Category: Artworks news

This week we hosted Valentinas Klimašauskas for another Zoom meeting with our Fellows!
Valentinas is a curator and a writer based in Vilnius, Lithuania. During his presentation, Valentinas talked about his curatorial practice, issues of speculative economies of language, his interest in linking agents, concepts and readers into new performative systems, the ability to create hybrids of culture and much more.

Valentinas Klimašauskas together with João Laia curate the 14th Baltic Triennial at CAC Vilnius (2021). With Inga Lāce he curated Saules Suns, a solo exhibition by Daiga Grantina for the Latvian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale (2019). He worked as a Program Director at Kim? Contemporary Art Centre, Riga (2017/18), and was a curator at CAC, Vilnius (2003/13). Recent curated projects include “Pulse” by Alexandra Pirici, enlivenment of the Kaunas Ninth Fort Monument; “Microorganisms & Their Hosts”, a collaborative solo by Mindaugas Gapševičius at Atletika, Vilnius. “The Cave & the Garden” at Futura CCA, Prague, “Columnists” at Editorial, Vilnius (2019); “Portals or location scouting in Kaunas”, presented by Spike Art Quarterly (2017). He is the author of Oh, My Darling & Other Rants (The Baltic Notebooks of Anthony Blunt, 2018), Polygon (Six Chairs Books, 2018), and B (Torpedo Press, 2014).

As part of a workshop designed for the current cohort of our dance Fellows, we hosted an online lecture by Bojana Kunst, philosopher, dramaturg and performance theoretician. Bojana talked to our Fellows about the difference between artists’ work and life, the flexibility and precariousness of artistic activities, how we should reconsider notions of social reproduction and care, reflect on the sustainability of life and much more. Thank you Bojana for this dense presentation and for being so open to the discussion that followed

Bojana Kunst is professor at the Institute for Applied Theater Studies in Justus Liebig University, Giessen, where she is leading an international master program in Choreography and Performance. The lecture was part of an online workshop curated by our dance selection committee members, Efrosini Protopapa and Stergiani Tsintziloni.

We had the pleasure to host a talk by Maria Paradeisi, associate professor of History and Theory of Cinema at the Department of Communication, Media and Culture of Panteion University in Athens. Maria talked about the emergence of the New Greek Cinema and its relation to the feminist film theory during a period of political and social turmoil in Greece. By deconstructing and analyzing the two female characters starring in the films “Reconstruction” by Theo Aggelopoulos (1970) and “Anna’s matchmaking” by Pantelis Voulgaris (1972), she discussed how their portraits reflected the womens’ role in society back then.Thank you Maria for bringing up issues that feel more relevant than ever these days, and for reminding us that we should always stand up for our rights!

We are thrilled to announce our collaboration with SAHA Association!
In partnership with SAHA, ARTWORKS will sponsor a residency position for one of its curatorial fellows who will have the opportunity to spend time in Istanbul and conduct research work. This is part of our collaboration with various international residency programs with the aim of supporting ARTWORKS Fellows to pursue learning and networking opportunities outside Greece.

SAHA Association is a non-governmental organization established in 2011 by a group of art enthusiasts united around the shared goal of supporting contemporary arts from Turkey.

This year we take pride in supporting Eva Vaslamatzi, ARTWORKS Curatorial Fellow 2019, for a 6-week residency position at SAHA, starting in May 2021.

Eva Vaslamatzi (Athens, 1990) is an independent curator and writer working between Athens and Paris. Most recently, she was the co-curator for visual arts at DOC!, a non-profit multipurpose space in northeastern Paris (2017-2019), while also working as an assistant curator at the Palais de Tokyo (2018-2019).

Miss Gourgourini on board!

On December 15h, we hosted the first part of a social media workshop taught by our dear collaborator Margarita Gourgourini, brand, online & social media strategist, and co-founder of Own Your Story agency. During this introductory session, Margarita talked about the importance of tracing core working values, embracing the multidimensional self and staying true to one’s self when sharing stories via social media.

This month, we kicked off a very essential component of our program: our Fellows’ presentations! Sharing creative insights, exchanging ideas and concerns, receiving feedback, are crucial to generating new ideas and building our community. Even though these gatherings are held digitally, we are still very happy to have the chance to get to know more about each one of you.

