The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation supported the educational programme “School Cinema Clubs”  produced by Anemon Productions. The programme offered 16 films free of charge, which included documentaries, children’s fiction films and short films from October 2021 to April 2022.  At the same time, 8 online meetings were held with teachers and educators where they developed educational material for 10 films. During the programme, the children participated in workshops and were given the opportunity to come closer to the art of cinema. After the screenings, students were also encouraged to implement actions inspired by the films, such as the creation of an herb garden, a composting bin or recycling bins.

 

 

 

 

 

“School Cinema Clubs” is a network of school cinema clubs throughout Greece that aims to provide children and teachers with access to independent European cinema, and foster a range of discussions, from culture and history to environmental and social issues.  So far, 30 schools from all over Greece, totaling 1,614 children from ages 8-18, have participated in the programme. Certain school screenings provide SDH subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing people.

 

Applications for  projects that have been scheduled for the year to come, except for January, must be submitted from the 1^st to the 15^th of June 2022, exclusively to the email address applications@costopoulosfoundation.org.

 

The 2022 San Francisco Greek Film Festival (SFGFF) wrapped its 19th annual event, held April 8^th through 16^th, returning to in person showings at Delancey Screening Room in San Francisco, as well as continuing popular virtual screenings. The in person Festival screened 17 short films and 9 full feature films, and the virtual component featured 12 shorts, 10 documentaries, and 3 full feature films – all by Greek and Cypriot filmmakers. All films were suitable for American audiences, with English subtitles. The Festival team selected these works from over 350 film submissions that were received this year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The San Francisco Greek Film Festival is the first and longest-running Greek film festival in the U.S. and is dedicated to recognising, supporting, and promoting the best film work by Greek and Cypriot filmmakers from around the world. The Festival was supported by The J.F. Costopoulos Foundation.

 

The President of the Hellenic Republic Madame Katerina Sakellaropoulou, during her visit to Kalamata to attend the celebrations marking the liberation of the city, visited on 23 March 2022 the nursery – kindergarten “Yiayia’s Garden” established in 1994 and operating ever since thanks to grants from the Efstathia J. Costopoulos Foundation. During her visit, the President was briefed by the President of the Board of Trustees of the Foundation, Mr. Spyros Filaretos, on the scope and activities of this pilot establishment catering for children from families facing economic and/or social difficulties. Over the years approximately 1,000 children have attended “Yiayia’s Garden’s” schooling and benefited from its free of charge tuition.

The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation supports this nursery – kindergarten since its establishment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Orfeas Peretzis’ new essay-doc “IODINE: Greece on the Ruins of Missolonghi” will premiere this March at the 24th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival International Competition FILM FORWARD Section. Inspired by Delacroix’s painting “Greece on the Ruins of Missolonghi”, the filmmaker visits this lagoon-bound town. He records his thoughts, the daily life of the youths, he converses with local artists and poets in search of a connection between the painting and contemporary Missolonghi.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The film was produced by StudioBauhaus  with the support of The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation.

The opera “Androniki” by Corfiot composer Alexander Greck was performed in concert on Sunday 30 January 2022 at the Olympia Municipal Musical Theatre, “Maria Callas” Hall, by an ensemble of eminent soloists along with the Symphony Orchestra and Choir of the Municipality of Athens and the Young Musicians Choir of the Athens Conservatoire.

A manuscript piano score of this important work, until now considered lost, was recently discovered in the archives of the Athens Conservatoire, and re-orchestrated by composer and conductor Nikos Athineos, who directed the performance.

This revival of “Androniki” more than one century after its composition was supported by the J.F. Costopoulos Foundation within the context of the Initiative 1821-2021.

The section Live Talks included the annual talk of the Educational Programme of the Hellenic Art Galleries Association and The J.F. Costopoulos Foundation, conducted in collaboration with Athens School of Fine Arts, and directed by Daphne Politi. For a fourth consecutive year, the program introduced 140 students from the Fine Arts and Art History Departments to visual artists and theoreticians, aiming to inform, inspire, and prepare them for their introduction to the art world.

The theme was: (Re)Building the Future, with speakers: Stamatia Dimitrakopoulos, Artistic Director of Art Athina, Nikos Tranos, Artist, Dean of Athens School of Fine Art, Meni Strongyli, Representative of The J.F. Costopoulos Foundation, Daphne Zoumboulakis, Director of Zoumboulakis Galleries, Dimitrios Antonitsis, Artist, Curator of Hydra School Project, Manolis Daskalakis-Lemos, Artist, Students from A.S.F.A. The discussion was moderated by Daphne Politi Head of the Educational Programme 2020/2021.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The exhibition “Ancient Greeks: Science and Wisdom”, organised by the Science Museum with the support, among others, of The J.F. Costopoulos Foundation, takes visitors on an odyssey through time to explore how the ancient Greeks questioned, contemplated and debated the natural world.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Moreover, the exhibition gives visitors a unique opportunity to view rare and remarkable objects, most of which have never been seen before in the UK, and discover the latest scientific research into this ancient civilisation, revealing how curiosity and investigation were central to the ancient Greek understanding of the universe, as they are for scientists today.

The exhibition features international loans from renowned institutions including the National Archaeological Museum in Athens; Benaki Museum of Greek Culture; Musée du Louvre in Paris; Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna; the Nicolas and Alexis Kugel Collection; The Reiss Engelhorn Museum in Germany; Kunstsammlungen Antike der Ruhr-Universität Bochum; and the Reading Museum.

Ancient Greeks: Science and Wisdom and the accompanying events series form part of the 21 in 21 initiative, the UK-Greece cultural programme marking the bicentenary of Greek Independence. The exhibition runs from 17 November 2021 to 5 June 2022.

The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation, on the occasion of its 40th anniversary, instituted in 2019 The J.F. Costopoulos Foundation Award awarded, upon the recommendation of a special three-member panel, to a Greek film in the context of the Thessaloniki Film Festival.

The jury for the Foundation’s 2021 award was comprised of Angeliki Antoniou, filmmaker; Rea Apostolides, producer; and George Frentzos, cinematographer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

“The award is bestowed ex aequo to two films that unveil unknown worlds of fellow citizens whom we overlook or avoid, even though they live next to us.

Araceli Lemos in Holy Emy, with a lucid glance, introduces us to an unseen part of Greek reality. The female protagonist is growing up with her sister in the Filipino community of Piraeus, in the borderline between reality and imagination, in a world that we choose to overlook or avoid, even though it’s standing right next to us. An original film, short with directorial dexterity and strength, casting a realistic and insightful look, along with a heart – wrenching approach towards its protagonists and their feelings.

Vassilis Douvlis, in 18, invites us to the crisis-stricken Athens and the lives of a group of high school students. With tension and realism, the director guides us into the heart of school bullying and the incontrollable violence, as its protagonists are introduced to the real face of fascism and are called to take a stand. An up-to-date, rough and tender at once portrait of today’s 18-year-olds, but also of contemporary Greek reality.”

 

“Stavros Costopoulos” Research Fellowship was created in 2007 with support of Τhe J. F. Costopoulos Foundation. Through its establishment, ELIAMEP sought to upgrade its research on traditional foreign policy issues, such as the European integration, Greek-Turkish relations, developments in the Middle East and the Balkans or transatlantic relation. At the same time, this new post furthered ELIAMEP’s efforts to create a supportive environment for the development of Greece’s research potential.

During the academic year 2020 – 2021 the fellowship was held by Dr. Dimitris Katsikas. For detailed information regarding the activities and the scientific production of the fellow click here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The choreographer Elisavet Pliakostathi presents her work SWELL at the Piraeus  Municipal Theatre (Scene Oh) from September 18 to 20, as part of the intercultural platform of actions PIRAEUS ARTPORT, and with the kind support of the J. F. Costopooulos Foundation and the Artistic Network for Performing Arts Kinitiras. SWELL is produced by the non-profit company BelleVille and performed by Anthi Theofilidi and Evgenia Sigalou.

In June 2021, the new archaeological guide “The Olympieion and the other sanctuaries – Strolling along the banks of ancient Ilissos” of the Society of Friends of the Acropolis, was published, in Greek and English, with the support of the J. F. Costopoulos Foundation. The publication has been drafted by the archaeologists from the Ephorate of Antiquities of the city of Athens.

The new archaeological guide includes a detailed description of the “Olympieion” and the sanctuaries along the Illissos’ river. It is the 8^th addition in the S.F.A.’s publication series, under the title “Archaeological promenades around the Acropolis”. The other archaeological guides are as follows:  “Acropolis and Museum”, “South Slope of the Acropolis”, “North, East and West Slopes of the Acropolis”, “Ancient Agora of Athens – Areopagus Hill”, “Museum of Ancient Agora of Athens”, “Roman Agora – Library of Hadrian”, “Hills of Philopappos – Pnyx – Nymphs” and “The Olympieion and the other sanctuaries – Strolling along the banks of ancient Ilissos”.

 

“Welcome to the 11th International Contemporary Dance Festival Dance Days Chania!

For all of us, the people of DDC, the realization of its 11th edition was more than a “persistent” venture.

The pausing of culture and consequently the reduction in the quality of our life, is a nightmarish scenario for us. Art is not a luxury, but an imperative need for a healthy, creative, human, imaginative life; the only way to manage the crisis.

DDC is present both intrinsically and extrinsically! It lives through its volunteers and invests in co-creation, artistic exchanges and collaboration. The goal of this year’s program is to keep the embodied memory and the physical intelligence active.
Performances, workshops, Video Dance, new creators in the city, discussions and events.

With its “inquiring” gaze, Dance Days Chania insists, proposes, remains vigilant and aims to empower the artistic landscape and the notion of communities through art.
We wholeheartedly thank wwall the artists who inspired us with their proposals and who, despite the difficulties of the times, travel to our city to present their works. Thanks to everyone who worked and supported DDC… to all of you who believe in dreams!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

11^th International Contemporary Dance Festival “Dance Days Chania” | 18.07 – 01.08.2021

In order to keep the embodied memory active, for the 11th edition of Dance Days Chania we have designed and proposed a program of performances and workshops dedicated to the intelligence of movement.

Our proposals for this year’s program invest in the search for authenticity, intimacy, physicality. To the person, dancer, student, artist, who dares to dream, to be awake and present. To the ones who do not consider art a luxury, but an imperative need for a healthy, imaginative life; the only way to manage the crisis.

The planning of this year’s event includes 12 performances, 9 workshops, “New Creators in the City” section, a 2-day Video Dance tribute, discussions and other events in the city. The 11th Dance Days Chania will be realized from 18.07 to 01.08.2021 taking for another year all the necessary measures to protect a safe event, interactive and participatory.

Video

Dance Days Chania is organized by Syn-Kinisi Association of Expressive Dance with volunteer work of its members since 2011. The 11th Dance Days Chania festival is co-organized by the Region of Crete, the Municipality of Chania – KEPPEDICH-CMA, and funded by the Ministry of Culture. It receives the kind support of The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation, the Italian Institute in Athens, the Embassy of Austria in Athens and the Cultural Services of the Cyprus Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports. Other collaborators are the Ephorate of Antiquity of Chania and the School Committee of the 6th Secondary school, 4th High school, Evening Secondary school and Evening High school of Chania.

DDC has received the EFFE Label 2017 – 2018 & 2019 -2021 by the European Organization EFA.

 *Visit  https://dancedays.gr/festival/ for more.

Who we are

Sofia Falierou
Artistic program director & festival director

Chryssa Georgiou
Project Manager

Ntiana Kefala
Workshops’ implementation manager

Giannis Lykos- EnaDyo Multimedia
Technical director

Aliki Chiotaki
Video Dance curator

Rodia Vomvolou
Mentor/ Dramaturgical advice – :New creators in the city” section

George Anastasakis- SOUTH Space for photography
Photographer

Platon Yiannakakis
Videographer

Gevi Dimitrakopoulou
Video Edit – Promo video

Johnes Vgontzas
Graphic design

Supporting team
Effie Kaloutsis, Ioulia Zacharaki, Marikita Lyroni, Gogo Katsanevaki, Matina Kyriakaki, Nikolas Chatzivasileiadis, Myrto Pliakou, Freda Antypa, Carmen Antoniou, Lito Lazaridi, Marianda Michael, Aphrodite Manakou, Natassa Xanthoudaki, Sofia Kasselaki, Loukas Saltaferides, Erofili Kallioutzi, Maria Botonaki, Nick Bowers, Giannis Kalaitzis, Manolis Dramilarakis, Barbara Bardaka, Rinio Apostolopoulou- Papida, Areti Ordoulides, Magda Pateraki, Irini Papageorgiou, Nina Papadoulaki, Miltiades Boutsarakis, Andreas Brokalakis.

The artistic company Labillusionns-Helix Action Theatre presented its new production entitled “Kaspar Machine” on July 9 and 10, in the Multifunctional Park of the Municipality of Keratsini-Drapetsona, in Piraeus. The production, implemented with the support of the J. F. Costopoulos Foundation, was based on texts by the Austrian writer Peter Handke and is the result of a transnational collaboration between Greece, Poland, Italy, and Romania.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The choreographer Iris Karayan presented her new production entitled “A dance as a dance” from June 28 to 30, within the framework of the Athens and Epidaurus Festival, and with the support of the J. F. Costopoulos Foundation.

Working with archival material that studies the movement vocabulary and dances of different cultures, Karayan explores the body, its pulses and breaths, creating a performance that focuses on dancing.

 

For the last twelve years MIRfestival takes place in Athens highlighting artists and their project in invisible and unexpected areas of the city. The festival was successfully held this year, with the support of the J. F. Costopoulos Foundation, from June 28 to July 4 in open places, such as the National Observatory Garden on the Nymph Hill. The nine presented works were selected by the Artistic Director Christiana Galanopoulou and involved common themes: freedom, its reclaim, utopia and all those that link them to what we lost due to the Covid-19 pandemic and to what will be born.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The interactive exhibit «Riga’s Chart» was realised thanks to the support of the J. F. Costopoulos Foundation. It was created with aim to show and explain the rich and polysemous context of the Chart of Greece. It was developed by The Institute of Computer Science (ICS) of the Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas (FORTH), with the scientific advising of the coworkers of the National Historical  Museum.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The exhibit is included in the two axes of the anniversary programme «Revolution 21: Reframed» curated by the National Historical Museum, to celebrate 200 years from the beginning of the Greek Revolution:

A) in the main anniversary exhibition at the home of the museum, at the Old Parliament House. The exhibition was officially presented on May 18, 2021, on International Museum Day to the President of the Republic and to a few, due to the prohibitions required by the Covid-19 pandemic, distinguished guests, among whom the President of Foundation’s Board of Trustees, Demetrios P. Mantzounis. The National Historical Museum has been chosen by the ICOM Hellenic National Committee as the honorary museum of 2021. The exhibition will run until June 2022. Afterwards, it will be incorporated into the Museum’s permanent exhibition.

B) in the exhibitions taking place in the following regional cities:

– Nafplion: National Gallery – Nafplion Annex: The inauguration took place on May 22, 2021. The exhibition will run until June 2022. Afterwards, the installation will remain there.

–Thessaloniki: Teloglion Foundation of Art, A.U.TH: The exhibition inauguration took place on May 22, 2021. The exhibition will run until September 2021.

–Chania: Maritime Museum of Crete: The exhibition was inaugurated on June 5, 2021. The exhibition will run until September 2021.

–Larissa: Historical and Ethnological Museum: The inauguration has been scheduled for June 17, 2021. The exhibition will run until September 2021.

–Messolonghi: The Messolonghi Byron Society: The inauguration has been scheduled for June 27, 2021. The exhibition will run until June 2022. Afterwards, the installation will remain there.

–Veria: Public Benefit Enterprise for Multiple Development of the Municipality of Veria. The inauguration will take place during September 2021.

The seventh meeting of the educational programme of the Hellenic Art Galleries Association and The J.F. Costopoulos Foundation within the framework of Art Athina 2021, coordinated by Daphne Politi, was hosted online and included Rebecca Camhi, Director of Rebecca Camhi Gallery. Rebecca Camhi spoke to the students about the concepts of pausing and retrospection, every few years, as methods of evaluating decisions, as well as the importance of developing good knowledge of art history, referring to knowledge as a bridge to decoding works of art.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The sixth meeting of the educational programme of the Hellenic Art Galleries Association and The J.F. Costopoulos Foundation within the framework of Art Athina, coordinated by Daphne Politi, was hosted online and included artist Yiannis Adamakos and Tatiana Spinari-Pollali, Director of Citronne Galleries.

 

 

 

 

 

Yiannis Adamakos spoke about the essence of harmony in artistic work, noting that it is something that needs to permeate someone’s entire art practice, and emphasising that in his own artistic path the one thematic group of works always continued into the next and conversed with it.

 

 

 

 

 

Tatiana Spinari-Pollali discussed the curatorial approach she follows for the gallery’s exhibition programme, stemming from her academic background as an art historian, while she also talked about the gallery’s role in mentoring artists, in promoting their artworks effectively and finally in providing for the right documentation of artists’ exhibitions through catalogues.

The fifth meeting of the educational programmme of the Hellenic Art Galleries Association and The J.F. Costopoulos Foundation within the framework of Art Athina, coordinated by Daphne Politi, was hosted online and included artist Tina Karageorgi and Yannis Kalligas, Director of Skoufa Gallery.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tina Karageorgi spoke about the importance of artists having good knowledge of their materials and different installation methods to present a good outcome, as well as thinking deeply about the curatorial approach and interpretation of an exhibition. Yannis Kalligas discussed the gallery’s extensive exhibition programme, the favorable climate that is created by the gallery’s collaborations through thematic exhibitions, the dynamics of diverse audiences, as well as the important role of a strong curatorial text in the presentation of an artwork.

The fourth meeting of the educational programmme of the Hellenic Art Galleries Association and The J.F. Costopoulos Foundation within the framework of Art Athina, coordinated by Daphne Politi, was hosted online and included artist Babis Karalis, George Georgakopoulos, Founder of Cheapart and Fotini Kapiris, Head of Communications of Cheapart. Babis Karalis spoke about the process of developing the concept as well as the implementation of the project, while also advising the students to undertake the task of creating their own website from early on, demonstrating and presupposing to others organised and methodical way of thinking. George Georgakopoulos discussed Cheapart as an organisation designed by artists for artists and the different synergies and initiatives that aspire to its longevity. Finally, Fotini Kapiris emphasized the importance of good visual communication and successful promotion of the artistic programmme by means accessible through new media.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The third meeting of the educational programme of the Hellenic Art Galleries Association and The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation within the framework of Art Athina, coordinated by Daphne Politi, was hosted online and included artist Achilleas Papacostas and Daphne Zoumboulakis, Director, Zoumboulakis Galleries. Achilleas Papacostas advised the students to work with extroversion and not be afraid to approach artists who are more experienced, in order to open a dialogue about their artistic practice. Daphne Zoumboulakis spoke about the long tradition of the Zoumboulakis Galleries, which she is leading as the third generation, as well as her open approach to new ideas, collaborators and proposals, something that has contributed to the gallery’s programme to remain interesting and current.

 

 

 

 

 

The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation wishes you a Happy Easter!

The drawing is a gift from the Kindergarden and Nursery School
“Yiayia’s Garden” in Kalamata

The second meeting of the educational program of the Hellenic Art Galleries Association and The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation within the framework of Art Athina, coordinated by Daphne Politi, was hosted online and included Atalanti Martinou, founder of non-profit art residency space Arch Athens. Atalanti Martinou spoke about the close relationship that develops with the artists that undertake the residency, as well as the support that is provided for the advancement of their art practice. Additionally, she discussed the need for the creation of new communication channels between Athens School of Fine Arts and independent art spaces of Athens, encouraging students to visit them whenever possible.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Based on the unsurpassed cartographic feat by E. Curtius and A. Kaupert, this project of the Dipylon Society aims at the creation of a webGIS platform for the archaeology of Attica by overlaying multiple layers of geospatial data (cartographic evidence, historical maps, excavation plans, and aerial photographs) on a unified digital map. The content of the platform will be bilingual (English-Greek) and open source.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The two German intellectuals depicted with astonishing accuracy in 26 cartographic sheets the land of Attica and the antiquities that were visible at the end of the 19th century. It took almost 20 years to complete this monumental project entitled Karten von Attika . With the use of state-of-the-art technology, the cartographic sheets will be georeferenced and merged, and all markings (ancient and modern remains) will be digitized. Cartographic data will be entered into a database to facilitate search.

 

 

 

 

 

The translation of the accompanying text, Erläuternder Text zu den Karten von Attika by A.Milchhöfer, E.Curtius and G. Von Alten, falls under the scope of the project. The text is 230 pages long and is extremely rich in information and details on the Attic landscape and the depicted antiquities. Extracts from the text will be connected with specific locations on the map and with selected visual resources.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The project is being implemented with the generous support of the John S. Latsis Public Benefit Foundation, the George Vergottis Memorial Fund and the J. F. Costopoulos Foundation.

 

Educational Programme for the students of Athens School of Fine Arts

27.3.2021 – Jannis Varelas / Alkistis Tsambouraki, The Breeder

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first meeting of the educational program of the Hellenic Art Galleries Association and The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation within the framework of Art Athina, coordinated by curator Daphne Politi, was hosted online and included leading Greek artist Jannis Varelas and Alkistis Tsambouraki, Associate Director, Exhibitions & Special Projects, The Breeder, Athens. Jannis Varelas spoke about the essense of teamwork and common experiences between artists for the development of the contemporary art scene. Alkistis Tsambouraki spoke about the innovative course of The Breeder in Greece and abroad, as well as the importance of consistency between the aesthetics of an artwork and the message.

