

Schedule of screenings:

Wednesday, 25 August

Schoolyard, by Rinio Dragasaki
A short film about everything that doesn’t end when school lets out…
“Schoolyard was filmed quickly and casually in the hot summer of 2013. It was commissioned by the Greek Film Centre and the 3rd Athens Open Air Film Festival. It is an experiment in what can happen when you read Andreas Embirikos while listening to Alice Cooper’s “School’s Out for the Summer.”
Year: 2014
Duration: 10’

Skin, by Manolis Mavris
A man asks himself whether it is too soon or too late to discover his body.
Year: 2019
Duration: 4

Thursday, 26 August

Kappa, by Kleoniki Stanich
Kappa finds herself in a facility that promotes social integration. Soon enough, she witnesses several attempts at interaction, which lead to a somewhat awkward situation. In response, she adopts a survival mechanism that enables her to move between her fantasy world and reality. Creating her own scenarios, she redefines communication, as well as the borders of where a relationship starts and where it ends.
Year: 2018
Duration: 14’

Friday, 27 August

Washingtonia, by Konstantina Kotzamani
This film is about the palm species Washingtonia, the only species resistant to the red palm weevil. Because its heart is small and dry, and no one likes small, dry hearts. Washingtonia is another name for the hot Athens summer in which giraffes, madame Ellie, a poodle, a birthday cake, and heartbeats coexist.
Year: 2014
Duration: 24’

Saturday, 28 August

Postcards from the End of the World, by Konstantinos Antonopoulos
Trapped in the dysfunction of their family vacation, the last thing Dimitra, Dimitris, and their two young daughters expect to face is the end of the world.
Year: 2019
Duration: 23’

Sunday, 29 August

Copa-Loca, by Christos Massalas
This is the story of Copa-Loca, a summer resort in the off season. Polina is the girl at the heart of Copa-Loca. Everyone cares about her, and she cares about everyone—in every possible way.
Year: 2017
Duration: 14’

SNF ARTWORKS Dance Fellows present their works at SNF Nostos
August 26 – 29, 2021, 19:30 – 19:50, Agora

ARTWORKS is partnering with SNF Nostos again this summer and spotlighting aspects of modern dance, presenting the works of young choreographers who have participated in the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) Artist Fellowship Program. From August 26 to 29, dancers and choreographers will bring their movement to the Agora of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC), a central space where people meet, interact, and create experiences.

The creators were inspired during the pandemic to choreograph the dances they will present at the Agora. Today more than ever, it is important for us to rethink the body’s experience in space. In their works, they turn a critical eye to how the body functions when it is confined, restricted, and precarious, and dance is seen as a form of resistance, escape, and articulation of possible and impossible ways of acting. The Agora becomes a space of experimentation and freedom. The audience will have the opportunity to observe a diversity of trends in contemporary dance from the rejuvenating perspective of talented young creators.