Thank you Eleni Bagaki , Bill Psarras, Yorgos Maraziotis , Janis Rafa, Myrto Xanthopoulou, Sevastiana Konstaki, Ioanian Bisai, Sofia Dona, Nikolas Ventourakis and everyone who attended !

Τhrough an overview of her various curatorial projects, Polina Kosmadaki, talked to our Fellows about the relationship of modern and contemporary art with history, academic research and distinctive artefacts. For Polina, contemporary art and art history go hand in hand, allowing her to take a critical stance towards both of them. Polina Kosmadaki, art historian, curator of Modern and Contemporary Art and Head of the Department of Paintings at the Benaki Museum, Athens, is also a member of our selection committee for the visual arts.

We had the pleasure to host a discussion about the inauguration of Kickstarter in Greece, launched with a campaign from our beloved Fellows 3 137.
Patton Hindle, Head of Art at Kickstarter, talked to our communtiy about the mission of Kickstarter to help bring creative projects to life, while Evita Tsokanta, independent art historian and curator, currently also working as an arts outreach consultant for Kickstarter in Greece, moderated the discussion that followed. Chryssanthy Koumianaki, Kosmas Nikolaou and Paky Vlassopoulou (all SNF ARTWORKS Fellows 2018) shared with our group of Fellows their successful common efforts to raise funds for their future project “Greece 2021: An Anti-Fashion Show by Honey-Suckle Company” ! Thanks everyone who attended :)

Our Fellows attended an insightful, rich in content workshop about intellectual property and artists’ rights with our dear collaborator Dr Marina Markellou. Marina is an Attorney and Adjunct Lecturer of Law at the Panteion University, the Open Hellenic University and the Open Cyprus University. She specialises in Intellectual Property law, corporate, civil and data protection law.

Stamatis Schizakis talked about his role as a curator at the National Museum of Contemporary Art (EMST) in documenting, highlighting and preserving works of greek & international artists. Among others, he referred to the projects which have had a decisive impact on his curatorial approach and he highlighted the importance of focusing in the present as an art historian. Last but not least, he presented his personal curatorial project “The First and Last and Always Psiloritis Biennale”.

Stamatis Schizakis , member of ARTWORKS selection committee for the SNF Artists Fellowship Program 2020, studied history and theory of art and photography at the University of Derby and art history at Goldsmiths College. He works as a curator at the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Athens, since 2005. He has curated the exhibitions Bia Davou, Retrospective (2008) (co-curated with Tina Pandi), George Drivas, (un)documented(2009), Angelo Plessas, The Angelo Foundation: School of Music (2011), Marianne Strapatsakis, Invisible Places – The Vast White (2011), Rena Papaspyrou, Photocopies straight through matter (2011), Georgios Xenos, Procession No 163 & Thousand Images (2012), Phoebe Giannisi – TETTIX (2012) Dimitris Alithinos, A Retrospective (2013) (co-curated with Tina Pandi), PLEXUS Petros Moris – Bia Davou – Efi Spyrou (2015) (co-curated with Tina Pandi) as well as the screening programs Wonder Women (2010), Secret Journeys (2011) at EMST and Terrhistories-Greece as part of the 26th Festival instants Video in Marseilles (2013). Since 2015 he is a PhD candidate at the University of Sunderland researching the introduction of new technologies in art in Greece. Since 2017, he realizes the First and Last and Always Psiloritis Biennale.

On November 10th, we had the pleasure to host Elpida Karaba, art theorist, independent curator and member of our selection committee for the weekly Zoom meeting with our Fellows. Through her personal archaeology, Elpida discussed her practice and her focus on the relationship between art and systems of knowledge, archival art, art in the public domain and performative and activist practices in the arts. Among others, she talked about her involvement in the Centre of New Media and Feminist Public Practices and the Temporary Academy of Arts (PAT), a hybrid of artistic, curatorial and educational practice.
How does one professional claim his/her field of action? For Elpida this is a matter of discursive exchange and position taking.

“Looking back, thinking sideways”
Referring to the milestones of her career, Efrosini Protopapa talked to our Fellows about the relationship between contemporary dance and choreography and other forms of art (such as theater and the visual arts) as well as practical philosophy. Efrosini is a London-based choreographer,scholar and member of our selection committee.