 

Press Release

DIADROMES-1821

50 minus two stories about the Peloponnese inspired by the Greek War of  Independence

A free app for locals, travellers and history buffs available below >>

 

Appstore https://apps.apple.com/app/id1558654792

PlayStore https://play.google.com/store/apps/details…

Webpage : www.diadromes1821.org

Podcast : https://www.buzzsprout.com/1736290

Instagram: @diadromes21

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Greek War of Independence is inextricably linked to the land of the Peloponnese.

That is not surprising if we look back at all the events that took place on its mountains, cities and shores. How many of those numerous events are we actually familiar with? How many of their aspects have we been taught?

Those are only two of the questions at the root of DIADROMES-1821, a new, free application, which aims to point out landmarks in the Peloponnese, bearing a considerable role during the War of Independence.

Original and respectful, this application is the latest addition to the celebrations of the 200 years from the Greek War of Independence, with the kind support of the J.F. Costopoulos Foundation.

Through the brief and concise audio clips, the goal of the application to reach out to an audience beyond history buffs and ideally be a tool in the hands of teachers, helping them make teaching history more appealing by pointing out its connection to the land.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The team behind the application

Christina Katsiadakis and Effie Skrobolas, the creative team behind DIADROMES-1821 have years of experience in the field of cinema. In 2017 they founded the production company Mitos Productions, based in Canada. Their ambition is to produce original works which will act as artistic bridges between the two countries.

Bio Christina Katsiadakis

Christina Katsiadakis was born in Athens and moved to Montreal in 2012. She holds a BA in History from the University of Athens and an MA in Film from Goldsmiths College, University of London. After her graduation, she began her career in film and TV production and collaborated on many productions, both Greek and international. She has written and directed 3 short films.

Βio Effie Skrobolas

Following the completion of her studies in Communication Studies at the University of Athens, she travelled to Canada to pursue an MA in Film Studies at the Université deMontréal. In 2005 she started her professional career in film next to producer Costas Lampropoulos. She is currently overseeing the development of all projects for View Master Films. She has completed the Maia Workshop Training Programme and the Sources 2 Projects and Process-Training the Mentors workshop.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With the kind support of

 

 

 

 

CREATIVE TEAM

Concept Development 

Christina Katsiadakis

Effie Skrobolas

Executive Producers 

Mitos Productions

ViewMaster Films

Application Design 

Simple Apps

Narration

Maria Georgiadou

Stephanos Kosmidis

Research-Texts

Sakis Demetriadis

Aggeliki Kotsovolou

Spyros Loumakis

Vangelis Sarafis

Artistic Design 

Mavra Gidia

Sound Mixing Services Sponsors

Costas Varimpopiotis

Sound Studio 

Sierra Studios

Legal Services Sponsor

Ioannis Mpilalis

Communication Services Sponsor

Evangelia Skrobolas

Transition | Enter Communities of Body
International Community Dance Residency
In the Flesh| Distant |Digital

Athens Berlin London Bukavu Paris Online

 

Transition ECB – The Film (GR/DE/FR/DRC, 96΄)

Tuesday 16/3, 20:30 UTC+2

www.kinitiras.com/transitionecb

Transition | Enter Communities of Body, International Community Dance Residency, is an original idea and a collaboration of Kinitiras, Artistic Network for Performing Arts, with the Goethe-Institut Athen, the French Institute of Greece and Flux Laboratory Athens, with the support of the Franco-German Cultural Fund and the kind support, for the realization of part of the residency, of the J.F Costopoulos Foundation and the French Institute of Bukavu (DR Congo).

Dance artists Blaise Mangitukulu from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Emilie Vaudou from France, Marilena Sitaropoulou from Greece and Patricia Woltmann from Germany worked with their communities from 11/16 to 20/20/20 online, remotely and in the flesh and cooperated from their current place of residence and work, Bukavu, Paris, Athens, London and Berlin respectively.

They created 4 works in progress and 4 workshops. Their main pillars were Community Dance, the concepts of Community, Transition, Euro-African Exchange and the use of widely spread digital media in artistic research and creation.

Transition ECB – The Film features short excerpts from the workshops, the complete works in progress and photographic snapshots of their journey as well as the online presentation and discussion with the audience.

“This is a sharing. A sharing of a precious period of time of connection. 46 people, 2 continents, 5 countries, online participants and their communities. In the flesh, from a distance, using widely spread digital media. A small community connecting through dance no matter what. A whole bunch of communities dancing towards change.

Community dance for us is dance for the community, from the community, with the community, a physical exploration and demonstration of democracy. An artists’ residency for us is not about the results. It is about this connection and exploration. Employing widely spread digital media was rather a provocative take on what that means, rather than a demonstration of how to do an international community dance residency amid a pandemic.

Originality was never our concern. The tenderness of the communities connected through the body, will always be.

On www.kinitiras.com/transitionecb you can find detailed information on the works, the contributors, the process, but also the video of the Works in Progress + Meet the Artists event which took place on 12/18/2020, a moving meeting after months of work in the midst of a pandemic.

The communities dance and change the world. We welcome all the bodies and we do not forget to dance,” notes Christos Polymenakos, artistic director of the program, on the occasion of the film’s online premiere.

 

Works in progress:

Kivuvu (Hope) By Blaise Mangitukulu(DRC). A dance that combines the Congolese tradition with modern European trends, speaking about hope that never gets lost, not even in the most difficult conditions.

WithOut By Emilie Vaudou (FR). The journey of a foreigner who gives her name to a continent and people who become fish.

dislocated angle By Patricia Woltmann (DE). The investigation of the passage into the space of the unknown using the body as a tool.

SANGO – A dance documentary By Marilena Sitaropoulou(GR) A dance documentary about the online collaboration and verbal and dance communication between two dancers from Europe and Africa.

For more information on the works in progress click here

 

Workshops for the public:

QUI ÊTES VOUS (Who are you) By Blaise Mangitukulu,
The hope that is not lost even in the most difficult conditions.

Voulez-vous bien m’accorder cette danse ? (Will you grant me this dance?) By Emilie Vaudou,
An unpredictable online party.

SANGO: The God of Thunder, under the guidance of Marilena Sitaropoulou and the collaboration in teaching of Korina Kokkali and Jessica Onyunyechi Anosike.
Dance with one foot in Europe and the other in Africa.

dislocated angle By Patricia Woltmann,                                                                        
The body as a tool for investigating the condition of transition.

More information on the workshops for the public here.

The film Transition ECB – The Film will premiere online on Tuesday, March 16 at 8:30 p.m. and will be accessible from the microsite www.kinitiras.com/transitionecb.

Transition|Enter Communities of Body
International Community Danse Residency

Transition ECB – The Film, Free Online Broadcasting, Tuesday 16/3, 20:30

 

For more information: www.kinitiras.com/transitionecb

Facebook: www.facebook.com/transitionECB

Instagram: @transition_ecb

Photos: https://bit.ly/3gG2roy

The Lighthouse for the Blind in Greece added, with the support of The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation, 41 new literary books to the Lending Library of Talking Books for children and adolescents.

Thus, the Lighthouse for the Blind in Greece contributed significantly to the effort for equal access of this age group of visual impaired persons in the country to Greek and foreign literature and consequently to knowledge, education, leisure and culture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Transition | Enter Communities of Body
International Community Dance Residency
In the Flesh | Distant | Digital

Athens  Berlin  London Bukavu  Paris  Online
 

Free Community  Dance Workshops 28-30/11

Works in Progress & Meet the Artists – Free Online Presentation 18/12

www.kinitiras.com/transitionecb

The International Community Dance Residency, Transition | Enter Communities of Body is a collaboration of European and African dance artists, which takes place from 16 November to 18 December in the flesh, from a distance and digitally, and involves the creation of Community Dance workshops and creations based on the concepts of Community, Transition and Euro-African Exchange. A collaboration of Kinitiras – Artistic Network for Performing Arts, Goethe-Institut Athen and the French Institute of Greece with Flux Laboratory Athens, with the support of the Franco-German Cultural Fund and the kind support, for the realisation of part of the project, of the J.F. Costopoulos Foundation and the French Institute of Bukavu (Congo).

Blaise Mangitukulu from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Emilie Vaudou from France, Marilena Sitaropoulou from Greece and Patricia Woltmann from Germany are the dance artists collaborating in the frame of Community Dance, Transition | Enter Communities of Body in the flesh, from a distance and digitally from the place where they currently live, Bukavu, Paris, Athens and Berlin respectively.The artists were selected in February 2020 by an international committee consisting of Antigone Gyra, artistic director of Kinitiras, who also had the original idea for this residency, Steriani Tsintziloni, PhD dance scholar-curator, Christos Polymenakos, creator-researcher-educator, Muriel Piquet Viaux, cultural attaché of the French Embassy in Greece, Dr. Stefanie Peter, Head of Cultural Programs of Goethe-Institut Athen, Iris Asimakopoulou, from the cultural department of Goethe-Institut Athen and Dimitra Michou, from the cultural department of the French Institute of Greece. After the cancellation of the live meeting in Athens in March 2020 due to the pandemic, six months of intensive exchange of challenges, dead ends and sources of inspiration, keeping a close eye to what is happening internationaly. Now a new, bolder version has come to life, Transition | Enter Communities of Body.

Always adhering to local and international health and safety rules, the artists listen, express and include their communities in their workshops and creations, sharing their workshops and creative process locally and online.

On November 16th and 17th, experts in the arts and sciences offered the artists workshops to use as reference points for their work during the Residency. These workshops were on community dance (Antigone Gyra), psychology amid the pandemic and the impact of the intensive use of digital media (Alexandra Vassiliou & Vera Lardi), dance in relation to digital media (Dr. Katerina El Raheb), the prospects of collective management of copyright in the Greek dance community (Angeliki Kanellopoulou and Ioanna Christoforou-Livani), verbal communication of choreographic research and creation, emplying the body/word method (Christos Polymenakos) and constractive feedback.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From November 28 to 30, Blaise Mangitukulu will lead a free workshop for professional and amateur dancers in remote Bukavu areas with no internet access, on the transition from traditional to modern dance expression and the hope that is not lost, even amidst the most difficult conditions. On November 30, three more free Community Dance workshops will be available online, for participants from around the world: an unpredictable online feast by Emilie Vaudou, the body as a tool to explore transition, under the guidance of Patricia Woltmann, dancing with one leg in Europe and the other in Africa by Marilena Sitaropoulou, in collaboration with Korina Kokkali and Jessica Anosik.

The four works in progress created by the artists during Transition | Enter Communities of Body will be presented online on December 18^th. The discussion with the artists will be broadcasted online, offering  the public the possibility to participate.

The communities of the body are all of us. We do not give up. We keep dancing. Will you come and dance with us?

                                                                           ***

“In times like these, communities are clearly the source of hope, vision, faith and empowerment. People all around the world are facing tremendous social, ecological, political and financial challenges highly intensified by the pandemic. Kinitiras will always turn to the people and their communities and ask them for ways to express, embrace and make the most of this Transition, employing the body as global common denominator. An ideal collaborative task for Dance Artists from Africa and Europe”

Antigone Gyra, Founder and Artistic Director of Kinitiras

“There is this inescapable gut feeling, which would -paraphrasing Pina Bausch’s famous quote- say something like “Dance! Dance, for we are being born again!” We are not after originality or the demonstration of power against all odds. There is a tenderness in the body and the communities, a distinct quality that promotes inspiration, creates new realities, secures results and is effective as necessary in times like this. Cooperating and sharing resources is the sustainable way to move on.”

Christos Polymenakos, Artistic Director of Transition | Enter Communities of Body

 

Free Community Dance Workshops (In Detail)
28 to 30 November

 

QUI ÊTES VOUS (Who are you?)

With Blaise Mangitukulu, dancer–choreographer, performer and actor.

Saturday 28th – Monday 30th November, 10:00 – 14:00 (UTC +2), Bukavu outskirts

For whom: Ten dancers from the Bukavu outskirts who have difficulty accessing the internet.

Working Language: French and Swahili

Description: The thematic core of the workshop is the expression of hope, through dance, despite the difficulties we face in life, the atrocities that our mothers, our sisters and we ourselves face every day. The aim of the workshop is to help dancers better understand their identity, their place in a martyred society and to enhance their ability to express themselves through their bodies on the Transition ECB issues: exchange between Europe and Africa, transition, collaboration, use of widely used digital media.

 

Will you grant me this dance?

With Emilie Vaudou, actress– performer – dancer and director, graduate of La Manufacture, Haute École des arts de la scène in Lausanne

Monday 30th November, 11:30 – 13:30 (UTC +2), Kinitiras on Zoom

For whom: People from 10 to 90 years old, regardless of previous dancing experience.

Working Language: French and English

Description: We are going to create a ball, a feast together, from a distance. Each of us will be alone at home and should be well dressed in festive, elegant clothes as if going to a dance. You should prepare 2/3 elements of «setting» which will give the impression of a feast and which must be visible in the frame, as well as 2/3 accessories to help you (for example: a drink, an appetizer, cigarettes etc.) Use your imagination! You also need to prepare a small text (3-5 lines maximum!) which is, for you, «an invitation to dance»: it could be an extract of poetry, a song or a spontaneous invention – you need to know it by heart because you will have to repeat it several times. We will start with the idea that you are waiting for someone to invite you to dance, and then we will move on to the meeting itself. With small movements, daily gestures, which may become personal and collective dances.

Dislocated Angle  

With Patricia Woltmann, choreographer and performer with a Master’s degree in Dance Studies and a Master’s degree from Trinity Laban, London.

Monday 30th November, 18:30 – 20:00 (UTC +2), Kinitiras on Zoom

For whom: 10-20 people with some physical awareness and some dance experience, regardless of the kind of dance.

Working Language: English

Description: Together we will explore the space of transition between the not-knowing and the knowing though the immediate experience of the body. Which transitions are there into future? How do we navigate through transitions, how are there embodied? Together we will investigate movement in the space between the present and the future, its resonance in our surroundings. The workshop begins with a warm-up combined of yoga and somatic approaches. In small movement tasks and improvisations we explore the principles of displacement, shift and relocation. Short compositions will appear. Every participant can find their way into his/her own movement language and enjoy aliveness.

SANGO: God of Thunder

Under the guidance of Marilena Sitaropoulou and the collaboration in teaching of Korina Kokkali and Jessica Onyunyechi Anosike.

Marilena Sitaropoulou is a performer, choreographer/movement director and theatre maker. She holds a Master’s degree MFA Advanced Theatre Practice from The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London and she has completed the BA in Theatre Arts at The American College of Greece.

Korina Kokkali is a dancer, choreographer/movement director and co-founder of the dance-theatre company  JEUDi. She holds an MA in Movement Directing and Teaching from RCSSD with a scholarship from Onassis Foundation. She studied dance in the Higher Professional Dance School Niki Kontaxaki and she has a BA in Theatre Studies from the National Kapodistrian University of Athens.

Jessica Onyinyechi Anosike, is an AFRO fitness Instructor, a dancer and part of the dance team Bantu Dancers, whose choreographies are a mix of African traditional and modern dance steps using rhythms of West African music.

Monday 30th November, 20:30 – 22:00 (UTC +2), Kinitiras on Zoom

For whom: 15-20 people who want to dance with us, regardless of any previous experience or training.

Working Language: Greek, with the possibility for English translation.

Description: In this workshop we are going to explore the two different dance styles the dancers participating in Transition ECB used as their tools for the improvisation. The workshop will be based on my practice and on how I approached the meaning behind the word “Transition -building bridges” which was the basic theme and research question for me in this Residency. Also, the dancers Korina Kokkali and Jessica Anosike are going to speak about their experience and how they approached this project from a dancer’s perspective. Jessica is also going to give a short afro fitness warm-up based on the classes she is teaching at Anasa Cultural Centre.

• The exact times and registration instructions for the workshops, presentations and discussion will be announced on the website www.kinitras.com/transitionecb.

For more information:www.kinitiras.com/transition-ecb-28-30-11-ergastiria-community-dance

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/transitionECB
Instagram: @transition_ecb

 

The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation, on the occasion of its 40th anniversary, instituted in 2019 The J.F. Costopoulos Foundation Award awarded, upon the recommendation of a special three-member panel, to a Greek film in the context of the Thessaloniki Film Festival.

The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation Award, the prize and the accompanying artwork created by the visual artist Daphne Costopoulos, Vice – Chair of the Foundation’s Board of Trustees, was bestowed to the winning film Digger by Georgis Grigorakis, in the framework of the 61^st Thessaloniki Film Festival. The jury for the Foundation’s 2020 award was comprised of Mr Yorgos Frentzos, cinematographer; Ms Eva Stefani filmmaker – Professor at the University of Athens; and Mr Yiannis Zoumboulakis, journalist – film critic​.

Here is the jury’s reasoning: “Starting from a classic story of “bridging relationships” between a single father and his son and with a background of a piece of Greek nature that we rarely see in domestic cinematic fiction, the director Georgis Grigorakis “married” almost spontaneously realism with poetry speaking passionately about the dual substance of nature, not only of human beings but of nature in general. Without ever being carried away by an easy description of habits or pure ecological denouncement, “Digger” also refers to a man’s tireless effort to protect his tormented land. The result is a film with a deep ethnographic vision, seemingly made of mud, twigs and water, although perfect from any technical point of view. Finally, the two ambiguous heroes of the story, are consistently served by excellent performers who in an almost surreal way help the viewer to understand their realism.”

 

 

 

 

 

The nominated films were:

1. All the Pretty Little Horses, by Michalis Konstantatos
2. Amercement, by Fokion Bogris
3. Apples, by Christos Nikou
4. Daniel ’16, by Dimitris Koutsiabasakos
5. Digger, by Georgis Grigorakis
6. Green Sea, by Angeliki Antoniou
7. Gym, by The Boy (Alexandros Voulgaris)
8. Kala Azar, by Janis Rafa
9. Sarmako – A Tale of the North, by Marco Papadopoulos
10. Senior Citizen, by Marinos Kartikkis
11. A Simple Man, by Tassos Gerakinis
12. Sisters Apart, by Daphne Charizani
13. Tailor, by Sonia Liza Kenterman
14. Vasy’s Odyssey, by Vasileios Papatheocharis
15. Who Will Be Eaten, by Elpiniki Voutsa – Retzepopoulou

Greek director Giorgos Georgopoulos’s “Not To Be Unpleasant But We Need To Have A Serious Talk” named “Film of the Festival” at the UK’s Raindance Film Festival, while last year won The J. F.Costopoulos Foundation Award at the 60^th Thessaloniki International Film Festival.

 

 

 

 

 

The film is a dark comedy about a successful businessman and womanizer who must inform all his ex-girlfriends that he is a carrier of a sexually transmitted virus, lethal only for women. The result is a skillfully comic portrayal of the fragility and selfishness of the male ego.

Watch the trailer

The J.F. Costopoulos Foundation, on the occasion of its 40th anniversary, instituted in 2019 The J.F. Costopoulos Foundation Award in the context of the Thessaloniki Film Festival. The prize will be awarded to a film from the Greek program selection, holding its premiere at the Festival. The film should present a comprehensive proposition, promote the art of cinema and demonstrate its affinities with the other forms of art.

The members of this year’s jury are: George Frentzos, cinematographer; Eva Stefani, filmmaker – Professor at the University of Athens; and Yannis Zoumboulakis, journalist – film critic.

The nominated films are:

1. A Simple Man, by Tassos Gerakinis
2. All the Pretty Little Horses, by Michalis Konstantatos
3. Amercement, by Fokion Bogris
4. Apples, by Christos Nikou
5. Daniel ’16, by Dimitris Koutsiabasakos
6. Digger, by Georgis Grigorakis
7. Green Sea, by Angeliki Antoniou
8. Gym, by The Boy (Alexandros Voulgaris)
9. Kala Azar, by Janis Rafa
10. Sarmako – A Tale of the North, by Marco Papadopoulos
11. Senior Citizen, by Marinos Kartikkis
12. Sisters Apart, by Daphne Charizani
13. Tailor, by Sonia Liza Kenterman
14. Vasy’s Odyssey, by Vasileios Papatheocharis
15. Who Will Be Eaten, by Elpiniki Voutsa – Retzepopoulou

The winning film will be announced at the end of the 61^st Thessaloniki International Film Festival, on Monday November 16^th, 2020.

 

Transition | Enter Communities of Body → International Community Dance Residency

In the flesh | Distant | Digital

16/11-20/12/20

Athens  Berlin  Bukavu  Paris  Online

Transition I Enter Communities of Body → International Community Dance Residency  is a collaboration of Kinitiras Artistic Network for Performing Arts, (www.kinitiras.com), the Goethe-Institut Athen (www.goethe.de/ins/gr), the French Institute of Greece(www.ifg.gr) the Flux Laboratory Athens (www.fluxlaboratory.com), realized with the kind support of the Franco-German Cultural Fund.

Part of the residency is realized with the kind support of J.F.Costopoulos Foundation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The invitation

You are cordially invited to participate or simply embark on a physical and digital journey exploring the notions of Community, Transition and Euro-African Exchange through Dance. Blaise, Emilie, Marilena and Patricia will be working in the flesh, from a distance, in their current places of residency, namely Athens, Berlin, Bukavu, London, Paris as well as online. The obvious choice at the beginning of the pandemic outbreak was to cancel the Residency just a few weeks before the Artists would actually meet and work together in Athens late March. And just natural to return to the body and the communities for more hope, vision, faith and empowerment.

Always abiding local and international health and safety regulations, our Artists are sharing their creative processes, receiving your input and feedback, including you in their creations.

Our Artists’ collaborative works in progress will be presented live in their current place of residency and online, so you can get to know them in two different events: a) Transition ECB Vol. I → Live Works in Progress on 29 & 30/11, b) Transition ECB Vol. ΙΙ → Online Broadcasting & Meet the Artists on 19/12.

We genuinely hope that in December will all meet in Athens.

Welcome aboard!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The communities

“In times like these, communities are clearly the source of hope, vision, faith and empowerment. People all around the world are facing tremendous social, ecological, political and financial challenges highly intensified by the pandemic. Kinitiras will do nothing less but turn to the people and their communities and ask them for ways to express, embrace and make the most of this Transition, employing the body as global common denominator. An ideal collaborative task for Dance Artists from Africa and Europe” says Antione Gyra, founder and Artistic Director of Kinitiras Artistic Network for Performing Arts, a prominent Residency host in Athens.

The people 

Blaise Mangitukulu from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Emilie Vaudou from France, Marilena Sitaropoulou from Greece and Patricia Woltmann from Germany are the Dance Artists that will collaborate while working in the flesh, from a distance and online, towards the creation of one or more Community Dance works. They were selected following an international call by a committee consisting of Antigone Gyra, artistic director of Kinitiras, Steriani Tsintziloni, PhD dance scholar-curator, Christos Polymenakos, creator-researcher-educator, Muriel Piquet Viaux, cultural attaché of the French Embassy in Greece, Stefanie Peter, Head of Cultural Programs Southeast Europe, Goethe-Institut Athen, Iris Asimakopoulou, cultural department of Goethe-Institut Athen and Dimitra Michou, cultural department of Institut français de Grèce.

Experts will offer our Artists during the Residency reference points on Community Dance (Antigone Gyra), Psychology amid the pandemic and the intensified use of digital media (Alexandra Vassileiou & Vera Lardi), Dance and Digital Media (Katerina El Raheb), Perspectives of Collective Handling of Royalties in the Greek Dance Community (Angeliki Kanelopoulou & Ioanna Christoforou Livani), Constructive Feeedback and Verbal Communication of Choreographic Research (Christos Polymenakos).

The Residency  

After four months of intense exchange of challenges, dead ends and sources of inspiration, by principle open to endless updating and with a steady focus, a daring new version of the original Residency is put in action.  “There is this inescapable gut feeling, which would -paraphrasing Pina Bausch’s famous quote- say something like Dance! Dance, for we are being born again!” says Christos Polymenakos, long term Kinitiras’ collaborator, appointed as the Residency’s new designer and Artistic Director in May. “We are not after originality or the demonstration of power against all odds. There is a tenderness in the body and the communities, a distinct quality that promotes inspiration, secures results and is effective as necessary in times like this. Cooperating and sharing resources is the sustainable way to move on.”

Transition I Enter Communities of Body → International Community Dance Residency is (re)born.

Eleni Lyra: Market

Varvakios Central Meat Market, Athens

With the kind support of the J. F. Costopoulos Foundation, the solo exhibition of Eleni Lyra entitled Market, curated by Dr. Stratis Pantazis, will take place at the Varvakios Meat Market.

For the artist, the Varvakios Market building functions as a pictorial simulation of the concept of the world market, the place where the drama of man will unfold. Its architecture, with its arcades, high ceilings and domes, combined with its current function, creates to Lyra the same awe and emotional charge as a Baroque cathedral.

Furthermore, taking into consideration the current function and the history of the space and the surrounding area, Lyra creates two site-specific photographic installations with children, which are occupied by intense theatricality, drama and more generally Baroque aesthetics. By adopting elements of the past and by having them “filtered” through contemporary and non-contemporary techniques and means of expression, she manages to touch upon issues of today.

Time, light, sound and smell are important factors that affect both the interpretation and reading of the works and the viewer’s perception. Factors, who in combination with the power and aesthetics of Lyra’s works, transform an ordinary visit to the Varvakios Meat Market into a unique experience for each of us. It becomes an allegorical wandering and a journey into the labyrinth of globalization and money to discover our lost innocence of childhood and in saving our wounded soul.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Official start: Thursday 22 October, 20:00

Duration: 22 October – 10 November 2020

Varvakios Meat Market (Armodiou str. and Aristogitonos str.)

The exhibition is open to the public at all times.

Exhibition pamphlet will be provided at the cafes and restaurants inside the Meat Market.

The exhibition will take place taking into consideration all the required measures for the protection of Public Health so as to avoid the spread of COVID-19.

Varvakios Meat Market, Athens, 2020

In 2001, Eleni Lyra created a photographic, digital collage, installed in a lightbox, with human bodies floating in the main area of ​​the historic building of the Varvakios Central Market and specifically in the fish market.[1] Nineteen years later, she returns with two site-specific photographic installations, at the two arcades with the butcher shops, on the right and left sides of the fish market on Athinas Street, as the issue of the market still concerns her to this day. For the artist the building, which dates back to the 19th century and is based on Ioannis Koumelis’ architectural plans, functions as a pictorial simulation of the concept of the world market, the place where the drama of man will unfold. Its architecture, with its arcades, high ceilings and domes, combined with its current function, creates to Lyra the same awe and emotional charge as a Baroque cathedral.

On the right wing, the viewer comes across a series of photographs entitled Sleeping Children (2001 – 2020). White or colored kid sheets cover body parts of children and at the same time form their background. The texture and the folds of the sheets, together with the bodies are accentuated by light, while others are left in the shadow. This intense contrast of light and shadow, found in the paintings of the Baroque and created with the chiaroscuro technique, increases the dramatic effect of the scene, expressing spiritual radiance and purification. The folds, which draw countless movements in each photograph, create the illusion of continuity and infinity, as again noticed in Baroque art. The position of the children, where some are stretching languorously, ready to surrender to a peaceful sleep, while others are already sleeping deeply in the security of a familiar environment, as it is shown by their clothes and sheets, comes in stark contrast with the market space, as the private element is brutally and unexpectedly abolished by the public and harsh character of the meat market. The sight and smell of the raw meat combined with the subdued lighting of the building’s interior and the photographs installed in high level, like icons, create an overall theatrical, dramatic and spiritual atmosphere, similar to that also found in western Baroque iconography and architecture, with the ulterior motive to entice the viewer /believer into an emotional engagement.

In the second arcade, and specifically on the windows of the two pyramidal domes, Lyra has added images of children. Some look as if they are sitting on a windowsill with their legs daggling over the edge, while others seem to observe the stores and the people in the market. Lyra “pierces” and “breaks” the ceiling by inserting pieces of sky from the fresco The Institution of the Rosary (1737 – 1739) by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1696 – 1770), which adorns the ceiling of the Church of the Jesuits (Gesuati), Santa Maria del Rosario in Venice. The photographs merge with the painting of the great artist, even with his more abstract strokes, and with the sensual evening light and the paradoxical perspective. True to the popular practices of Baroque, Lyra adjusts the image to the specific architectural characteristics of each building. The current photographic installation has been shaped and integrated with the caisson of the arcade, the oblique angle of the roof, the horizontal metal beams and the other architectural elements. Similarly to the Baroque artists and architects, she creates an optical illusion, inviting the viewer to an unforeseen experience of the Varvakios Meat Market, and to conduct a double reading of the scene. The space acquires new dynamics, as the viewer’s eye can go beyond the ceiling and dissolve in the vastness of the sky. Lyra adopts the trompe l’oeil technique of Western art, which undermines reality and deceives the viewer’s eye, implying the paradoxical, the imaginary, the metaphysical and the emotional.

With this “repatriation” of her works at the starting point of their inspiration, Lyra transforms the Varvakios Meat Market into a hub where history meets the present. Its current function and the history of the space and the surrounding area as well as the use of contemporary and non-contemporary elements and techniques are united with the sensibilities and the fresh approach of the artist for the world. The past serves as a powerful stimulus for her artistic expression and existence so as to touch upon issues of today.

Time, sound, light and smell are important factors that affect both the interpretation and reading of the works and the viewer’s perception. During the day, when the Varvakios Central Market is usually overcrowded, the viewer can smell the fresh meat, observe its purchase and feel, in a way, in combination with the photographs, the brutality of our time. And when the night falls and the shops close, the lights and the bright signs go out, the refrigerators and the counters are emptied, the meat and the hooks are hidden, the area is deserted and clean, the market becomes a place of purification, with a sweet calmness spreading around, as that following a storm or a disaster. In both cases, however, a visit is a unique experience for each of us, an allegorical wandering and a journey into the labyrinth of globalization and money so as to discover our lost innocence of childhood and to redeem our wounded soul.

Dr. Stratis Pantazis, curator

[1] For this work she was nominated for the DESTE awards competition.

 

The participation of the visual artist Maria Zervos at The International Studio & Curatorial Program (ISCP), in New York is among the 2020 actions for the promotion of contemporary Greek art supported by The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation.

During her residency at The International Studio & Curatorial Program (ISCP), Maria Zervos is showing to the public her video piece entitled “My Half of the Sky, My Half of the Earth”. The video combines elements from the moving image and performance with those of lyric poetry and ancient myth to create a singular vision, both playful and structural. She develops a world that mirrors our own vision where nature and culture, poetry and image can coexist alongside commentary on present social and political issues.

In addition, Maria Zervos is participating in the Summer Open Studios at The International Studio & Curatorial Program (ISCP), 2020, in New York. Amidst the pandemic, the presentation will happen online on Zoom, on August 25, 2020, 5-7pm EDT, and August 26th, 2020, 12-2pm EDT.

Through her online participation Maria Zervos shares information, together with visual materials, about her new art work in progress entitled “The Camp”. In this video piece,  the refugee experience of the late intellectual Svetlana Boym is analyzed through the iconography of a camp as a modern ruin—a shell of history, aiming at a better understanding of migration, at large. The work traces Svetlana Boym’s zigzag course between memory and amnesia, art and theory. “The Camp” acts as a tool to remap the unmapped borders of personal history rediscovering possible definitions of freedom, nostalgia and estrangement.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo by Martin Parsekian. Image courtesy of the International Studio & Curatorial Program.

Here is the link for registration for the Summer Open Studios at The International Studio & Curatorial Program (ISCP), 2020.

Also see:

https://iscp-nyc.org/event/summer-open-studios-2

https://iscp-nyc.org/resident/maria-zervos

https://iscp-nyc.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Summer-Open-Studios-Program-1.pdf

 

Dance Days Chania 2020 |  27 July – 4 August

The 10th Dance Days Chania is present! Our need to defend the body comes as a priority, its role in arts, its meaning in life. As an antidote to loneliness and introversion, the adapted to the new circumstances DDC offers a shorter program that focuses on works made by new creators, in relation to the urban landscape of the city of Chania.

Performances, video dance screenings, lectures/ talks, dance photography exhibition, site specific and technique workshops.

The body may be in crisis, but the art of dance, despite the blows that experiences, is on the spotlight. Our 10 years anniversary is devoted to the intimacy of the relationships, the wisdom of the bodies, their solidarity, their quests and the light they hide inside!

DDC with its “inquiring” gaze insists, suggests and deeply believes in the role of art as a motive force. It remains alert and aims to empower the artistic landscape.

The 10th Dance Days Chania festival is organized by Syn-Kinisi Association of Expressive Dance with volunteer work of its members; co-organized by the Region of Crete, the Municipality of Chania – KEPPEDIC-CMA, and funded by the Ministry of Culture. It receives the kind support of J.F. Costopoulos Foundation and the Flux Laboratory Athens. Other collaborators are the Ephorate of Antiquity of Chania and the School Committee of the 6th Secondary school, 4th High school, Evening Secondary school and Evening High school of Chania.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Info: https://dancedays.gr/ | https://www.facebook.com/DanceDaysChania/ | https://www.instagram.com/dancedayschania_festival/

The full program:

27/07

– 19:00  Vicky Angelidou,  “In the darkness” | Despotaki Melchisedek sqr.

After-talk: The body that does nοt see in the public space.

[New creators in the city section]

-Entrance Free (limited number of seats) –

– 20:30  Eva Georgitsopoulou, «miTerra» | St. Nicholas of Molos Bastion (Lighthouse)

-Entrance Free (limited number of seats) –

– 21:30   Video Dance Screenings | Kipos Municipal Open Air Cinema

Video Dance Curator: Aliki Chiotaki

-Entrance Free (limited number of seats) –

28/07

– 19:00  Ermina Apostolaki, “Urban Songs” | Municipal Garden of Chania

[New creators in the city section]

-Entrance Free (limited number of seats) –

– 21:30  Video Dance Screenings | Kipos Municipal Open Air Cinema

Video Art Miden Selections

Video Dance Curator: Aliki Chiotaki

-Entrance Free (limited number of seats) –

– 22:30  Syn-Kinisi dance co. – Τeenagers’ group, “In the beginning… the body”|

Kipos Municipal Open Air Cinema

-Entrance Free (limited number of seats) –

29/07

– 19:30  Christina Karpouzou & Polina Chrysafi , «Audience in Motion_ Our Motion» |  Katehaki sqr.

[New creators in the city section]

-Entrance Free (limited number of seats) –

– 21:30   Video Dance Τalk | Kipos Municipal Open Air Cinema

Participants: Aliki Chiotaki & Sofia Falierou, Moderator: Myrto Kontomitaki

-Entrance Free (limited number of seats) –

 

30/07

– 12:30  Presentation of Creation Workshop with Teenagers, “Seclusion”  with Diego de la Rosa | Park of Peace and Friendship

-Entrance Free (limited number of seats) –

– 20:00  Barbara Bardaka, “Home Street Home” |  Yali Tzamisi sqr. – Venetian Port

[New creators in the city section]

Αfter-talk: Home Street Home | The Attic

-Entrance Free (limited number of seats) –

 

31/07

– 13:00  Elena Dalamara, “Floating Urbanity” |  Municipal Market of Chania

[New creators in the city section]

After-Talk at studio OxoNou at 20:30: The body in the public space in the after covid -19 era.

-Entrance Free (limited number of seats) –

– 14:00  Ioulia Zacharaki, “Into the Flux: Jungle”|  Municipal Garden of Chania

[New creators in the city section]

After-talk: Documentation of the project

-Entrance Free (limited number of seats) –

– 19:30  Diego de la Rosa, «Replica» |  Sifaka str. – Rianou sqr.

-Entrance Free (limited number of seats) –

– 20:30  Studio Oxo Nou

– Leto Karabini & Konstantina Proimaki, Presentation: “Normal” and “Abnormal” body.- The body imprint in the subway of Athens and the fairytale of E. Trivizas.

– Elena Dalamara talk: The body in the public space in the after covid -19 era.

-Entrance Free (limited number of seats) –

 

01/08

– 20:00  Stella Mastorosteriou, “Map of gestures” |  Athinagora sqr. (Halidon str.)

[New creators in the city section]

-Entrance Free (limited number of seats) –

 

02/08

– 20:00 Eleni Vlachou, Christina Zacharia, Rallou Karella , “Mom, it’s not a phase” |  Despotaki Melchisedek sqr.

[New creators in the city section]

-Entrance Free (limited number of seats) –

 

04/08

– 19:30  Presentation of Creation Workshop, “Your Own God” – A Site Specific Laboratory, with Judith Sanchez Ruiz | St. Nicholas of Molos Bastion (Lighthouse)

-Entrance Free (limited number of seats) –

 

– 21:30 ki omOs kineitai & D. Apostolakis, “Dragon’s tooth”  |  Theatre of Eastern Moat

Tickets: 12€ (regular),  10€ (student, unemployment)

 

27/07 – 04/08

Dance photography exhibition by George Anastasakis | Saint Rocco, Splantzia sqr.

-Entrance Free-

 

27/07 – 04/08

Workshops –   https://vimeo.com/433090894

– 27.07 – 30.07 Diego de la Rosa “Seclusion”- Creation workshops with teenagers

– 27.07 Eva Georgitsopoulou “Inside Extremity” masterclass

– 28.07 – 30.07 Danae & Dionysios “Shapeshifting workshop”

– 31.07 – 01.08 Christina Sougioultzi “Dance and Acrobatics”

– 01.08 – 04.08 Judith Sanchez Ruiz “Your Own God” – A site specific laboratory

– 01.08 – 03.08 Olia Tornaritou “Martha Graham Technique”

– 02.08 – 04.08 Plotinos Eliades “Speed the Spiral”

 

27/07 Video Dance Screenings https://vimeo.com/431361348

 

Soliloquio (Soliloqy) – Lorena LópezAguado – Mexico

CAGE – Fear of missing out – Yerin Lee (yenn_dance) – UK & Korea

Stakra – Sara Bonaventura – Italy

David – Elizabeth Arifien – UK

Spectra – Stephanie Scheubeck – UK

Inside Out – Jessica Moritz & Diana Schuemann – France, Israel, Germany

NILYNDA – Jill Crovisier – Luxembourg

“Walls of Limerick” – Kat and Dawg Productions – Ireland

MILFSHAKE – Vito Alfarano – Italy

I HAVE A DREAM – Vito Alfarano – Italy

HOUDINI DES EMOTIONS – Allison Beda – Canada

The Wall Around Me – Francesca Poglie – Italy

Why Don-t You Hold Me – Sideris Nanoudis – Greece

My jackets are my friends – Shion Skye Carter – Canada

LINN – Lydia Touliatou – Greece

 

28/07 Video Dance Screenings

 

Gender Production Line – Angelos Papadopoulos – Greece

BOOKANIMA: Dance – Shon KIM – S. Korea / USA

Kartoon – Riccardo De Simone – Italy

CRITTER – Felipe Bittencourt – Brazil

THULE – Beyond the borders of the known world – Ana Baer – (MX/US) & Heike Salzer (GER/UK)

Re:Born – a short dance film about getting up – Annemijn Rijk – Netherlands

ORBITAL – Documentation, Site-Specific Performance –

Ioannis Karounis – Greece

Happily Ever After – Alva Morgenstern – Austria

Alveare – Luigi Coppola – Italy

Body Never Lies – Maya Lukic – Aphrodite Antypa – Greece

 

Selections Video Art Miden

The rosetta mission vol.1- Αnastasia Diga – Greece

To See The Sky, Dance – Barbara Brugola – Italy

Washed – Daphna Mero – Israel

L’aroma de la terra mullada li sembla més dolça que mai

– Marta Arjona & Alexia Pascual – Spain

GIVE/TAKE (the act of erasure) – Louise Coetzer & Oscar O’Ryan – South Africa

5^th KOUFONISIA CLASSICAL MUSIC FESTIVAL

 Artistic Direction: Kornilios Michailidis

 19^TH JULY – 29^TH AUGUST 2020

Concert venue: Michailidou Residence

Musical-theatrical performance venue: Courtyard of the Public School of Koufonisia

Start time: 20.30

In its 5th event, Koufonisia Classical Music Festival, under the artistic direction of conductor and pianist Kornilios Michailidis, presents four unique concerts, two of which will be held in collaboration with the Athens State Orchestra, as well as a musical-theatrical performance. For the first time, in collaboration with Tryfon Art Residency, the Festival hosts an exhibition of works of new art at the Michailidou Residence, and establishes an optional financial support fund, the proceeds of which will be used to support the Aegean Marine Life Sanctuary, which is based in Lipsi. All the events of the Festival will take place this year with free admission for the public.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

EVENTS PROGRAM

SUNDAY 19 JULY 2020

«Happy Birthday Ludwig!»

A tribute to Ludwig van Beethoven on the occasion of this year’s 250th birth anniversary of the iconic composer

Athens String Quartet of Athens State Orchestra [ Apollon Grammatikopoulos, violin |  Panagiotis Tziotis, violin |  Paris Anastasiadis, viola |  Isidoros Sideris, cello ]. With the participation of violist Tania Charitopoulou

Piano: Natalia Michailidou

Supported by Athens State Orchestra the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Athens  

 

WEDNESDAY 29 JULY 2020

«Lighter than air»

A special concert of chamber music with works for flute and piano by two exceptional Greek musicians

Flute: Stathis Karapanos | Piano: Nefeli Mousoura                                                                         

 

FRIDAY 7 AUGUST 2020

«To the Distant Beloved »

Tribute to the German Lied through the great interpretations of prominent German artists

Bass-Baritone: Andreas Wolf | Piano: Matthias Alteheld              

Supported by the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Athens

 

MONDAY 24 AUGUST 2020

«Russian Masters»

Piano recital by Nikolay Lugansky, world-famous virtuoso pianist, in collaboration with the internationally acclaimed Russian cellist Pavel Gomziakov

Piano: Nikolay Lugansky | Cello: Pavel Gomziakov          

 

SATURDAY 29 AUGUST 2020

«Igor Stravinsky: The soldier’s tale»

Theater performance of “The Soldier’s Tale” (L ‘Histoire du Soldat), a play written for small ensemble and actors, by Igor Stravinsky – Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz

Conductor: Kornilios Michailidis

Theater Direction – Dramaturgy: Marilena Katranidou

Actors: Hector Liatsos, Drosos Skotis, Aggelos Nerantzis

Visual art – Scenic design: Fani Skoulikidi Boukouvala

Musicians: Violin: Giorgos Mandylas | Double bass: Nikos Tsoukalas | Clarinet: Konstantinos Tzekos | Bassoon: Odysseas Bassios | Trumpet: Spyros Arkoudis | Trombone: Konstantinos Avgerinos | Percussion: Spyros Lampouras

Artistic Advisor: Michail Marmarinos

Supported by Athens State Orchestra            

      

The eighth meeting of the educational program of The Hellenic Art Galleries Association and The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation for students of the Athens Fine Art School included Anastasia Pavlou and Hot Wheels Athens. Anastasia Pavlou talked about her path into exhibiting her work and collaborating with a gallery as an organic process, intrinsically linked with being part of an artist community and exhibiting with one’s peers. Hugo Wheeler, owner and director of Hot Wheels Athens, discussed his approach of the gallery process as his “own art practice” based on reciprocity and mutuality between him and the artists.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The seventh meeting of the educational program of The Hellenic Art Galleries Association and The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation within the framework of Art Athina for students of the Athens School of Fine Arts included Stefania Strouza and A.Antonopoulou.Art. Stefania Strouza shared her experience of participating in a number of artist residency programs and how they have contributed to the development of her sculptural practice, which is rooted in focused research and site specificity. Angeliki Antonopoulou, owner and director of A.Antonopoulou.Art, discussed the need for galleries and artists to maintain a sincere and critical approach to their program and practice and an agility to adjust to current times.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

23 – 28 June 2020 | 20:30
1927 Art Space (35 Kypseli street, 1st floor)
Free entrance.
For reservations please email us at selfyandadiningdinosaur@gmail.com

 

After a rather uneasy period of uncertainty, with a stagnant artistic production and multiple constants of our life being reassessed one after another, we are back to what we do best – though we have not returned to where we left off. Those days are engraved in our memory and echoed in our work.