For our mentor’s talk, this week we invited Stergiani Tsintziloni, dance curator, researcher, theorist and member of our selection committee, to discuss  her vast experience in the field of dance. Stergiani talked about the notion of being a network extender (versus a networker) and her vision to contribute as such in the development of dance practices in Greece. Thanks everyone for attending and engaging in such a fruitful discussion with Steriani.

Sotirios Bahtsetzis – curator of contemporary art, critic and Assistant Professor of modern and contemporary art history at Deree The American College of Greece and the Hellenic Open University and ARTWORKS selection committee member, shared with our new cohort of fellows his curatorial experience. Among others, he underlined the importance of cultivating a nurturing relationship with the artists and talked about his methodology when taking on a new project. He presented various curatorial projected he has worked on, such as Drawing Screen (2006), Open Plan Art-Athina, (2007), Women Only (2008), Paint-id: Contemporary Painting in Greece (2009) , Homemade Exotica (2019).

http://sotiriosbahtsetzis.blogspot.com/

Ιn response to the Covid-19 healthcare crisis which has greatly affected arts and cultural workers, ARTWORKS with the support of its founding donor, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF), decided to 10 additional fellowship awards. The prizes will be awarded to the artists and curators who have been selected as runners-up for the 3rd Stavros Niarchos Foundation Artist Fellowship Program.

Listed below the names of  the 90 awardees (SNF ARTWORKS Fellows 2020):

Three young visual artists, all of them Fellows of the 1st SNF Artist Fellowship Program, spent some days (July 13-19) at the village of Vamvakou, within the Artist Residence Program organized by Vamvakou Revival. Iasonas Megoulas (aka Cacao Rocks), Alexandros Simopoulos and Pavlos Tsakonas, studied the history of the village and created three murals, potentially landmarks, opening a discussion on the use of the public space and its relationship to nature and art.

The Artist Residency Program was organised by Vamvakou Revival within the initiative of the Revival of the village thanks to the support of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF).

Joining forces, our curatorial fellows Eva Vaslamatzi, Danai Giannoglou, Christina Petkopoulou, Mare Spanoudaki and Maya Tounda, organized a roundtable discussion to present their individual practices via Zoom. The presentations were followed by Q&A leading to a fruitful discussion about what it means to be working as a young curator in Greece.

State of Concept presents the works of artist, Tuan Andrew Nguyen, in a series of screenings as part of the chapter State Affairs. “State Affairs” is dedicated to artists that work mainly with video, and presents artistic practices that focus on thematics that are being narrated gradually through several artworks and a longer timespan and are distinguished for their interest in shedding light in historical conditions and how they affect contemporaneity. The program aims to address directly current affairs, predicaments, problematics, and cul-de-sacs of contemporary living, by summoning the past.

Tuan Andrew Nguyen’s work explores the power of storytelling through sculpture and video. His projects involve months of research-based work, and often include the involvement of communities and groups of citizens, focusing on the History we inherit, and on memory. Nguyen draws on and works with dominant – and often colonial – histories, but also surrealist narratives that he turns into image-sequences. Facts and fiction intertwine poetic narratives that permeate time and place. He is a member of “The Propeller Group”, one of Vietnam’s oldest and most important art groups.

His latest work, “The Boat People” (2020, duration 19 ‘), which is currently being screened at MOMA in New York, is set in an unspecified post-apocalyptic future at the precarious edge of humanity’s possible extinction. The film follows a band of children led by a strong-willed and resourceful little girl. They travel the seas and collect the stories of a world they never knew through objects that survived over time. The film “The Island” (2017, duration 42 ‘), is shot entirely on Pulau Bidong, an island off the coast of Malaysia that became the largest and longest-operating refugee camp after the Vietnam War. The artist and his family were some of the 250,000 people who inhabited the tiny island between 1978 and 1991; it was once one of the most densely populated places in the world until the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees shuttered the camp in 1991. The third film is a collective production of the Propeller Group entitles The Living Need Light, The Dead Need Music (2014,duration24’) a film merges documentary footage of actual funeral processions with stunning re-enactments discussing funeral traditions in Southern Vietnam.

On Friday July 3rd, we held our last curator’s talk for the 2nd SNF Artist Fellowship Program with Charis Kanellopoulou, art historian, curator, writer and member of our selection committee. Charis presented several of her curatorial projects addressing core elements of her practice while referring to her interest and experience on archives, private collections, institutions, commissions for the public space and the close collaboration with artists.