 

 

 

 

 

Giorgos Siorras Deligiannis and his team reapproach their project “Selfy Series” that started in 2018, with a different perspective than the one introduced so far. While the previous three works explore the broader concept of identity, focusing on the relationship between the body and its image, Selfy and a Digital Oasis of a Dining Dinosaur opens up the debate over the use of public space by merging memories and images into an act, which is presented to the public for the first time by the choreographer himself. With his body as the main means of exploring digital space, he attempts to deconstruct physical identity, reconstruct narratives of a turbulent period, and wonder about the physicality that results from this act. The digital medium becomes an ally, enabling the recording, collection and continuous processing of images of a recent routine while introducing the body to augmented reality environments and raising questions about the experience of a digital dance.

The decision to present the project at this time did not come easily. Having taken into account all the ethical, practical and sanitary aspects of such a decision, it was ultimately the content of the work itself that prompted us to present it now; now that concerns about the body’s relation with the public and digital space are more imperative than ever.

Complying with all safety measures and in order to avoid crowding, 1927 Art Space will accommodate a maximum of 20 people per day. For this reason, we strongly suggest sending an email at selfyandadiningdinosaur@gmail.com to reserve your spot.

Tickets are picked up at the venue 15 minutes before the start of the performance.

 

 

 

 

 

Concept | Performance: Giorgos Sioras Deligiannis
Video Design: Erato Tzavara
Live video streaming technician | Poster Design: Tzanos Mazis
Production: Katerina Kotsou

 

The sixth meeting of the educational programme of the Hellenic Art Galleries Association and The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation within the framework of Art Athina for students from Athens School of Fine Arts, was hosted online and included artist Antonakis and Eleftheria Tseliou Gallery. Antonakis discussed balancing his artistic practice with seeking collaborations outside of it, acting regularly as a curator, something that has contributed to expanding his professional network. Eleftheria Tseliou, owner and director of Eleftheria Tseliou Gallery, talked about the gallery’s multifaceted program, which involves established and emerging artists, presenting solo and historical shows, as well as dual collaboratives. Finally, they both talked about their collaboration as being rooted in collectivism and trust.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Humans are a profound expression and an integral part of the natural environment. By defending the environment, we are defending the happiness, joy and health of our children.”

Heliotropio, Social & Environmental Action Society

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo: W. Eugene Smith

The fifth meeting of the educational program of the Hellenic Art Galleries Association and The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation, within the framework of Art Athina for students from Athens School of Fine Arts, was hosted online and included artist Nikos Papadopoulos and Crux Galerie. Nikos Papadopoulos talked about his artistic practice as a matter of perseverance, love and personal need. He also discussed what he has learned from working with the art collective Flora Filopappou and his experience as an artist-in-residence at CERN. Sakis Papakonstantinou, owner and director of Crux Galerie, explained the multidimensional approach he follows when organising exhibitions and spoke of the pandemic as an opportunity for transformation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The fourth meeting of the educational programme of the Hellenic Art Galleries Association and The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation within the framework of Art Athina for students from Athens School of Fine Arts hosted online, had the form of a seminar on self-publishing. The programme’s coordinator Daphne Politi gave a historical overview of self-publishing initiatives within the arts, while also shared examples of contemporary independent publishing bodies, based in Greece and abroad. The session ended with a practical discussion on how to plan and design a publication within a collaborative framework.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good Morning Mr Fotis, Documentary, 70ʹ, Greece, 2020
Written, Directed, and Produced by Dimitra Kouzi

In the heart of Athens, in a once desirable residential district. In the 1990s, many Greeks moved out to the suburbs; successive waves of immigrants from the Balkans and former Soviet Union moved in. Since 2009, in Greece’s economic crisis, the area declined, with poverty and gloom spreading and crime rates soaring.
Today, the neighbourhood is home to a diverse array of migrants and refugees from Asia, the Middle East, and Africa, some tourists, and a few old residents.

Fotis Psycharis has been teaching at a regular state school in this neighbourhood for 30 years now. Aged 6–12, most of the school’s pupils are migrant and refugee children, largely unfamiliar with the Greek language and culture. The lack of a common linguistic and cultural background has prompted Fotis to develop other teaching methods and modes of communication. Theatre, a synthesis of many arts, is an essential part of his toolbox.

Watch the trailer here

The documentary film Good Morning Mr Fotis goes into the classroom to follow the everyday reality of a 6th Grade at a public elementary school in the heart of Athens. Reflecting the diversity of the area where it is located, near Omonoia Square, this class consists of 17 pupils from 7 different countries, with varying degrees of familiarity with the Greek language and the European culture.

The teacher’s objective is inclusion, not mere integration. Enlisting creativity in many forms, not exclusively based on the linguistic code, Fotis has for 30 years been developing his own, innovative teaching approach by combining different arts and techniques; he teaches children, irrespective of their background, a way of thinking and acting, promoting an experiential teaching method that engages the entire body and all senses. Children get space to explore and discover, while each one unfolds their own unique personality – in a film that humorously captures the importance of a teacher who proposes and delivers solutions.

Credits
Written, Directed, and Produced by Dimitra Kouzi
Camera/Sound: Konstantinos Georgoussis
Editing: Nelly Ollivault
Original music composed by Michael Kapoulas
Sound Lab: Kvaribo Sound
Sound Design/Editing: Vallia Tserou
Sound Mixing: Kostas Varybopiotis
Image Lab: 235
Colour Correction/DCP mastering: Sakis Bouzanis
Poster/Credits/Website Design: Daria Zazirei
Translation/Subtitle Editor: Dimitris Saltabassis
Production Assistant: Rosie Diamantaki
Still Photography: Katerina Tzigotzidou, Mania Benissi
Location Sound Recordist: Aris Athanassopoulos
Special Effects: Yannis Ageladopoulos
Drone: Tassos Fytros
Trailer: Penelope Kouvara
Legal Advisor: Aris Kontoangelos
Subtitling: Authorwave – Lisa Chryssochoou
Original music published by Illogical Music/Acuatrop LLC
Drawing: Sahel Mirzai (5th Grade, Elementary School 54)

World Sales:
Visible Film, Thierry Detaille T: +32 477617170 E thierry.detaille@visiblefilm.com

Press enquiries:
Dimitra Kouzi, Director/Producer: M +30 694 6060 862
Rosie Diamantaki (Production Assistant): M ‭+30 694 5371 631‬‬‬‬‬‬
info@kouziproductions.com

With the kind support of
The J.F. Costopoulos Foundation

The film was selected by the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival to participate in Docs in Progress 2019

Docs in Progress 2019 Award – Thessaloniki Documentary Festival – Greek Film Centre

Kouzi Productions 2020 copyright

Contact
Kouzi Productions
33, Praxitelous St.
105 60 Athens
T: +30 2107219909
info@kouziproductions.com
kouziproductions.com

The third meeting of the educational program of the Hellenic Art Galleries Association and The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation within the framework of Art Athina, was hosted online and included Rebecca Camhi Gallery. At the start of the discussion Rebecca Camhi, owner and director of the gallery, explained the importance of reminding ourselves that whatever we create is necessary and fulfills a gap within a larger cultural framework. Furthermore, she advised the students to be proactive towards making their own exhibitions happen always remaining strict with themselves and she spoke about the relationship between artists and their gallery, which is one of mutual support and collaboration.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As a precautionary measure against COVID19, communication with the J.F.Costopoulos Foundation will be carried out exclusively by e-mail or telephone.

If there is an imperative need for a meeting, this will have to be fixed by appointment and only for one person at a time.

Likewise, applications for activities programmed to be held during 2021 will be accepted only if submitted by e-mail from 1st to 15 June 2020.

We thank you for your understanding.

 

Delivery of the medical equipment donated to the Kalamata General Hospital

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The medical equipment donated by the J.F.Costopoulos Foundation as its contribution to the fight against the COVID19 virus has been delivered to the Kalamata General Hospital. Namely, the Hospital has received a portable radiological machine with a wireless digital detector and enhanced protection FFP3 masks for doctors and nursing staff.

We wish all the personnel of the Hospital strength in the pursuit of their mission!

The second meeting of the educational programme of the Hellenic Art Galleries Association and The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation within the framework of Art Athina, was hosted online and included the artist Dimitrios Antonitsis and Contemporary Art Centre Ileana Tounta.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dimitrios Antonitsis talked about the importance of artistic practices to stay malleable and advised to believe in the “beginning of abundance”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Galini Lazani, curator at Contemporary Art Centre Ileana Tounta, spoke about the gallery’s conviction to show both established and emerging artists as well as the importance of art students to build an online presence and actively participate in exhibitions throughout their studies.

Art and culture are most valuable in the most difficult times
And in these times of confinement, we need art more than ever!

SHARING PERAMA DREAMS THE FUTURE

Aware of the essential positive role of culture and of the needs of Perama, The J.F. Costopoulos Foundation has decided to support the presentation in Perama’s open air theater of the first theater play by iconic author Dimitris Dimitriadis, The Price of the Revolt on the Black Market, with director Dimitris Bampilis. Here Bampilis explains the project, in the Mikis Theodorakis open air Theater of Perama.

The J.F. Costopoulos Foundation has also hosted a conversation by Barbara Polla and Dimitris Dimitriadis. To read (in English) or watch (in Greek) this fascinating conversation, please click here

As soon as the confinement will be over Dimitris Bampilis will start working in Perama, and SHARING PERAMA will install THE BEGINNING OF HOPE the English counterpart of Robert Montgomery’s work
Η ΑΡΧΗ ΤΗΣ ΕΛΠΙΔΑΣ

 

PRESS RELEASE

Athens, April 22, 2020

The Board of Trustees of the J. F. Costopoulos Foundation has decided, as part of its Social Contribution to society, to assist the National Health System to address its particularly high needs due to the pandemic of COVID 19 that has affected our country.

The Foundation will donate medical supplies to the General Hospital of Kalamata, namely a portable digital X-ray machine as well as personal protective equipment for doctors and nursing staff.

With this decision, the Foundation simultaneously honours the memory of J. F. Costopoulos, whose origin was from Kalamata and whose name the Foundation bears.

We thank all the employees in the field of Health and we wish them good strength in their work!

 

The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation wishes you a Happy and Safe Easter!

The drawing is a gift from the Kindergarden and Nursery School
“Yiayia’s Garden” in Kalamata

 

The J.F. Costopoulos Foundation will remain closed until further notice.

You may contact us at info@costopoulosfoundation.org.

We thank you for your understanding.

Taking under serious consideration the world wide epidemic of coronavirus we decided to postpone the first part of IPFF2020.

The residency program Transition offered by the Goethe-Institut Athen, the French Institute of Greece and Kinitiras artistic network for performing arts in collaboration with Flux Laboratory Athens with the support of the Franco-German Cultural Fund, will be implemented as planned with possible alternations in its final presentation.
We will soon announce the new dates for IPFF2020 as well as the workshop schedule that the residents will offer during their stay.

Το respect common health is a priority and we need to take considerate actions without panic.
Positive thinking and care for everybody.

With the kind support of
THE J. F. COSTOPOULOS FOUNDATION
and
FLUX Laboratory Athens

Kinitiras
Artistic Network for Performing Arts
Tel: +30 69 40 576461
Email: info@kinitiras.com

 

 

 

 

 

photo: Stefanos Kosmidis

The first meeting of the educational program of the Hellenic Art Galleries Association and The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation within the framework of Art Athina, took place at Kalfayan Galleries during the exhibition of Edouard Sacaillan. The artist spoke about his artistic practice and how living between Athens and Paris has helped him gain a
more international audience. Arsen Kalfayan, owner and director of the gallery, spoke about the close relationship the gallery maintains with its represented artists and emphasized the need for the existence of younger galleries that support emerging artists.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Crossings #1 “Painting Isn’t Enough For Me”

Curated by Christoforos Marinos

Wednesday 12 February 2020 starting at 19.30

TAVROS
Anaxagora 33, 1^st floor, Tavros
Directions: Tavros metro station

free entrance / the conversation will be held in Greek

 

 

 

 

 

 

locus athens commissioned Christoforos Marinos to curate a series of conversations with artists based in Greece at their new space TAVROS. TAVROS is a non-profit space, founded by locus athens in October 2019, which aims to respond to the social and political circumstances around us through dialogue, listening and learning.

Crossings is a series of conversations curated and coordinated by art historian Christoforos Marinos held once every month (from February till June 2020) with artists based in Greece from different generations. The invited artists will have the chance to exchange views, share references and obsessions. In turn, the audience, will have the opportunity to delve with greater depth into what drives artistic practices. Each conversation will be based on the media used and the thematics that the respective artists touch upon.

Conversation #1: “Painting Isn’t Enough For Me”

Painting is the subject of the first conversation between four acclaimed artists: Apostolos Georgiou, Ilias Papailiakis, Eftihis Patsourakis and Mantalina Psoma. As the suggestively provocative title suggests, the starting point of this talk is to question the relevance or necessity for painting today.

Apostolos Georgiou was born in Thessaloniki in 1952. He studied architecture in Vienna (1971-1973) and painting in Florence (1973-1975). His first solo show was at “ZM” Gallery in Thessaloniki in 1973. From 1980 till 2006 he lived on the island of Skopelos. In 1993 the Municipality of Thessaloniki organized his retrospective while in 2011 the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Athens curated an exhibition dedicated to works painted between 1998 and 2011.

Ilias Papailiakis was born in 1970 in Crete, Greece. He lives and works in Athens. He studied painting at the Athens School of Fine Arts, Athens (1990-1996). He has presented his work in more than 25 solo exhibitions in Greece and abroad. From 2009 to 2019 he was a visiting tutor at the architectural department of the University of Patras.

Eftihis Patsourakis was born in 1967 in Crete, Greece. He currently lives and works in Athens. After his studies at the Department of Conservation of Works of Art and Antiquities (University of Athens), he received a BA Degree at the Athens School of Fine Arts and a MA at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, London. He has had solo shows in Eleni Koroneou Gallery, Athens and Rodeo, Piraeus/London. He has participated in numerous group exhibitions in Europe and the US.

Mantalina Psoma was born in Athens in 1967. From 1985-1992 she studied at the HdK (High School of Fine Arts) in Berlin (1991 Degree, 1992 Master Degree). In 2002 she was selected as the only Greek artist to be featured in “Vitamin P, New Perspectives in Painting” by Phaidon Press. She has had many solo and group exhibitions in Greece and abroad. Since 2001 she lives and works in Athens.

Crossings #2 will be held on the 11^th of March.

 

Supported by:

The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation, Outset Contemporary Art Fund Greece, Panayotis and Effie Michelis Foundation, FIX Hellas

The selection for the IPFF2020 was completed after an evaluation process based on:
1. The quality of the application in relation to the profile of the particular festival that focuses on the artists’ real need for feedback and the link between the proposed work and the theme of  transition,
2. The biographies and quality of the artists’ previous work,
3. The combination of the works so that the festival as a whole has an interesting and diverse artistic identity.

Each year both the level and the number of applications increase, and now we can talk about an international festival since a lot of applications were from overseas.

The IPFF2020 focuses on dance due to the high level of applications in this field.

Thank you to all the artists who honored us with their participation. We look forward for another creative In Progress Feedback Festival!

The artists/ groups that have been selected to participate in the In Progress Feedback Festival 2020 are the following:

• Areti Athanasopoulou – Passages a’ l’ acte – Greece
• Paolo Cingolani – Babilonia – Italy
• Ana Cotorñe – TAKOTSUBO – Spain
• FΕΜ – On the Verge of – Greece
• Eva Papadopoulou – We could be heroes* – Germany
• Σ.he – more than the others – Greece
• Vasiana Skopetea – continuous to be continued – Greece
• Ioulia Zacharaki – INTO THE FLUX – Greece

ELECTIVE

1. Rek. – “It’s not a phase mom” – Greece
2. ΟΩ- omicronomega – MADREN – Greece
3. Loukiani Papadaki, Dimos Vryzas – Leap Of Faith, an exercise – Greece

With the kind support of
THE J. F. COSTOPOULOS FOUNDATION

We would like to inform you that the dates of submission have changed and, from now on, the dates are June 1-15 of the current year for projects that have been scheduled for the year to come, except January.

 

Benaki Museum / Pireos 138
Opening: Monday 9 December 2019, time 20:00
Duration: 12 December 2019 – 1 March 2020

PRESS RELEASE

 The exhibition «Christian Zervos & Cahiers d’Art. The Archaic Turn» has been organised by the Benaki Museum, the French School at Athens and the Musée Zervos in Vézelay, France, with the goal of illuminating the breadth and significance of the work of the Greek-born publisher and critic Christian Zervos and his relationship with Greece.

The exhibition opened on Monday 9 December 2019 at 20:00, at the Benaki Museum / Pireos 138, under the auspices of the Embassy of France in Greece and with the cooperation of Cahiers d’Art editions and thanks to the generous grant of Stavros Niarchos Foundation.

The exhibition is based on the results of a research programme of the French School at Athens, entitled «Christian Zervos au miroir de la Grèce» (2017-2020), which has been running since 2017 in collaboration with a team of researchers active in France and Greece.

CHRISTIΑN ΖERVOS

Christos or Christian Zervos (Argostoli 1889–Paris 1970) played a definitive role in shaping the cultural climate in interwar Paris through his journal Cahiers d’Αrt, which he founded in 1926 and published until 1960. It was one of the longest-lived modernist journals given that it numbers 97 issues. As early as the first issue, Cahiers d’Αrt had focused on promoting modern art and on the dialogue between works of different origins and different historical periods. Zervos is also known as the publisher of the iconic catalogue of Pablo Picasso’s paintings from 1932 on, known today as «le Zervos», as well as his archaeological publications on prehistoric civilisations, for example those of Neolithic or Minoan Crete and the Cyclades. His contribution was particularly significant in the dissemination of ancient – especially prehistoric – Greek art as well as the redefinition of ancient civilisations and archaic forms in the context of modernism.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Zervos always began by associating timeless, universal morphological trends with the so-called “primitive” or “archaic” arts and the “primordial” instincts of humanity. He thus proposed a new perspective on archaeological findings, which activated them in the present, placing modern art within a historical perspective. The exhibition dedicated to Zervos and Cahiers d’Art, the first to be held in Greece focused on the «archaic turn» of both the journal and the art world of the interwar period, highlights the research and publishing methodology which defined his career. Its characteristics are, among others: a preference for periods lacking written documentation, on-site research, the programmatic constitution of a photographic narrative of the civilisations of the «Prehistoric South», a polychronic perception of history through photography, ethnographic methodology and a cosmopoietic approach to the past.

The story of Cahiers d’Art editions coincides with Zervos’s two-way relationship with Greece. During the interwar period this relationship inspired the archaic turn of modern art, which was founded on works representative of the «primitive art of the Aegean», such as Cycladic figurines. After the war, on the occasion of Zervos’s physical but also intellectual «return» to the homeland, from 1945 onwards, he embarked through his publications on a reconsideration of the «origin» of Mediterranean civilisation with the ultimate aim of tracing the sources of primitivism in southern Europe: Sardinia, the Cyclades, Crete. This double journey is presented in the exhibition, through works and documents that highlight the relationship of modern and archaic, as an anti-classical claim, and as an aesthetic and moral value.

 

STRUCTURE OF THE EXHIBITION

The exhibition is comprised of two parallel narratives. The first focuses on Zervos’s career and the importance of his publications and exhibitions in the fields of art, art criticism, and archaeology in Paris and in Athens from 1926 to 1970. The second is focused on iconic works from his personal collection, which represent his priorities and preferences in terms of artists and movements. This collection, held at the museum in Vézelay, is travelling to Greece for the first time.

The exhibition begins with the early years, during which Zervos was working as a critic, after having worked on periodicals published by Albert Morancé editions, and presents a chronology of the foundation and operation of the journal Cahiers d’Αrt through original documents. Also highlighted are Zervos’s archaeological research, his travels in the Mediterranean for the collection of material and his contact with archaeologists in view of the photographic books on the Cyclades, Crete and Sardinia. At the core of this account are about 60 rare and unique works of modern art from Zervos’s personal collection, with works by artists such as Matisse, Miró, Picasso, Laurens, Calder, Lam, Kandinsky, Ghika, Sklavos, Giacometti and among others.

The exhibition follows a chronological course. It begins with Zervos’s first publishing endeavours and his study interests, from Alexandria to Paris. The first section is on the first ten years of the journal Cahiers d’Αrt (1926-1937), during which his activity is at the forefront of developments in the Paris art scene. This is the period during which Zervos connects with figures at the peak of the intellectual avant-garde of the time, such as Le Corbusier, Fernand Léger, Paul Éluard, Wassily Kandinsky, Georges Henri Rivière and Paul Klee among others. At the same time, he is interested in archaeology and anthropology, undertakes his longed-for return trip to Greece and publishes the book L’art en Grèce (1934), a kind of manifesto in favour of the archaic turn in modern art. It is at that time that he publishes the first volume of the extensive catalogue of the work of Pablo Picasso (the artist who determined the identity of Cahiers d’Art). Zervos’s relationship with Picasso ensured him recognition and success. His role as a publisher in surrealist circles in the 1930s and his relationships with key representatives of the movement such as André Breton, Paul Éluard, Man Ray, Marcel Duchamp, Max Ernst, André Masson, Georges Hugnet and others, is also significant. The exhibition also examines the turn in Zervos’s attention to archaeological publications proposing a revised, «archaic» history of the Mediterranean. The last section of the exhibition, which extends from 1943 until his death, deals precisely with this two-way and ambivalent relationship with the Mediterranean–Archaeology–Greece “triptych”. Zervos’s previously unknown relationships with figures from the Greek intellectual world, such as Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghika, Michalis Tombros, George Seferis, Angelos Procopiou and Yerassimos Sklavos, which highlight his contribution to the shaping of Greek modernism, are documented here.

The starting point for this exhibition is the observation that Christian Zervos has been one of art history’s “missing persons”. The exhibition aspires to cover this void while introducing the general public to the critic’s multifaceted and highly significant work. The documentation from the journal’s inexhaustible material and the recording of the successive phases and expressions of Zervos’s publishing activity attempt to correct the scarcity of knowledge about his work and to emphasise everything that connected him with Greek culture. At the same time, emphasis is placed on the wider context of the conception and recruitment of «Mediterranean primitivism» by the proponents of modern art. Finally, Christian Zervos’s work is included within modern Greek intellectual life, laying the foundations of his methodology in relation to his Greek origin and highlighting his significance for the reception of modernism in Greece.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PUBLICATION

The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue of 325 pages published by the Benaki Museum, with the exclusive support of Τhe J. F. Costopoulos Foundation. The catalogue contains reproductions of works and an extensive and documented timeline as well as original texts by Christian Derouet, Alexandre Farnoux, Polina Kosmadaki, Eleni Stavroulaki and Panayotis Tournikiotis.

 

EXHIBITION CURATORS:

Christian Derouet, Conservateur général honoraire du patrimoine, Founding Curator, Musée Zervos, Vézelay

Alexandre Farnoux, Professor of Archaeology and Greek History, Sorbonne University, Paris and former Director of the French School at Athens

Polina Kosmadaki, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, Benaki Museum

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS

As part of the exhibition, The Benaki Museum / Education organises educational programs for school groups (5th & 6th grade of Elementary, all grades of High School), every Thursday from January 16th, 2020 until Thursday, February 27th, 2020, while for children aged 7 to 10 years old plans special workshops on Sunday 26 January and Sunday 16 February, 12.00-13.30. For more information, please contact The Benaki Museum / Education, 210 3671067-69, Monday to Thursday, 10.00-14.00.

 

The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation Award

This year marks the fortieth anniversary of the dynamic presence of the J. F. Costopoulos Foundation in the realm of culture. On this occasion, and in the context of the Thessaloniki Film Festival, the Foundation institutes The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation Award with the aim of further promoting the production of Greek films.

The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation Award, the prize and the accompanying artwork created by the visual artist Daphne Costopoulos, Vice – Chair of the Foundation’s Board of Trustees, was presented to the winning film Not to be Unpleasant, but We Need to Have a Serious Talk by Yorgos Georgopoulos during the closing ceremony of the 60th Thessaloniki Film Festival on November 10, 2019, upon the recommendation of a special three-member panel.The judging panel for the Foundation’s 2019 award was comprised of Ms Maria Katsounaki, journalist, Ms Eva Stefani, documentary filmmaker, and Mr Yorgos Frentzos, cinematographer​.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The nominated films were:

1. @9: AT NINE, Angelos Spartalis
2. BORN ON THE 8TH OF MARCH, Lyberis Dionysopoulos
3. COMMON BIRDS, Silvia Maglioni, Graeme Thomson
4. COSMIC CANDY, Rinio Dragasaki
5. DEFUNCT, Zacharias Mavroeidis
6. ENTWINED, Minos Nikolakakis
7. EXILE, Vasilis Mazomenos
8. I WILL CROSS TOMORROW, Sepideh Farsi
9. THE INTERROGATION, Panayotis Portokalakis
10. THE LAIR, Vassilis Noulas
11. THE MIRACLE OF THE SARGASSO SEA, Syllas Tzoumerkas
12. NOT TO BE UNPLEASANT BUT WE NEED TO HAVE A SERIOUS TALK, Yorgos Georgopoulos
13. PENCIL KNIFE BATON, Konstantinos Kakogiannis
14. PERSEPHONE, Kostas Athousakis
15. THE ROCKET, Stefanos Sitaras
16. SIEGE ON LIPERTI STREET, Stavros Pampallis
17. WE NO LONGER HEAR THE SONGS, Takis Papanastasiou
18. WINONA, Alexandros Voulgaris – The Boy
19. ZIZOTEK, Vardis Marinakis

The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation has approved grants to initiatives aimed at supporting and promoting the Greek culture, arts and letters within and beyond the national borders. Specifically, in the field of cinema the Foundation has provided financial support for the production, completion, maintenance and digitization of short films and documentaries. One outstanding example of this was the preservation of the cinematic work of Gregory Markopoulos and Robert Beavers, which was the subject of a special tribute in the 60th Thessaloniki Film Festival.

 

The bilingual publication of the J. F. Costopoulos Foundation and the Organisation Analogio entitled “Analogio 2005-2017. Dramatic and Stage Writing in Greece” continues its journey. After the first presentation at the Benaki Museum in Athens, and then at the International Book Fair in Paris, at the Sarajevo Winter Festival, at the Thessaloniki International Book Fair and, more recently, at the Book Festival and at Analogio Festival in Athens, as well as at the Moscow International Book Fair, the edition is hosted at the Greek Pavilion of the Frankfurt International Book Fair from October 16 to October 20, 2019. Ms. Sissy Papathanasiou, co-producer of the publication, President of the Organization Analogio and Head of the Letters Directorate of the Ministry of Culture, will speak to the public of this important event about the already recognized impact of the book to artists, theorists and artlovers.

Analogio Festival
21-26 September 2019

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Programme

 “The Silent One” by Dimitra Trypani / A Co- Production of the Alternative Stage of the National Opera and Paxos Festival

With the kind support of The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation and The Behrens Foundation

The premiere of the music performance “Amiliti” (The Silent One) took place on September 9, 2019, at John Gough Hall (old Loggos Schoolhouse) as a co- production of the Alternative Stage of the National Opera and Paxos Festival.

The performance will be presented at the Alternative Stage of the National Opera, SNFCC, on October 11,12,13, 2019.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A few words on “Amiliti” (The Silent One)

“Amíliti” is a music performance based on a real event that took place on a mountainy village in Southern Greece around 1850. A young woman named Miliá (the name in Greek sounds both like the word for the “apple tree” and the word for “speech, voice”) is murdered by her father and five brothers in order for them to wash off the shame of their family, since she was found “damaged” by her husband on the first night of her wedding. Miliá is buried alive in a pit filled with stones at the entrance of the village. Only her head is kept above the ground. In that way, the villagers become witnesses to the expiation of the shame that the male members of her family force on Miliá.

This story is transfered in “Amiliti” in a dystopian timespace, a Dantean limbo, a place of forgotten souls. In that place, the characters coexist without meeting eachother, and they compete against their memory, rage, guilt, love and grief. Through the acceptance of the responibility for their atrocious deed they gradually arrive to repentance and self-forgiveness.

The tragic ending of Miliá is just the excuse in order to present the coalescent violence and sadness in the construction of the male identity, but also in order to compose a sincere and deeply loving lament for the real Miliá, who was sacrificed and left this world unmourned and un-lamented – thus cursed – almost two centuries ago.

The work is an alternative requiem mass, composed and structured liked an ancient Greek “khorikòn” (choral ode). The heroes of the story lament Miliá and themselves proceeding to forgiveness and redemption. A god and a prophet – the prophet Tiresias – watch them from above and “accompany” them, sometimes with words, other times with music.

The initial idea was that “Amiliti” would essentialy be a long lamenting «khorikòn» – Milià ’s wake before her funeral. The traditional ritual of the Maniot lamenting (lamenting ritual developed in the area of Mani in Southern Peloponnese) emerged almost self evidently before us as the starting point as well as the foundation for this “wake”. The Maniot lament has one unique characteristic. It is the only public forum allowed to a woman in which she has the right to express whatever she wants with no restraints; she can even curse the deceased, or swear at the deceased or at her fate, at the people who might have hurt the deceased or her; she can reveal things and events related to the deceased but were kept secret when he or she was still alive; she can really mourn for him or her. This unique characteristic of the Maniot lament, in its raw power and harsh sincerity, as well as in its striking resemblance to the respective ancient Greek lamenting ritual, seemed to be the foundation stone on which “Amiliti” would be built.

The writer and poet who “built” a wonderful poetic text on that stone for «Amiliti», and to whom I owe enormous gratitude not only for the gift of the poem itself, but for the joy and emotional vibrancy of our collaboration is Pantelis Boukalas.

With his poetic text – which was written especially for “Amiliti” but can easily stand on its own as it possesses a strong self-contained value as a literary work – Pantelis provided me with an exceptional opportunity to refine my primary compositional tool, which I have been exploring and developing during the last twelve years in my works, and it constitutes one of the most characteristic elements of my music: I am talking about the almost total abolishment of the “seams” between the text and the music, something that is achieved through the strict incorporation of the whole text into the orchestral score. If we add to the aforementioned characteristic the “obsessive” use of asymmetric rhythms and polyrhythm, and also the chromatic and heterophonic neomodality, then one has in front of them the whole musical canvas of the work.

Finally, it is important to state that the song lyrics of “Amiliti” are taken from real traditional laments and folk songs of different areas of Greece, however they have been set into a completely contemporary musical idiom with all the aforementioned characteristics.

This music work as well is defined as a “performance of sound”, which the audience-spectators can watch either with open or with closed eyes.

Duration: 70’

Following the Paxos Festival premiere, the production will travel to Athens for a series of three performances on the Alternative Stage of the National Opera at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center on 11, 12 and 13 October 2019.

With the kind support of ΤΗΕ J.F. COSTOPOULOS FOUNDATION and THE BEHRENS FOUNDATION

Composition – Instruction: Dimitra Trypani

Poetic Text: Padelis Boukalas

Set Design: Katherine Wise

Direction: Dimitra Trypani

Assistant Directors: Alexandros Psichramis, Giorgos Nikopoulos

Lights Designer: Valentina Tamiolaki

Fine Arts Associate –: Nikos Kokkalis

Lights Εngineer: Spyros Mastoras

Participants:

Milia, The Daughter: Sophia Ketentzian

Milia’s Mother: Aliki Siousti & Georgiana Filippaki

Brother 1 – Kyriakis: Adonis Vasiliadis

Brother 2 – Sotiris: Alexandros Psychramis

Brother 3 –Diakoumis: Giorgos Kassavetis

Brother 4 – Panagiotis: Rafael Kritoulis

Brother 5 – Konstantis, the youngest brother: Nikos Zaziaris

Father: Giorgos Nikopoulos & Vasilis Pelantakis

Tiresias, the Oracle and Harpe: Gogo Xagara

God Observer and Cello: Dimitris Travlos

In the context of the 48th Book Festival, the bilingual edition of The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation and Analogio Festival entitled “Analogio 2005-2017. Dramatic and Stage Writing in Greece” was presented on Saturday, September 7th at the crowded “George Seferis” stage of the Zappeion. There was also presented the programme of Analogio Festival 2019, supported by The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation, too. Representing the Foundation, Mrs Meni Strongyli, who captured the idea and had the coordination of “Analogio 2005-2017″, as well as the editing of the English volume gave a speech. Mr. Pavlos Kavouras, Professor of the Department of Music Studies, University of Athens, Mr. Elias Kafaoglou, author, journalist, and Mrs Smaro Kotsia, theatre critic, were also placed. Academics, writers, directors, actors, contributors, friends and people in the field of Letters and Arts attended, too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PRESS RELEASE

15th International Classical Music Festival of Cyclades
10, 13, 14, 15 & 17 August 2019

The International Classical Festival of Cyclades returns for its 15th edition, this year aspiring to captivate the audience of the Cyclades into a musical journey presenting Chamber Music masterpieces and Arias from the Opera. From August 10th to August 17th, the emblematic theater “Apollon” of Hermoupolis in Syros will host numerous acclaimed artists from all over the world, under the artistic direction of the Greek National Opera (GNO) violinist, Yannos Margaziotis.

The Festival is realised with the support of the Ministry of Culture & Sports, in cooperation with North Aegean Region (Department of Cyclades Culture), with the support of the Municipality of Syros-Hermoupolis, Syros Politismos, Bank of Greece, The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation, the A. G. Leventis Foundation, AURORA-Working Together Against Hematological Diseases and in co-production with Greek National Opera.

Programme 2019

The first bilingual comprehensive catalogue of the archaeological collections of the Museum of Byzantine Culture of Thessaloniki entitled “The Art of Glass: Works from the Collection of the Museum of Byzantine Culture” has been published recently with the support of The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The catalogue includes various thematic entities such as vessels, jewelry, minor objects and mosaics, which all have in common glass, from which they were made or with which they were decorated. The 448 objects presented in the catalogue reveal the variety and timelessness of the Museum of Byzantine Culture’s collections, including finds from Central Macedonia that encompass a period of nearly two millennia. With this publication, the Museum, as a scholarly organization open to the public with a broad cultural and educational character, is implementing one of its statutory obligations, namely the promotion and study of artifacts in its collections belonging to the Early Christian, Byzantine, and Post-Byzantine periods and their presentation to the public in a scientifically documented fashion.

VENIZELIO CONSERVATORY OF CHANIA

FRIDAY AUGUST 30^TH | 21:30

 

Frantics Dance Company “Last Space”

We feel thrilled to present our new piece “Last Space”, where we dig directly into our deepest stories in the midst of a constant flow of events. When we let the unconscious manifest, old memories and stories from the past are brought forward.

As those thoughts arise, we let them collapse and freeze, stretch and accelerate, be destroyed and rebuilt, and we observe how everything unravels and blends with the energetic and delicate physicality from Frantics.

“Last Space” is a journey into the core of the mind of its performers.

 

 

Duration: 55 Min

Choreography: Frantics Dance Company

Performance: Carlos Aller, Diego de la Rosa, Marco Di Nardo, Juan Tirado

Scenography: Dragan Denda

Light Design: Max Fandrich

Dramaturgy: Maja Zimmermann

 

Supported by Dance Days Chania

https://www.franticsdancecompany.com/

trailer: https://vimeo.com/247645267

Tickets: 10euro regular– 8euro (student, unemployed)

Information: 6972802927 | https://www.facebook.com/DanceDaysChania/

For this new hybrid opera Elli spent six months at Stanford University this year  awarded with a “Fulbright Artist’s Award 2018-19”, where she developed Oedipus: Sex with Mum was Blinding; an immersive opera which mixes traditional performance with cutting-edge technology and emerging neuroscience. Original music by Tilemachos Moussas and Julia Kent and live cinematic environments created by Stephanie Sherriff.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The “2018-19 Fulbright Artist’s Award” and ‘2018-19 “Music Theatre Now international award” recipient created a visually striking, lyric production that draws from Sophocles’ classic tragedy “Oedipus Rex” engaging audiences in radical ways and casting women at the male roles of Oedipus, Teiresias and others. Mythology, pop cultural references, and gender reexaminations feed into this unique piece, as this exquisite  ensemble of opera singers, jazz vocalists and actors joins forces with musical virtuosos (live augmented cello, piano & new instruments) for a deep-dive into a haunting mind game.

Partly developed during the director’s stay at the Center for Computer Research in Music & Acoustics (CCRMA), Stanford University, “OEDIPUS: Sex with Mum Was Blinding” has artists and scientists joining forces on a new neuroscientific case study. The study explores the questions: “Are we free?,” “Dο we experience free will?,” Are there real alternatives, or is all that takes place the outcome of necessity?” The advisor to the project but also live on stage, is Professor Manos Tsakiris, Professor of Psychology, University of London.

A full production of the piece will take place in Athens in October and December and it will follow an international tour. The piece is supported by the Hellenic Ministry of Culture, the NEON Organisation and the J.F. Costopoulos Foundation.

Meet Oedipus in NY: September 25-29

Meet Oedipus in Athens: October 11-20 at Sfendoni Theatre

On July 6, 2019 choreographer Olga Spyraki and the civil non-profit company KΙVOS presented for the first time the work in progress Un homed – a journey towards, within the framework of an artistic research titled What is home in the RO theater in Rotterdam under the first COMMA festival. The festival was organised by Codarts University in collaboration with Fontys University. The research and the performance are supported by the J. F. Costopoulos Foundation.

Final project performance at RO theater – Rotterdam (COMMA first Cohort Festival 2019)

The seventh meeting of the educational program of the Hellenic Art Galleries Association and The J. F.  Costopoulos Foundation within the framework of Art Athina took place at the premises of the  Foundation. Meni Strongyli spoke about the Foundation’s profile, goals, actions and ways of supporting the arts, through educational programs, residencies, non-commercial exhibitions and publications. Thereafter, Mary Zygouris, a scholar of the Foundation, referred to her long experience of residencies abroad.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The sixth meeting of the Educational Programme of the Hellenic Art Galleries Association and The J.F. Costopoulos Foundation within the framework of Art Athina 2019 took place in Rebecca Camhi Gallery. The owner, Rebecca Camhi, spoke on the importance of cultural collaboration and interaction on the scale of the city and the country, and the need for communication among artists.

The fifth meeting of the Educational Programme of the Hellenic Art Galleries Association and The J.F. Costopoulos Foundation, within the framework of Art Athina 2019, took place in Skoufa Gallery during the exhibition of Yiorgos Hadoulis. He spoke about his artistic practice, the importance of architecture in his work and his intention to depict the objects of his environment. Yannis Kalligas, director and owner of the gallery, spoke on the importance of long-term collaboration between the gallery and its artists.

 

June 30th was the deadline date for submission of applications to The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation for financial support of projects scheduled to be conducted in the twelve-month period beginning February 2020. We thank you!

Press release

Αrt Athina 2019

13-16 September 2019, Zappeion Mansion

 

Art Athina Summer Pop Up

19-23 June 2019, Aiolou St. 48-50

 The 24th edition of Art Athina will reconvene in the heart of Athens in September 2019. The biggest annual cultural event of Greece, which has reached institutional prominence, will take place between the 13th-16th of September at Zappeion Mansion under the Auspices of  H. E. the President of the Hellenic Republic, Mr Prokopios Pavlopoulos.

Preceding this year’s automninal edition of the fair, will be Art Athina Summer Pop Up: an international exhibition in the heart of the city, signifying what is to come at Art Athina 2019.

Located in the ample empty spaces of an office building on 48-50 Aiolou St., galleries from Greece, United Kingdom, USA, Sweden and Austria will prepare the city’s art audience for Art Athina 2019. In total, Art Athina Summer Pop Up will include 34 Greek galleries, exhibiting one artist each, and 6 international galleries, visiting from abroad.

Art Athina Summer Pop Up is under the auspices of the Municipality of Athens.

Participations from Greece include: a. antonopoulou.art with Stefania Strouza, Agathi Kartalos with Filippos Fotiades, Alibi with Iakovos Volkov, Alma Contemporary Art Gallery with Vana Fertaki, Art Prisma with Katerina Kokkinaki, Astrolavos with George Papamarkezis, CAN Christina Androulidaki with Efi Chaliori, Cheapart with Babis Kartalis, Citronne with George Lappas, Cube with Makis Kiriakopoulos, Ikastikos Kiklos Sianti with Cacao Rocks, ekfrasi-yianna grammatopoulou with Angelos Skourtis, Elika Gallery with Vaggelis Gkokas, EPsilon Art Gallery with Evi Kirmakidou, Gallery “7” with Konstantinos Archaniotis, Gallery Ersi with Dimitris Chiotopoulos, Gallery Genesis with Stratigoula Gianikopoulou, kaplanon5 art gallery with Dimitris Athanasiou, Kappatos Gallery with Marina Abramovic, Miharalias Art with Chryssa, Papatzikou Art Gallery with Kostis (Triantafillou), PeriTechnon Karteris art gallery with George Giotsas, Rebecca Camhi Gallery with Morris Ganis, Skoufa Gallery with Panagiotis Beldekos, Zina Athanasiadou Gallery with George Giparakis, Art Appel Gallery with Nikos Giavropoulos, Art Ζone 42 with Konstantinos TheMonk, The Breeder with Aristides Lappas, Crux Galerie with Ilias Papailiakis, Kalfayan Galleries with Kostis Velonis, Rodeo with Tamara Henderson, Artforum Gallery with Panagiotis Tanimanides, Technohoros with Stathis Betenides and Allouche Benias with Vassilis H.

The international programme of Art Athina Summer Pop Up includes Edel Assanti gallery from London and Anat Ebgi gallery from Los Angeles, showing two solo shows by artists Dale Lewis and Neil Raitt accordingly. Both artists spent a month in Athens producing artworks inspired by the city, which will be displayed at Art Athina Summer Pop Up. This initiative was realised with the support of the Municipality of Athens and Athens Culture Net. Loyal Gallery (Stockholm) participates with Jim Thorell, while Soft Opening (London) presents  artists Alix Vernet and Ryan Driscoll. Vienna based gallery Sophie Tappeiner hosts the photographer Sophie Thun (supported by the Austrian Embassy) and the sculptor Sydney Shen. Finally, Zeller Van Almsick (Vienna), also from the austrian capital presents the work of Jonny Niesche.

Art Athina is a member of Athens Culture Net.

The 24th edition of Art Athina is organised by the Hellenic Art Gallery Association and supported by the European Regional Development Fund within the framework of the Regional Operational Programme “Attika” 2014-2020.

Art Athina Summer Pop Up
19-23 June 2019
Aiolou 48-50

Opening hours:
Wednesday 19 June 16:00-23:00
Thursday 20 June to Sunday 23 June: 13:00 – 21:00

 

The fourth meeting of the Educational Programme of the Hellenic Art Galleries Association and The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation within the framework of Art Athina 2019 took place in the studio of the artist Manolis Daskalakis Lemos, who spoke on the importance of building a solid narration as an artist and on the need for action not only individually but also at group level during school years. Afterwards the students visited CAN Christina Androulidaki gallery, where they  were guided through the different approaches of the art market in Athens and London.

At the beginning of May, the Acropolis Friends Association printed, with the kind support of the J. F. Costopoulos Foundation, the archaeological guide “Acropolis and Museum” in Spanish. The guide describes the Acropolis Monuments and the exhibits of the Acropolis Museum and belongs to the unity “Archaeological walks around the Acropolis”. The unity includes seven archaeological guides, as follows: “Acropolis and Museum”, “Ancient Agora of Athens – Areopagus Hill”, “Roman Agora – Library of Hadrian”, “Hills of Philopappos – Pnyx – Nymphs”, “Museum of Ancient Agora of Athens”, “North, East and West Slopes of the Acropolis” and “South Slope of the Acropolis”.

The third meeting of the educational programme of the Hellenic Art Galleries Association and the J. F. Costopoulos Foundation for Art Athina 2019 took place at Eleftheria Tseliou Gallery of Eleftheria Tseliou at Kolonaki, followed by a discussion with her and the artist Eozen Αgopian. Eleftheria Tseliou highlighted the importance of a gallery to have an identity and a clear direction, but also the making of a trust relationship between the gallery and the artist, that leads to the duration of the works over time. While the artist talked about her work οn the occasion of the exhibition that the gallery is currently hosting with the title “Unfold”. Αccording to her “My work is organic, each work has to do with multi-sensitivity, it’s an unfolding process of what you see”. Moreover, she stressed the importance of colour in her work, saying “Colour is personal to me”.

The second meeting of the educational programme of the Hellenic Art Galleries Association and The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation for Art Athina 2019 took place in the studio of the artist Nikos Arvanitis, who spoke on the importance of the viewers’ interaction with his work. As he stated, “All my works are a representation that does not remain 100% realistic, but its aim is to render the whole plot to something new.” Afterwards the students visited a.antonopoulou art gallery of Angeliki Antonopoulou, according to whom the interrelations of the gallery with the artist and the art historian are and should be creative and based on confidence and mutual respect.

The 6^th OPEN HOUSE Athens is back! On 6 & 7 April 2019, 100 buildings open their doors; 500 volunteers are getting ready to guide us!

The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation participates for the first time and welcomes the public in its historical building at 9 Ploutarchou Street, once the residence of the archaeologists C. Blegen, B. Hill, and their wifes. The free architectural guided tours by the volunteers of the 6^th OPEN HOUSE Athens will take place on April 6 and 7, from 12:00 to 16:00.

The building

The building at the corner of Ploutarchou and Karneadou St, at the foot of Mount Lycabettus, was built in 1895-96 for Nikolaos Sardis on land which belonged initially to the Petrakis Monastery. Three years after its completion it was sold by the original owner to army officer Richardos Karamalikis, and in 1917 it was bought by the merchant brothers Gerasimos and Georgios Raftopoulos, who sold it in turn to Elizabeth Blegen in 1929.Since then, and until recently, the neoclassical building formed part of the lives of two prominent American archaeologists, Carl Blegen and Bert Hill, and their wives Elizabeth Blegen and Ida Hill, also archaeologists.

The famous residents’ stay at the villa and their contribution to the world of Greek archaeology culminated in 1963, when Elizabeth Blegen donated the house and its furniture to the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. In 1973, after the Blegens had died and as the School faced financial problems, the property was sold to Basil and Elise Goulandris. In 1988 it was bought by Markos Lemos, who erected in the plot the shop and office building known as the Lemos International Center (LIC). Already by that time, following the State’s intervention, the Blegen residence had been declared a listed building in 1983 as “a work of art in need of special protection”, according to the final opinion by the Central Council for Modern Monuments.

Alpha Bank purchased the building in 1991. Following the refurbishment of the interior and the restoration of the ceiling paintings revealed during the process, the building housed the Private Banking Division of Alpha Bank until 2007. Meanwhile, in 2004 it had become the property of the J. F. Costopoulos Foundation, which moved into it in 2008.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Organisation: OPEN HOUSE GREECE

Open House Greece is a Non Profit Civil Partnership aiming to promote architecture in Greece and abroad, through the annual events Open House Athens and Open House Thessaloniki. Founded in 2012, it belongs to the wider family of Open House Worldwide (www.openhouseworldwide.org), which ensures the global promotion of each Open House event.

 

Educational Programme of The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation and the Hellenic Art Galleries Association for the students of Athens School of Fine Arts

March 23, 2019 / The first meeting of the Educational Programme 2019 of the Hellenic Art Galleries Association and The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation for Art Athina 2019 took place in the studio of the artist Yorgos Maraziotis, who spoke extensively on the importance of collaborating with other artists. Afterwards, the students visited Nitra Gallery whose owner and director Aliki Tsirliagkou encouraged the students to support the local art scene by being socially active.

 

 

 

 

 

Photo Cretids: Evangelos Dimopoulos

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo Cretids: Evangelos Dimopoulos

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“These are the labels I like to read”

 An educational programme at the archeological site of Kerameikos

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This educational programme aims to investigate the possibility for children to produce explanatory labels for other children visiting an archeological site. During this pilot programme, children would be encouraged to design the format as well as write the content of the labels.

This project emerges from the need to make the greek cultural heritage more attractive, comprehensive and accesible to children and their families. We hope to accomplish this by recording the interests and the ways a group of children between 9-10 years old and coming from different social backgrounds, gain knowledge. Two schools are participating in this programme and they are Hill Memorial School and the 49th Primary School at Kerameikos, a state school that almost  all pupils are immigrants of second generation, from many different countries of the world as is Albania, China, Egypt, Alfganistan, Bangladesh and a few refugee children from Syria. The groups will be comprised of 20-24 children in total from both schools. The duration of the project is 4 months, from March to June 2019.

The methods to be followed will include research of sources, on-site recording of findings, participations in guided tours, interviews, sketching, photographing and exploration games.

At the end of the programme there will be an open invitation presentation to showcase the work that children have done.

The programme is designed by Alkistis Halikia, Museum Educator-Writer and is under the scientific supervision of Dr Marlen Mouliou, (Lecturer in Museum Studies, Faculty of History and Archaeology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, School of Philosophy).

 

 

 

 

 

The programme is supported by the J. F. Costopoulos Foundation.

The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation and Sissy Papathanassiou, Art Director of Analogio Festival, present the book “Analogio 2005-2017. Dramatic and Stage Writing in Greece”.

This publication, in both Greek and English, demonstrates eloquently and vividly the successful journey of Greek playwriting in Analogio Festival, from its beginning in 2005 to this day. It highlights the already historic course and the appeal of Analogio on a performing and research level.

At the same time this book provides a forum for the theoretical approach of new plays in the form of staged theatrical readings, on the basis of their historical, social and artistic context, in Greece and abroad.

It finally underlines the value and the necessity of supporting Greek playwriting and dramaturgy, developing creative dialogue with the theatre of other countries and bringing the Greek audience and playwrights in substantial interaction with the international artistic, literary and theatrical community and audience.

The first presentation of the book took place in Athens, at the Amphitheatre of the Benaki Museum / 138 Pireos Street, on Thursday 31 January 2019, and the second presentation followed at the Sarajevo Winter Festival on February 8, 2019.

The publication may be obtained either at ALPHA BANK – CULTURE store, 40 Stadiou street, Athens (www.alphapolitismos.gr/eshop) or at the Bookstore of the Benaki Museum, 138 Pireos street, Athens.

For further information about the publication and the presentations:

Tel. +30 210 7293507, +30 697 724 1106

e-mail: info@costopoulosfoundation.org,  analogiotheaterfestival@gmail.com& info@analogiofestival.org

Filling the Well at the Codex Book Fair

 

 

Argyro Chioti/VASISTAS theatre group

Apologies 4&5
by Efthimis Filippou

St.Paul’s Anglican Church

28 & 29/1, 5/2, 11 & 12/2, 18/2

Argyro Chioti with her theatre group VASISTAS, bring again Apologies 4&5 by Efthimis Filippou, only for a few performances, from 28^th   of January until the 18^th of February in St.Paul’s Anglican Church in the center of Athens.

One judge. An undefined metaphysical leading figure who borrows elements from a school examiner a police investigator and a psychoanalyst. Two examinees. A woman and a man at the same age. In the middle edge of their lives. They become voluntarily subjects examined either for social inclusion or exclusion. In an empty space and an undefined time, they review all the turning points that determined their lives until now. It is a moment of redefining and reviewing their past. A moment of reckoning with their memory.

The basic demand: who will achieve to join the women’s choir, – ultimate witness and judge of the trial, who sings the same polyphonic song, again and again, throughout the entire performance.

The theatre play of Efthimis Filippou is a lyrical and poetic text which attempts to wander about the internal geography of two people. A precipitation in the details that compose their lives.

The women’s choir was created based on inspirations by the work of the artist Christina Calbari, Aleksandra Waliszewska and the polyphonic group A Filetta.

«If swimming gives you pleasure, may you never dive again into clear blue waters.

If you sleep soundly at night may your pillow turn to stone and your sheet to steel.

If you do not tell the truth here tonight, then you are not worthy of dancing, not even for a minute and you’ll stand over there alone till you die»

 

THE TEAM

Text: Efthimis Filippou

Stage direction: Argyro Chioti

Assistant director : Antonis Antonopoulos

Scenography : Babis Chiotis

Musique and chorus : Henri Kergomar

Costumes : Christina Calbari

Lighting : Elisavet Alexandropoulou

Artistique collaboration : Ariane Labed

With: Evi Saoulidou, Efthimis Theou, Fidel Talamboukas and Betta (a dog)

Chorus: Argyro Chioti, Eleni Vergeti, Georgina Christkioti, Matina Pergioudaki, Evdoxia Androulidaki

                                                                                                 

Place: St.Paul’s Anglican Church (Filellinon 27, Sintagma)

Dates: 28 & 29 January, 5, 11, 12 & 18 February 2019

At 21:00

Duration: 70 minutes

Tickets: 12€ and 8€

Reservations: 0030 6944 965 863

Tickets can be found in St.Paul’s Anglican Church the dates of the performance from 19:30 and until the beginning of the performance.

 

Following an order of priority

*with English and French subtitles

 

Photos (high res):
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/3j4papsrzllfaz3/AABWVDS2nk9EI8xbnh1ZJ63Ia?dl=0

With the kind support of
THE J. F. COSTOPOULOS FOUNDATION

 

Organisation of production and diffusion of Argyro’s Chioti and VASISTAS theatre group’s performances in France: Sophie Clot | sophieclot@hotmail.fr |

 

Info: Apologies 4&5 was first presented only for three days in Athens & Epidaurus Festival 2016 in Piraeus 260, in co production with Athens & Epidaurus Festival, NEON supporting creativity, Carolos Koun theatre Technis. Was then presented in Parallèle -7 Festival, Bernardines th. Marseille (January 2017), Comédie de Reims, Reims, (February 2017), Théâtre de la Bastille, Paris, (May 2017), SKG Bridges Festival, Museum of Modern Art, Thessaloniki (May 2018)

www.vas.eu.com | info@vas.eu.com

THE J. F. COSTOPOULOS FOUNDATION                        ANALOGIO FESTIVAL

PRESS RELEASE

After the first presentation of the book “Analogio 2005-2017. Dramatic and Stage Writing in Greece”, a successful event on January 31, 2019 in Athens, at the Benaki Museum / 138 Pireos Street,  the second presentation follows at the Sarajevo Winter Festival on February 8, 2019.

This publication, in both Greek and English, demonstrates eloquently and vividly the successful journey of Greek playwriting in Analogio Festival, from its beginning in 2005 to this day. It highlights the already historic course and the appeal of Analogio on a performing and research level.

At the same time this book provides a forum for the theoretical approach of new plays in the form of staged theatrical readings, on the basis of their historical, social and artistic context, in Greece and abroad.

It finally underlines the value and the necessity of supporting Greek playwriting and dramaturgy, developing creative dialogue with the theatre of other countries and bringing the Greek audience and playwrights in substantial interaction with the international artistic, literary and theatrical community and audience.

 

First presentation in Athens

Speakers:

• Hector P. Verykios, Director, The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation
• Sissy Papathanassiou, art and culture historian, Art Director of Analogio Festival
• Gonda Van Steen, Professor, Koraes Chair of Modern Greek and Byzantine History,

Language and Literature, King’s College London

• Platon Mavromoustakos, Professor, Theatre Studies Department, School of Philosophy, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
• Anna Karakatsouli, Associate Professor, Theatre Studies Department, School of Philosophy, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens

Introduced and moderated by: Meni Strongyli, editor of the English publication, Projects Manager of The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation

For further information about the publication and the presentations:

Tel. +30 210 7293507, +30 697 724 1106

e-mail: info@costopoulosfoundation.org, analogiotheaterfestival@gmail.com & info@analogiofestival.org

 

About Analogio Festival

Analogio Festival started in the early 2000s and has been established as a festival of Greek playwriting which promotes the text, underscores its theatricality and demonstrates the magic of the theatre. The idea is to provide a forum for the first on-stage presentation of emerging, ascending as well as established playwrights; to create a privileged locus, a meeting point for Greek dramaturgy with that of other countries.

Moreover, it works with international artists, dramatists and curators, takes part in international networks, collaborates with the International Playwrights’ Forum (IPF) and the International Theatre Institute of UNESCO, is a member of the European Festival Association (EFA) and has been awarded the 2017 Remarkable Festival label by EFFE–Europe for Festivals, Festivals for Europe– as “an important effort for the promotion of artistic creation and cultural exchange, on an international level”.

Analogio has grown into an institution of international scope; a thoroughly cosmopolitan event; a protocol of cultural intervention as well as of cultural diplomacy. To this day it has presented to the public 150 new Greek and foreign plays in its main programme and some 250 events with almost 1,200 contributing artists. Over 120 writers watched their plays for the first time on the stage of Analogio, while new playwrights from Greece and abroad introduced themselves through the festival. Similarly, young directors, actors, musicians, choreographers, photographers and visual artists, most of whom are now accredited members of the country’s art scene, first presented their artistic propositions in Analogio. Many of the festival’s productions went on to feature in national, municipal and commercial theatres. Plays and literary works among those that premiered in Analogio were translated, travelled to similar events in Greece and beyond and were nominated for and awarded international prizes (www.analogiofestival.org).

 

About The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation

The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation, a non-profit charitable institution, was founded in 1979, on the occasion of the centenary of the Alpha Bank, then operating as Credit Bank, in memory of its founder John F. Costopoulos by its then Chairman, the late Spyros Costopoulos and his wife Eurydice.

The aim of the Foundation is to contribute towards the advancement of arts, education, research, cultural heritage, and to assist in welfare acts. Embodying its purpose, as it is stipulated by its Articles of Association and Operation, the Foundation continuously supports the safeguarding and promotion of Greek culture both in Greece and abroad.

The foundation often collaborates with other important institutions in order to either support initiatives of common, more particularly national, interest or realize ventures in tune with its purposes.

It supports projects having to do with the preservation and promotion of ancient Greek, Byzantine and contemporary Greek civilization.

In addition, one of its main goals is the empowerment of artistic creativity and activities. Within this framework, the Foundation has linked its name with modern and contemporary visual art exhibitions, mainly retrospectives, for Greek or Greek-born artists of international acclaim in Greece and abroad, and their accompanying catalogues, while also  important, as well as numerous, are the subsidies in the areas of Theatre, music, dance and cinema. The Foundation’s relation particularly with the Analogio Festival dates back to the very first year of the Festival’s realization (www.costopoulosfoundation.org).

 

PRESS RELEASE

 Phaedra I—, written and directed by Avra Sidiropoulou, is Athens-based Persona Theatre Company’s new international project, which brings together artists from Greece and the U.K. The show opens at Tristan Bates Theatre in central London, playing for a limited run (18^th-23^rd February 2019).

This is a solo multimedia portrayal of a modern-day Phaedra, the legendary wife of King Theseus, who falls hopelessly in love with her young son-in-law, Hippolytus. In this version, she bears all the ambiguities of a restless, contemporary woman, who oscillates between the desires of the flesh and the attraction to the void, as she suffocates in her socially imposed roles within the ruins of a decaying metropolis.

The production’s use of 3-D mapping, video projections and minimalist aesthetics yields a highly poetic visual trip through Phaedra’s stations of personal and public history. The performer embodies all the characters of the ancient myth passed onto us by Euripides, Seneca and Racine. Taking on their speech, Phaedra is also in constant dialogue with her digital selves, becoming Aphrodite, Theseus, Hippolytus, the Chorus and the crisis-ridden City itself. Struggling to escape the existential fatigue that plagues her, she ultimately emerges as a palimpsest of voices, images and memories.

A haunting, multi-sensory rendering of the insatiable desire for motion and for love.

18th – 23rd February 2019

Τristan Bates Theatre,

1A Tower St, Covent Garden
WC2H 9NP London

Tel. +44 020 3841 6601

Nearest tube station: Covent Garden / Leicester Square Station

For ticket sales and exact show times visit:

https://www.tristanbatestheatre.co.uk/whats-on/phaedra-i

boxoffice@actorscentre.co.uk

 

SHOW DETAILS 

Phaedra: Elena Pellone

Playwright – Director : Avra Sidiropoulou

Set/Costume/Video designer: Mikaela Liakata

Concept dramaturg: Miranda Manasiadis

Dramaturg: Eleni Gkini

Composer: Vanias Apergis

Lighting Designer: Anna Sbokou

Assistant Directors: Julia Kogou, Maria Hadjistylli

Director of photography: Michael Demetrius

http://www.persona.gr/

With the kind support of
THE J. F. COSTOPOULOS FOUNDATION

 

 

THE J. F. COSTOPOULOS FOUNDATION                        ANALOGIO FESTIVAL

PRESS RELEASE

The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation and Sissy Papathanassiou, Art Director of Analogio Festival, present the book “Analogio 2005-2017. Dramatic and Stage Writing in Greece”.

This publication, in both Greek and English, demonstrates eloquently and vividly the successful journey of Greek playwriting in Analogio Festival, from its beginning in 2005 to this day. It highlights the already historic course and the appeal of Analogio on a performing and research level.

At the same time this book provides a forum for the theoretical approach of new plays in the form of staged theatrical readings, on the basis of their historical, social and artistic context, in Greece and abroad.

It finally underlines the value and the necessity of supporting Greek playwriting and dramaturgy, developing creative dialogue with the theatre of other countries and bringing the Greek audience and playwrights in substantial interaction with the international artistic, literary and theatrical community and audience.

The first presentation of the book will take place in Athens, at the Amphitheatre of the Benaki Museum / 138 Pireos Street, on Thursday 31 January 2019, at 18.30.

Presentations by:

• Hector P. Verykios, Director, The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation
• Sissy Papathanassiou, art and culture historian, Art Director of Analogio Festival
• Gonda Van Steen, Professor, Koraes Chair of Modern Greek and Byzantine History,

Language and Literature, King’s College London

• Platon Mavromoustakos, Professor, Theatre Studies Department, School of Philosophy, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
• Anna Karakatsouli, Associate Professor, Theatre Studies Department, School of Philosophy, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens

Introduced and moderated by: Meni Strongyli, editor of the English publication, Projects Manager of The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation

A discussion will follow.

 

For further information about the publication and the presentation:

Tel. +30 210 7293507, +30 697 724 1106

e-mail: info@costopoulosfoundation.org & info@analogiofestival.org

 

About Analogio Festival

Analogio Festival started in the early 2000s and has been established as a festival of Greek playwriting which promotes the text, underscores its theatricality and demonstrates the magic of the theatre. The idea is to provide a forum for the first on-stage presentation of emerging, ascending as well as established playwrights; to create a privileged locus, a meeting point for Greek dramaturgy with that of other countries.

Moreover, it works with international artists, dramatists and curators, takes part in international networks, collaborates with the International Playwrights’ Forum (IPF) and the International Theatre Institute of UNESCO, is a member of the European Festival Association (EFA) and has been awarded the 2017 Remarkable Festival label by EFFE–Europe for Festivals, Festivals for Europe– as “an important effort for the promotion of artistic creation and cultural exchange, on an international level”.

Analogio has grown into an institution of international scope; a thoroughly cosmopolitan event; a protocol of cultural intervention as well as of cultural diplomacy. To this day it has presented to the public 150 new Greek and foreign plays in its main programme and some 250 events with almost 1,200 contributing artists. Over 120 writers watched their plays for the first time on the stage of Analogio, while new playwrights from Greece and abroad introduced themselves through the festival. Similarly, young directors, actors, musicians, choreographers, photographers and visual artists, most of whom are now accredited members of the country’s art scene, first presented their artistic propositions in Analogio. Many of the festival’s productions went on to feature in national, municipal and commercial theatres. Plays and literary works among those that premiered in Analogio were translated, travelled to similar events in Greece and beyond and were nominated for and awarded international prizes (www.analogiofestival.org).

 

About The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation

The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation, a non-profit charitable institution, was founded in 1979, on the occasion of the centenary of the Alpha Bank, then operating as Credit Bank, in memory of its founder John F. Costopoulos by its then Chairman, the late Spyros Costopoulos and his wife Eurydice.

The aim of the Foundation is to contribute towards the advancement of arts, education, research, cultural heritage, and to assist in welfare acts. Embodying its purpose, as it is stipulated by its Articles of Association and Operation, the Foundation continuously supports the safeguarding and promotion of Greek culture both in Greece and abroad.

The foundation often collaborates with other important institutions in order to either support initiatives of common, more particularly national, interest or realize ventures in tune with its purposes.

It supports projects having to do with the preservation and promotion of ancient Greek, Byzantine and contemporary Greek civilization.

In addition, one of its main goals is the empowerment of artistic creativity and activities. Within this framework, the Foundation has linked its name with modern and contemporary visual art exhibitions, mainly retrospectives, for Greek or Greek-born artists of international acclaim in Greece and abroad, and their accompanying catalogues, while also important, as well as numerous, are the subsidies in the areas of Theatre, music, dance and cinema. The Foundation’s relation particularly with the Analogio Festival dates back to the very first year of the Festival’s realization (www.costopoulosfoundation.org).

June 30th was the deadline date for submission of applications to The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation for financial support of projects scheduled to be conducted in the twelve-month period beginning February 2019. We thank you!

 

Art Athina, in collaboration with The J.F. Costopoulos Foundation, establishes an educational programme for students of the Athens School of Fine Arts running all year round. Art Athina Educational Programme aims to Inform, inspire and prepare young artists and theorists for their introduction to the art industry. Christina Nakou and Daphne Kourl, visual artists, are responsible for the management and coordination of the programme. The new venture will be presented in the context of the Talks of Art Athina 2018.

 

There follows the programme of the Talks of Art Athina 2018.

---

The Talks program of Art Athina 2018 has been conceived as a curated group show which will not follow the traditional forms of visual art projects but it will present Logos. Thus, instead of art works. Logos will occupy this special project and the audience will be able to listen to a show and not to see it. Each group of participants, will be a crucial fragment of the general concept adding important key elements to the Talk’s synthesis. During the three days, the speakers will reveal different ideological views, different philosophies, contradictory orientations and they will develop critical investigation on a common ground: the city of Athens. The program aims to articulate a variety of cultural expressions and forms as well as new approaches towards critical ambitions and the production of knowledge.

Katerina Nikou
Independent curator
based in Athens, Greece

 

 

Talks                   Thursday, June 21

Strophe, a Turning
14.00- 15.00

The screening is followed by a talk with artist Ellie Ga, moderated by Helena Papadopoulos, founder. Radio Athens

Strophe, a Turning (2017) opens with the artist quoting the Russian poet Osip Mandelstam who compares launching a message in a bottle to the act of writing a poem to an unknown reader. Taking cues from both a bottle at sea and the beachcomber who eventually happens upon it, Ga initially developed the work out of her interest in how drifting objects have been used to chart sea movement. But her willingness to drift and follow uncertain turns, carries her unexpectedly to the Greek island of Symi, and then to the shores of its neighbour Lesvos, during the summer of 2015.

Ga is confronted by the mutable context of these islands, and decides to join a team of volunteers aiding asylum seekers and refugees-a definitive turning point at which she is forced to wrestle not only with the poetics of accidental drift, but with urgent political and humanitarian realities with which she confronts, processes, and situates within a nuanced and complex history of endurance, faith, and indeed, chance.

Ellie Ga
37 min.
Language: English, Greek
2017

 

Educational Program
17.00 – 18.00

Art Athina Educational Program in synergy with Τhe J. F. Costopoulos Foundation aims to bring together students from the Athens School of Fine Arts with artists and the galleries that represent them.

Through this exchange of ideas, the program informs, inspires and prepares young artists and theorists for their introduction to the art industry.

During the presentation of the program, in the Talks section, artists Daphne Kouri and Christina Nakou, coordinators of the Art Athina Educational Program discuss with the representatives of Art Athina and Τhe J. F. Costopoulos Foundation, students from the ASFA, artists and art professionals who participated in the program.

 

A discussion in honour of
Tamuna Sirbiladze
18.00-19.00

On the occasion of this year’s Art Athina the Vienna based Gallery Charim in collaboration with the Austrian Embassy in Athens will pay a special tribute to late artist Tamuna Sirbiladze.

Having attended the Vienna Art Academy, the Georgian born artist lived and worked in Vienna for many years. Her unexpected death in the spring of 2016 left behind a corpus of works that are the subject of a posthumous mono¬graph published by David Zwirner books.

Taking into account her visits (and fond-ness) for Athens, a well selected choice of her works will be presented. Additionally, a single dynamic sculpture will be shown by Sirbiladze’s friend and contemporary, the Austrian artist Elizabeth Penker.

Moderator
Max Henry (Vienna)
Participants
Benedikt Ledebur (Vienna)
Denys Zacharopoulos (Athens)

 

talk powered
by TheTOC.gr
19.30 – 20.30

How is Art promoted in Greece
in the last decade?”

Representatives of leading cultural institutions of the country share their views on the way, the necessity, the purpose and the effectiveness of Art promotion in Greece in the last ten years.

Greeting
from the President of TheTOC
Elli Stai
Moderated by journalist of TheTOC
Katerina Lyberopoulou

 

Talks                   Friday, June 22

Music
and Painting
17.00-18.00

The key to living together

Structural, historical and sociological conditions for the co-existence of music and painting in the “Pantheon of Arts”: From the Renaissance to Impressionism.

Curator
Haris Xanthoudakis

 

Contemporary art
in the Athenian
landscape after
2000 / part 1
18.15 -19.15

The participants of this panel share a common element: they moved to Athens in an era where the financial and social crisis in Greece were at the pick. In this era of precarious conditions, they founded new project spaces as Athens now is considered to be one of the top destinations for new opportunities for the art production.

What are the reasons to open a space now in Athens when the majority of the local art spaces try to be sustainable? How do these new spaces formulate their program and how are they connected to the cultural field of Greece? What are the affiliations with the city, the art¬ists, the curators, the institutions?

Participants
Hugo Wheeler founder of Hot Wheels Project
Athens,
Alex Eagleton founder of Aetopoulos Project
Space Athens,
Macklin Kowal founder of Sub Rosa Space Athens
Curator Katerina Nikou

 

Contemporary art
in the Athenian
 landscape after
2000 / part 2
19.30 – 20.30

The Athenian landscape regarding contem¬porary art was transformed after 2000 with the opening of galleries and project spaces from young people who decided to relocate to Athens.

They all had the experience from the international art scene thus they brought this experience in the city and presented to the local audience the new trends and new perspectives.

The public had the opportunity to follow exhibitions of local and international artists beyond the mainstream criteria without having to travel abroad.
The participants will present the vision they had and the program that they developed as well as their views on then and now.

Participants
Vassilis Balatsos artist, co-founder of Unlim¬ited Gallery Athens,
Els-Hanappe founder of Els-Hanappe Underground Athens,
Sofia Vamiali founder of Vamiali’s gallery Athens
Curator Katerina Nikou

 

Talks                   Saturday, June 23

Music
and Painting
17.00-18.00

Uniting ruptures

The disconnection of painting from the func¬tion of representation and of music from the function of the ” investment” of biotic and social time.

Photography and”light music” – abstrac¬tion and atonality. Interartistic relevance in expressionism, cubism and futurism. ‘The Wed-ding” by Léger. “Les Noces” by Stravinsky.

Curator
Haris Xanthoudakis

 

Curating exhibitions:
Views from the artist’s
perspective
18.00-19.15

There has been an international discourse about the relationship among artists, curators, art-historians and the audience. This phenome-non. is a consequence of the huge expansion of the role of the curator in the formulation of a dialogue regarding arts in the social sphere.

It is generally admitted, that despite some differences, there is a common condition that artists-curators and curators share: the catholic involvement in the process of making an exhibition which covers and demands many skills.

The transformation of the artist-curator to actually a self-entrepreneur happened silently through the years and resulted to a general pre-conception of the artist- curator as a pro-fessional Individual in the art-world.

The guest speakers belong to a generation which activated the contemporary art scene in Greece foremost following their personal moti-vation to act and express themselves.

The aim Is not to make a cartography of the curatorial practices in Greece but to em-phasize on particular times, places and gestures.
Participants
Andreas Angelidakis / artist and architect / Kostas Christopoulos/ artist. Caroline May / artist. Dimitra Vamiali / artist. Jannis Varelas / artist. Kostis Velonis / artist

Cutaror / Moderator Katerina Nikou

 

Philosophies
of Curating
19.30 – 20.30

Paul B. Preciado and Elena Sorokina are two cu-rators coming from different backgrounds both active in Europe.Paul B. Preciado is a philoso-pher. curator, and one of the leading thinkers in the study of gender and sexual politics.

He was Curator of Public Programs of documenta 14 (Kassel/Athens). He is a writer in residency at th-e LUMA Foundation, Arlès, France.Elena Sorokina is curator for the High Institute of Fine Arts in Gent. Belgium, previously she worked as curatorial advisor for documenta 14.

They will develop their thoughts and pres¬ent their practices about the making of the exhi¬bition under different frameworks and needs.

The role of the curators as well as the responsi-bility that they carry when they communicate a message to the audience.

Moreover, the obstacles, barriers and social issues that they need to research, examine and contemplate when they develop their curatorial methodologies.

Participants
Paul B. Preciado. Elena Sorokina
Gutaror/ Moderator
Katerina Nikou

 

Talks                   Sunday, June 24

Music
and Painting
17.00-18.00

Experiments and visions

Developments in technology and interartistic applications. Concept and realization: Art of the ideal and the minimal – perspectives. Questioning artistic boundaries and the new forms of artistic expression.

The present and the future of aesthetics in meta-modernism.

The talks will be addressing the general public and will be interspersed by numerous examples of image and sound.

Curator
Haris Xanthoudakis

 

Cultural activity in a
metropolitan city: the
London case
18.15 – 19.15

This talk includes participants who are based in London and are active in the city, a city that was and still is a metropolis of contemporary art. Though this does not mean that being an art professional in London is an easy case.There is a lot of competition with big institutions which set specific profiles whilst small institutions try to be sustainable.

Moreover, the majority of the art world wishes to move there and find a spot in the map. But what about the city per se? The scene per se which constantly accepts new audiences?

How the political situation influences the public, the visitors, the infrastructures, the institutions in an era where UK tries to balance between being or not a European city? What are the implications related to the art market, the notion of collection, in general to the cultural map of London? And last but not least, is it necessary to be inside Europe or outside Europe in order to belong somewhere with an international visibility? Or shall someone stay consistent, persistent and with a solid vision with long term aims?

Participants
David Gryn, director of Daata Editions, London/ Antonia Marsh, director of Soft Opening gallery,
London/ Leopold Thun director of Emalin gallery,
London
Curaror / Moderator Katerina Nikou

 

Cultural production and
the audience / How do we
go public?
19.30 –  20.30

The social transformation that takes place in the contemporary era cannot be unrelated to culture and the production of knowledge. The latest years, we try to follow a wide range of projects from contemporary art exhibitions, theatre and film works to concerts, performanc es and other cultural events. Though, this gives the impression that things happen and people are active, the question is what is the quality behind these open forms of expression? Going public through culture is not as simple as it seems. Organizing any kind of event means that you address your concerns to the audience but the contemporary audience is more able than ever to evaluate the cultural production and its context and content.

The participants come from different backgrounds of cultural production wrhich deals with the audience. They will develop their thoughts and ways of communicating to the public their primary aims and concerns whilst scheduling their program. How can we trans¬form culture to a meeting point of a collective thought? How contemporary art can influence the general opinion of the public? Has art this kind of power? How we define quality in art? In which ways do we respect the audience? What kind of audience we want?

Participants
Cornelius van Almsick founder of Zeller van Aim-
sick Gallery, Vienna/Anestis Azas, artistic director
of the Experimental Stage -1 of the National
Theater Athens, Nadia Gerazouni/director the
Breeder Gallery Athens, Mari Spirito/Founding
director of Protocinema

Curaror / Moderator Katerina Nikou

 

 

Christos Joachimides, art historian, passed away at the age of 85. The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation had the great honour to collaborate with the important Greek curator in 1994, in the context of Jannis Kounellis’ retrospective exhibition on the cargo vessel IONION, in the harbour of Piraeus.

Born in Athens in 1932, at the age of 20 he went to Germany to study philosophy and literature in Stuttgart and art history and cultural sociology in Heidelberg. After 1958 he lived in Berlin, and in recent years he had returned to Greece.

In 2011 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Visual Arts Department of the Athens School of Fine Arts, whose Senate decided to pay tribute to Christos Joachimides for his distinguished contribution in the field of contemporary art. He donated his extensive library to the Athens School of Fine Arts, whose Library has a wing named after him. He is leaving behind a considerable body of writings on issues pertaining to art.

Maria Lalou, Greek visual artist who lives and works in Netherlands, presents her research project entitled “What do you see?” in Fall Open Studios 2017, in the context of her participation in the International Studio and Curatorial Program (ISCP), in New York, with the kind support of The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Read more:

Maria Lalou Greece/The Netherlands, Artist

Emphasizing audience members as active thinkers, Lalou creates research-based work about “the politics of the viewer.” Her works take the form of large-scale installations, performances, and publications, creating rhythms that synchronize past and present. Using her studio as a laboratory, Lalou evaluates with diagrammatic drawings the parameters of an algorithm that will govern the relation of the camera to the viewer, using architectural display as a three-dimensional matrix. Recent exhibitions include Performance Biennial, Athens; MoMart base for emerging and independent artists, Amsterdam; and Center of Contemporary Art in Thessaloniki.

 

 

 

 

 

 

iscp

international studio & curatorial program

About ISCP

The International Studio & Curatorial Program (ISCP) supports the creative development of artists and curators, and promotes exchange through residencies and public programs. Housed in a former factory in Brooklyn, with 35 light-filled work studios and two galleries, ISCP is New York’s most comprehensive international visual arts residency program, founded in 1994. ISCP organizes exhibitions, events and offsite projects, which are free and open to all, sustaining a vibrant community of contemporary art practitioners and diverse audiences. Over 1,300 artists and curators from more than 75 countries, including the United States have undertaken residencies at ISCP.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ACC – Asian Cultural Council; Aisho Miura Arts; Alfred Kordelin Foundation; Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst; Australia Council for the Arts; The Beckett Foundation; BKA – Bundeskanzleramt Osterreich Kunst und Kultur / Arts and Culture Division of the Federal Chancellery of Austria; Canada Council for the Arts; Conseil des arts et des lettres du Quebec; Creative New Zealand; Danish Arts Foundation; Den Hielmstierne-Rosencroneske Stiftelse; Estonian Contemporary Art Development Center; The Fulbright Foundation in Greece; Hasselblad Foundation; IASPIS – The Swedish Arts Grants Committee’s International Programme for Visual Artists; The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Foundation; James Wallace Arts Trust; The J.F. Costopoulos Foundation; KdFS Kulturstiftung des Freistaates Sachsen; Knud Hojgaards Fond; Mondriaan Fonds; National Endowment for the Arts; The New York Community Trust’s Edward and Sally Van Lier Fund; New York City Council District 34; New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council; Niedersachsisches Ministerium fur Wissenschaft und Kultur and Niedersachsische Sparkassenstiftung; OCA – Office for Contemporary Art Norway; Yoko Ono; The Pollock-Krasner Foundation, Inc.; Rubicon Gallery; Danna and Ed Ruscha; SAHA Association; Senate Department for Culture and Europe; Toby Devan Lewis Donor Advised Fund of the Jewish Federation of Cleveland; and Alice and Lawrence Weiner.

 

This program is supported, in part, by Arrogant Swine; Austrian Cultural Forum New York; Consulate General of Denmark in New York; Consulate General of Finland in New York; Consulate General of Sweden in New York; Google; Greenwich Collection, Ltd.; Lagunitas Brewing Company; Materials for the Arts; The Milton and Sally Avery Arts Foundation; National Endowment for the Arts; New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council; New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature; Royal Norwegian Consulate General in New York; and Tattly.

ISCP thanks the members of the Director’s Circle for their generous support: Anne Altchek, Janet Brief Ezersky, Karyn Issa Greenwald Ginsberg, Ellen Rachlin, Lori Reinsberg, Tracey Riese, Laurie Sprayregen, and Teri Volpert.

 

 

 

 

 

 

FALL OPEN STUDIOS 2017

PRESENTING INTERNATIONAL CONTEMPORARY ART IN BROOKLYN

The International Studio & Curatorial Program (ISCP)Fall Open Studios is a two-day exhibition of international contemporary art presented by the 36 artists and curators from 22 countries currently in residence.

Twice a year only, ISCP offers the public access to the inner sanctum of artists’ and curators’ studios to view artwork and share one-on-one conversations. In these current times, spaces for open discourse are more important than ever—we invite the public to engage in dialogue about contemporary art with arts professionals from across the globe. Concentrated in a three-story postindustrial loft building on the edge of Bushwick, ISCP has supported the creative advancement of residents for over twenty years, with a robust program of private individual workspaces and professional benefits.

Concrete Truth: Art and the Documentary will be on view during Open Studios. Concrete Truth considers vital questions around fact and image-making. The exhibition presents recent lens-based works positioned at the boundary of art and the documentary. It takes stock of documentary art work produced in the last few years, highlighting the various ways artists represent political and social realities in an age of global disinformation. Artists in the exhibition include Edgardo Aragon, Eric Baudelaire, Paolo Cirio, Maryam Jafri, belit sag, and Krista Belle Stewart. The exhibition is curated by Kari Conte, Director of Programs and Exhibitions, ISCP.

Artworks for the 2017 ISCP Benefit Auction will be available for viewing in the Project Space.

Temporary tattoos designed by residents Cem Dinlenmi§ and Jess Johnson will be provided free by Tattly, and a limited edition by Cary Leibowitz will be available for purchase.

 

PARTICIPATING ARTISTS AND CURATORS

Knut Asdam (Norway) Elaine Byrne (United States/ Ireland) Naomi Campbell (United States/Japan)

Paolo Cirio (United States/Italy) Lourdes Correa-Carlo (United States) Alexis Dahan (United States/France)

Cem Dinlenmis (Turkey) Constant Dullaart (The Netherlands) Deborah Edmeades (Canada)

Christian Falsnaes (Denmark) Carolina Falkholt (Sweden) Soren Thilo Funder (Denmark)

Doreen Garner (United States) Camilo Godoy (United States/ Colombia) Jude Griebel (United States/Canada)

Andre Hemer (New Zealand/Germany) Mark Hilton (United States) less Johnson (Australia/New Zealand)

Marte Danielsen Jolbo (Norway) Eli Kerr (Canada) Maria Lalou (Greece/The Netherlands)

Antonia Low (Germany/ United Kingdom) Lucy McKenna (Ireland) Elisabeth Molin (Denmark)

Anna Nykyri (Finland) Mathias Poschl (Austria) Liutauras Psibilskis (United States)

Pia Ronicke (Denmark) Katharina Schilling (Germany) Lisa Seebach (Germany) Fuyuka Shindo (Japan)

Anne de Vries (The Netherlands) Anu Vahtra (Estonia) Raul Valverde (United States/Spain)

Entang Wiharso (United States/Indonesia) Shuhei Yamada (Japan)

 

For more information, contact Houda Lazrak: hlazrak@iscp-nyc.org

1040 Metropolitan Ave. Brooklyn, NY 11211 t: (718) 387 2900 www.iscp-nyc.org info@iscp-nyc.org

 

ELIAMEP and The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation established in 2007 the Stavros Costopoulos Research Fellowship and, ever then, our Foundation provides financial support on an annual basis. Through its establishment, ELIAMEP sought to upgrade its research on traditional foreign policy issues, such as the European integration, Greek-Turkish relations, developments in the Middle East and the Balkans or transatlantic relation. At the same time, this introduced into the research of foreign policy in Greece a practice which is tried and tested and quite widespread in Western Europe and America and enables Greek scholars to seek professional advancement beyond our national borders.

 

Read ELIAMEP’s Annual Report 2016

Stavros I. Costopoulos (1900-1968) Stavros I. Costopoulos was born in Kalamata on 14 September 1900. He was the youngest son of Ioannis F. Costopoulos, founder of today’s Alpha Bank. He studied Law at the University of Athens and Political Science and Economics at the University of Paris, where he was also awarded his PhD. He continued his studies in the United States of America. After returning to Athens, he practiced law. Stavros I. Costopoulos was repeatedly elected MP in the prefecture of Messinia from 1928 to 1965. He served many times as Minister, including as Minister of Foreign Affairs (1964-1965) and Defense Minister (1965-1966). He actively participated in his family’s trade, industrial and banking enterprises. Among others, he served as Governor of the National Bank of Greece (1951-1953) and President of the Board of Directors of the Commercial Credit Bank, the predecessor institution of Alpha Bank (1953-1968). He passed away in Athens on 23 June 1968.

Press Release

ANALOGIO FESTIVAL 2017

New drama. Greek plays.

Exploring the latest writings for the stage.

 Saturday 16/9 – Sunday 24/9/2017

Theatro Technis (14 Frinichou str., under Parthenon, Plaka area)

 Under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture

ANALOGIO FESTIVAL, member of EFA/EFFE (European Festivals Association/ Europe for Festivals- Festivals for Europe), comes back at the Theatre Technis, Frinichou Stage, Plaka area, from 16^th to 24^th of September 2017. The Festival presents a wide programme with a focus on the latest writings for the Stage, a Tribute to Nikos Kazantzakis, a target on new Greek plays and international drama, and parallel events such as seminars, discussions, new media, walking and poetry performances and installations in public spaces and archaeological sites.

ANALOGIO FESTIVAL 2017

Artistic Director: Sissy Papathanasiou

Curator -Walking performances: Geert Vermeire / the milena principle

Lighting: Ζoe Molivda Fameli

Photographer: Frank James Johnson

Production Manager: Despoina Errikou

Production Support: Artistic Company ‘Metamorphosi”

Assistant Production Managers: Kiveli Dragoumi, Αnestis Kottas, Helen Mitsakou

Press Officer: Georgia Zouba

Graphic design : A4Artdesign

Internet site: media42.eu

 

GENERAL INFORMATION || ANALOGIO FESTIVAL 2017

 Days of the Festival: every day, from 16/9 to 24/9/2017

Price: 7 €, 10 € (special price for 2 plays), 14 € (special price for 3 plays), 5 € (for unemployed OR people with special needs).

There are special prices and offers for groups, daily tickets and the whole programme of the festival.

Venue: Theatre Technis – Frinichou Stage, 14 Frinichou str., Plaka, Tel.: 210 32 22 464 / Metro Station, stop Acropolis.

For further information regarding the programme and the audiovisual material of the festival, you may visit www.analogiofestival.org και analogiofestival

Under the auspices of Ministry of Culture

With the kind support of

THE J. F. COSTOPOULOS FOUNDATION

In co-operation with Theatre Institute of Slovakia|| Kazantzakis Editions ||INSTITUTO CERVANTES DE ATENAS || Musical Studies department of University of Athens, Third International Festival of Poetry || Open Art Organization || The Milena Principle || 46^th Zappeion Book Fair

Program

 

EMST at documenta 14
ANTIDORON – the EMST Collection

Fridericianum, Kassel
10 June – 17 September 2017

Curated by Katerina Koskina
Assistant Curators: Stamatis Schizakis, Tina Pandi
Architectural design: Iro Nikolakea

The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation participates as lender of audiovisual material from its retrospective exhibitions.
For further information please visit the website of EMST

Art Athina 2017 is being inaugurated today, Thursday May 25, 2017. The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation is participating with a tribute to Jannis Kounellis.

Press release

Art Athina 2017

May 26-28, Tae Kwon Do (Faliro Indoor Hall)

 

The 22nd renewed version of the International Art Fair of Athens Art Athina, one of the oldest international art fairs of Europe, opens its doors on Friday May 26th – 28th at Tae Kwon Do Stadium (Faliro Indoor Hall).

12 sections comprise the basic spine of the fair which is composed by 56 local and international participations, according the program of its new artistic director, Stamatia Dimitrakopoulos.

The artistic program focuses on video, performance, design, project spaces, as well as the history of the organization that was funded by the Hellenic Galleries Association (PSAT) in 1993. Art Athina also includes conversations, children activities, and a very rich VIP program addressed to collectors.

Xenia Kalpaktsoglou as Artistic Advisor and Adonis Kourkoulos as coordination manager consist the new organizing team of Art Athina. The production of Art Athina is entrusted to Be Best company.

The new identity of the art fair is designed by G Design Studio, while Stavros Papagiannis (Stage Design Office) is responsible for the architecture and design of the organization.

The basic structure of the fair is the following:

MAIN 43 galleries from all over Greece and abroad present their program in the arena of Tae Kwon Do stadium.

HIGHLIGHT New international entries participate in this new section of Art Athina. Art Athina 2017 hosts 13 galleries, the majority coming from Los Angeles.

FEATURE A section conceived and organized by an annually appointed curator. This year’s section will is curated by Myriam Ben Salah (b. 1985, Algiers) editor-in-chief of Kaleidoscope magazine and curator, based in Paris. Ben Salah invites The Third Line gallery (Dubai) and Gregor Staiger gallery (Zurich) to participate in Art Athina with solo shows of artists Sophia Al Maria and Shana Moulton respectively. The title of this year’s Feature section is “Alternatives” and focuses on the work of the two artists who underline with sharp humor and dark precision the contemporary anxieties of our consumer society.

VIDEO Designed as a hotel room, the video room hosts CITIZENSFIVE, the project that the independent curator and writer Sasha Burenkov has curated for Art Athina.

CITIZENSFIVE is a large-scale survey of emergent contemporary art from all over the world, with 32 local and international participants. The screening program confronts our uneasiness at being swept by the digital tide while on the same time it offers a better understanding of our modern hyperlinked society and new perspectives on conceptualizing our contemporary identities.

SURVEY Independent curator Gallini Notti curates an archival exhibition with works that have marked the history of Art Athina. Through an act of introspection, the exhibition attempts to create an overview of the athenian art fair throughout the years.

Τhe section also includes the audiovisual installation of Katerina Zacharopoulou “Asking” (2014) that was made possible with the support of NEON organization. The installation is based on the material of the interviews conducted by Katerina Zacharopoulou for two decades, with theoreticians and representatives of museums and artists in Greece and abroad.

PERFORMANCE The performance program includes artists from the participating galleries. The detailed schedule will be released soon.

TRIBUTE

Art Athina commemorates artists Jannis Kounellis and Dimitris Mytaras. The J.F Costopoulos Foundation presents a screening of Heinz-Peter Schwerfel’ s film “Frammenti di un diario” (Germany 1996, 46΄) as well as archival material and the documentary book of Jannis Kounellis’ retrospective exhibition in Greece in 1994 (Piraeus, cargo vessel IONION). In the context of the tribute, Manolis Baboussis pulls together the presentation “The work of Jannis Kounellis through the lens of Manolis Baboussis”.

The National Gallery – Alexandros Soutzos Museum presents three paintings of the great Greek artist, from the collections of the National Gallery.

DESIGN

Unique, out of production furniture constitutes the section Design, comprised by Zoumboulakis gallery, Eleni Martinou gallery and Antiqua. The booth of DESTE offers a presentation of 1968, in collaboration with Maurizio Cattelan and Pierpaolo Ferrari’s TOILETPAPER. A small installation featuring Radical Design furniture takes visitors on a making-of tour of the 1968 project while at the same time introduces them to DESTE’s current exhibitions, Liquid Antiquity and DESTE Prize: An Anniversary Exhibition, 1999-2015, through the pages of their respective catalogues.

TALKS

Conversations, panels and interviews fuel the Talks program of Art Athina which is presented in a specially designed room. The detailed program will be released soon.

PUBLICATIONS

Bookshop and publishing house OMMU selects for Art Athina 2017 a series of independent artist books and catalogues. ΟMMU also presents the first archival exhibition of the publishing effort made by Nikos E. Papadakis, founder of ‘KTE’, the Athens Design Center ‘ADC’ together with Eleni Vernadaki, as well as the gallery and publishing house ‘POLIPLANO’ and the magazine ‘SIMA’. The exhibition includes publications, periodicals, ephemera and objects.

OPEN

Τhe annual open air installation of Art Athina, this year will be presented by Sonora128, a billboard project space by kurimanzutto gallery, programmed by Bree Zucker.

INDEPENDENT PROJECTS

Greek and international independent art spaces, present their projects in Art Athina 2017.

Μore Specifically:

Radio Athènes participates in Art Athina with two sound works by artists Rallou Panagiotou and Eleni Bagaki.  The sound works have been commissioned in the context of All: Collected Voices, a project organized by Goethe-Institut Athen and Radio Athènes, curated by Thomas Boutoux and Helena Papadopoulos.

Enterprise Projects -an initiative of curator Danai Giannoglou and artist Vasilis Papageorgiou- participate in Art Athina with a fundraising project: the limited edition of an ashtray (edition of 200) bearing their characteristic logo, made in collaboration with Bend design office.

Neoterismoi Toumazou (Neo Toum) from Cyprus will create a lounge-study room, characteristic of their special aesthetics. They will also present their publishing initiative Neo Toum for the first time to the athenian audience.

3137 present their collaborative initiative Leftovers featuring artists Amelia Groom, Angharad Williams, Gianmaria Andreetta and Marion Goix. Leftovers combines performance, writing and sculpture.

ΣΕΡΑΠΙΣ (Serapis) is an international maritime corporation based in Greece, which creates clothing and art, among other works. In Art Athina, Serapis presents a new, limited edition, printed silk scarf. The scarf was designed to be worn by crew members, in this case the people working for the art fair.

Arbit City Group presents “Trophy Wife”, an outdoor installation of their work, in a new site-specific arrangement. The work consists of 10 nautical flags that spell the two words. As Arbit City Group comments, “Trophy wife is Athens and Athens is the trophy wife.”

The greco-parisien brand Pressure which is based in Paris, participates in Art Athina with a capsule collection made exclusively for the fair in collaboration with artist Ilyes Griyeb. Pressure also presents an exhibition of Ilyes grayed photography work.

EDUCATION

Artist drawings, painting activities, interactive exhibits and workshops sustain the program of Very Young Contemporary Art (VYCA) addressed to cat-loving families. The participating artists of Art Athina were asked to create black and white cat-themed drawings specially for the kids. The young and young at heart art crowd will afterwards explore the drawings, fill them with color and create their own cat hero.

In addition to the new structure of Art Athina, this year the fair also presents the VIP program, focused on eminent collectors from Greece and abroad. The special guests will be hosted in the new VIP lounge of Art Athina, furnished with exceptional pieces of Deloudis and Vitra companies.

NOTES TO PRESS:

• Please visit our new website for any updates. You are kindly requested to submit the necessary accreditation form by May 21st.

• The press conference of Art Athina 2017 and the preview for the Press will be held on Thursday, May 25, at 12:00, at TaeKwonDo Stadium. OPENNING DAYS AND HOURS Thursday May 25, 14:00-21.00 (invitations only) Friday, May 26 12:00-21:00 Saturday, May 27 12.00-21:00 Sunday, May 28 12:00-21:00

Entrance:

Ticket price: 8 euros

Reduced (Unemployed, Students, over-65 years old people, Special Needs Individuals): 5 euros

Groups (15+individuals): 5 euros

Free entrance: Children under 12 years old, Students of the Athens School of Fine Arts, AICA Hellenic Chamber of Arts members.

The organization of Art Athina is held under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture and Sports, the Ministry of Tourism, the Region of Attica and the Municipality of Athens

The event is to be supported by the European Regional Development Fund within the framework of the Regional Operational Programme “Attika” 2014-2020

Imaginary Spaces

 in the House of Cyprus

The House of Cyprus presents the group exhibition Imaginary Spaces, curated by art historian Stratis Pantazis.

The opening of the exhibition will be held on Monday 29 May 2017, at 20:00, in the House of Cyprus, 2^A Xenofontos Street, Syntagma Square, Athens. The exhibition will run until 23 June 2017.

As the curator notes, in the exhibition Imaginary Spaces, the viewers are invited to enter the world of the artist and to realize that the image or the environment created is not a pure alternative to reality captured by our senses, as Gaston Bachelard argues in his book The Poetics of Space (1957). We should not perceive the artwork as an object or a substitute of an object, but experience it as a unique reality, a space of the artist’s imagination. The poetic image created by the artist is not the result of memory and experience, but the sudden expression of his or her psyche at a given moment. It is an impulse and not the echo of the past.

Hence each work or environment created by Pantelis Chandris, Eleni Lyra, Efsevia Mihailidou, Nikos Papadopoulos, Ilias Papailiakis, Rena Papaspyrou, Nina Pappa, Andreas Savva, Jannis Varelas and Zafos Xagoraris is a personal space possessed and guarded by its creator, formed through his or her imagination, charming and positive in its entirety. It is the space in which part of the artist’s psyche lives. By turning to imagination – a zone of loneliness and at the same time of connection to the world, where daydreaming becomes reality – the artist (and by extension each one of us) moves away from the past and the present, faces the future and discovers his or her own path in the chaos of the world.

The artworks in the show open a dialogue with one another, while individually creating their own environment, an imaginary zone, where we are confronted with each artist’s source of inspiration such as urban and private space, nature, personal experience, and art– in an effort to externalize thoughts and concerns and touch upon issues with existential and sociopolitical implications. Each work conveys the personal truth of its artist. Therefore the viewer might experience what the poet Jean Lescure argued: “an artist does not create the way he lives, he lives the way he creates”.

 

Opening:                               29 May 2017

Exhibition Duration:            30 May – 23 June 2017

Opening Hours:                   Monday and Wednesday 10:00 – 18:00

Tuesday, Thursday, Friday 10:00 – 15:00

Curator:                                 Stratis Pantazis

Co-ordination:                      Maria Raga

Invitation

With the kind support of

THE J. F. COSTOPOULOS FOUNDATION

ΑTHENS VIDEO DANCE PROJECT has the pleasure to announce the 7th AVDP-International Dance Film Festival that will take place in Athens, in collaboration with the Theater of Athens Fine Art School on  27, 28, 29 and 30 April, 2017.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Videodance works from 36 countries :
Albania, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brasil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, Vietnam

Follow AVDP in Social Media  and see here the Detailed Program

www.avdp.gr

The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation supported the recording and production of Michael (Michalis) Tagkas’ first CD entitled “Michael Tagkas plays Haydn, Beethoven & Chopin”.  The important Greek pianist recorded his CD at Athens Concert Hall (Megaron), offering to the public an excellent musical product.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Curriculum Vitae

Michael (Michalis) Tagkas is a Greek pianist.  Born in Greece, on March 1984. Educated at Athens Conservatoire with Maria Cherogiorgou-Sigara, Aliki Vatikioti-Farrant and he graduated from the class of Aris Garoufalis. Became a pupil of Patsy Toh (Fou Tsong’s wife) in London at Royal Academy of Music, at postgraduate level.  He also studied with Pavel Gililov at Mozarteum Salzburg. Supported by the Gina Bachauer International Music Association. And also in the prestigious International Piano Academy Lake Como in Italy following the renowned artist Fou Tsong.  Winner of Fulbright Grant ‘Fulbright Art Serie’ he was invited from the world-class Dr. Vitaly Margulis to work with him (Postdoc) at University of California in Los Angeles {UCLA} Department of Music and later with Jura Margulis and they established a cooperation, wich still continues in the United States. He recorded his first CD in 2015 at Athens Concert Hall (Megaron) under the support of The J.F. Costopoulos Foundation. He has also attended master classes with: Aquilles Delle-Vigne, George Kern, Peter Lang, Sulamita Aronovsky, Christopher Elton, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Andras Schiff, Dame Fanny Waterman, Fou Ts’ong and Dmitri Bashkirov. Has been supported from: The Gina Bachauer International Music Association, The Fulbright Foundation, J.F. Costopoulos Foundation, B & M Theocharakis Foundation for Fine Arts and Music, Thekla Marinidi, Lola Zolotas, Chrisanthy Lemos, The Kulukundis Family, Dame Fanny Waterman DBE, Sir Sydney Lipworth QC and Lady Rosa Lipworth CBE, Life Action Trust and Philharmonia Trust.   Special illustrious collaborations including GOCO Ltd, LSG, Leeds International Piano Competition, Philharmonia Orchestra Trust, Megaron The Athens Concert Hall.  Has performed in Europe and the Americas, he currently divides his time between his family home Athens, London and United States.  Michael Tagkas is an Artist of Caecilia Agency, Switzerland and Legato Arts Agency, New York.

Visit the artist’s website

 

Alkis Pierrakos, the tireless expressionist, passed away on March 22, 2017, while visiting his beloved Nafpaktos (Lepanto). The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation had co-organised with the State Museum of Contemporary Art the exhibition: Alkis Pierrakos. Lepanto: The Naval Battle, curated by Katerina Koskina. The exhibition had been presented in Thessaloniki, Athens, Corfu, and finally in Nafpaktos (Lepanto) within the timeframe October 2014-November 2015.

Read more about the exhibition here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Biographical Notes

Born on November 21st, 1920, in Thessaloniki,Greece. Until 1947 he lived in Yugoslavia, Thessaloniki and Athens. He studied at the Gewerbeschule of Basel (1948-1952), at the Slade School of Fine Arts and at the Central School of Arts and Crafts of London, where he met Oskar Kokoschka. In 1954, he moved permanently to Paris. Since 1980, he was working for long periods at Oxylithos, Evia. He was a member and the co-ordinator of the group “La Ligne et le Signe”, which aimed to combine the limitations of drawing with the freedom of colour. In 1995, the “Association pour la Promotion de l’oeuvre d’ A. Pierrakos (APOAP)” was established.

His works have been presented in numerous solo and group exhibitions in Greece and abroad.

Jannis Kounellis, the internationally renowned artist passed away on February 16, 2017. In 1994 the J. F. Costopoulos Foundation had organised the retrospective exhibition of the major exponent of the Italian art movement Arte Povera in Greece. The exhibition, which was presented on the cargo vessel IONION in the harbour of Piraeus, the artist’s birth place, initiated the Foundation’s programme of its own major exhibitions and publications, a special chapter in its history, and a decisive activity for its identity.

As  a result of the unique character of this exhibition and its success within and beyond the borders, the Foundation’s communication and collaboration with Jannis Kounellis grew into a warm and productive relationship, and, according to his wishes, led to the creation of an archive in the premises of the Foundation in Athens, Greece, of Kounellis’s exhibitions and bibliography which is regularly enriched and updated.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Read more about Jannis Kounellis’s retrospective exhibition in 1994 in Greece here.

PRESS RELEASE

 

 

Program PROLEGOMENA (PROLOGUES) 

Persa Stamatopoulou Contemporary Dance Company  

Performance Displacement – The Road 

17- 18 December 2016 at 19.00

With the kind support of: THE J. F. COSTOPOULOS FOUNDATION

 

 

 

 

 

The National Museum of Contemporary Art (EMST) completes the program PROLOGUES with the presentation of the performance Displacement – The Road by Persa Stamatopoulou Contemporary Dance Company, on Saturday 17 and on Sunday 18 December at 19.00 with the kind support of The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation.

It regards a solo-performance based on the idea of ​​a trip that is organized and experienced by an individual and explores the concept of change and displacement from one place to another, the wandering, the re-start and finally the action he is required to handle within a landscape without borders and without boundaries, timeless, blank, white.

 

 

 

 

 

 

With the collaboration of the musician Sakis Kleisiaris (original music composition) a sound environment is created, as a musical score, on which the kinetic action gradually unfolds. The performer – dancer, as a traveler in space and time, experiments with a simple, abstract kinetic vocabulary, redefining each time his position and perspective.

Combining the continuous displacement of the body, through variations in weight, axis, position and gaze, with the idea of ​​a world which is in an increasingly violent and continuous redistribution, common grounds and benchmarks between them are sought. The performance, which retraces the timelessness of human displacement, is inspired by Fernando Pessoa’s book titled “The Walker” and by using the body and sound as tools, approaches and records a route of overturns, pauses, alertness, redefinition and reconstruction.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Program PROLOGUES (PROLEGOMENA)

The National Museum of Contemporary Art, Athens (EMST) utilizing the period of mandatory testing prior to its final operation and pending the completion of the procedures that will lead to its inauguration, chose to realize from the summer until the end of 2016, a series of periodical artistic events which aimed firstly at the development of synergies with Greek and international institutions of related purpose and secondly at the acquaintance of the public with its new building.

 

The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation

The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation which with its work aims to strengthen and promote Greek culture, literature and arts, has contributed to the presentation of innovative productions in Greece and abroad and has supported from their first steps important dance groups and festivals, that have vindicated its choices with their dynamic presence in the field.

Entry is free with admission tickets that will be distributed by EMST on a first come first served basis one hour before the performance.

 

ARTISTS

Concept – Choreography: Persa Stamatopoulou

Sound environment: Sakis Kleisiaris

Interpretation: Tasos Karachalios

(Duration of performance: 40 minutes)

Photo by: Τakis Vekopoulos

 

National Museum of Contemporary Art (Athens)

Kallirrois Av. & Amvr. Frantzi (former Fix factory)
Αthens, 117 43
Τel: +30 211 1019000-99, Fax: + 3- 211 1019111

Communication office: 211 1019009

Email: pressoffice@emst.gr

CREATIVE WORKSHOP ILIOTECHNO
EXPERIENTIAL SEMINAR OF NARRATING – DRAMATIZING AND WRITING A FAIRYTALE
«The therapeutic value of fairytales»
A particularly interesting and experiential seminar for both the healing and the educational value of fairytales , will take place in the creative workshop Iliotechno for 3 successive Saturdays (5, 12 and 19 December) and hours: 2 p.m. – 4 p.m.
The Greek word “Paramithia” means consolation.
How can a fairy tale console a child or even an adult, eliminate their fears and insecurities, develop their imagination and creativity and strengthen their soul?
The seminar is intended for special educators , actors, teachers, parents and those animate groups of children or adults.
At the end of the seminar (19 December) the participants will present their own tale to a specially organized event for children who are offered hospitality in a shelter of offer and love.
Registration at the phone: 210 9523028
ISSUED CERTIFICATE
With the kind support of
THE J. F. COSTOPOULOS FOUNDATION

EXPERIENTIAL SEMINAR OF NARRATING – DRAMATIZING AND WRITING A FAIRYTALE

 

CREATIVE WORKSHOP ILIOTECHNO

«The therapeutic value of fairytales»

A particularly interesting and experiential seminar for both the healing and the educational value of fairytales , will take place in the creative workshop Iliotechno for 3 successive Saturdays (5, 12 and 19 December) and hours: 2 p.m. – 4 p.m.
The Greek word “Paramithia” means consolation.
How can a fairy tale console a child or even an adult, eliminate their fears and insecurities , develop their imagination and creativity and strengthen their soul?
The seminar is intended for special educators , actors, teachers, parents and those animate groups of children or adults.
At the end of the seminar (19 December) the participants will present their own tale to a specially organized event for children who are offered hospitality in a shelter of offer and love.
Registration at the phone: 210 9523028

ISSUED CERTIFICATE

With the kind support of

THE J. F. COSTOPOULOS FOUNDATION

 

The Friends of the Acropolis announces the publication of the 25th issue of the journal “Anthemion” supported by The J.F. Costopoulos Foundation. The Journal contains the program of the events organized by the Union in the year 2014, texts of lectures and scientific articles.

For more information: www.acropolisfriends.gr

June 17, 2015, “MNEME – Early Music from the Mediterranean”, with the Ex Silentio Ensemble

http://www.monilazariston.gr/root.calendareventsperdate.en.aspx?date=06/17/2015&wait=true

Katerina Koskina has been appointed Director of the National Museum of Contemporary Art (Athens) and, as of January 1^st, 2015, is no longer Artistic Director of The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation.

Happy Holidays! Beyond the standard holidays, our offices will be closed on December 24, 2014, and January 2 , 2015.

 

The J. F. Costopoulos Foundation will be closed from August 11 to August 22, 2014 inclusive.

Have a nice summer!

The deadline for submission of applications for 2015 activities expired on the 15^th of July 2014.