12 minute read
AGENDA
ALWAYS SOMETHING ON OUTSTANDING EXHIBITIONS AND EXCITING PERFORMANCES FILL THE CITY'S CULTURAL CALENDAR
BY XENIA GEORGIADOU
Advertisement
To 20/01/2022
REWRITING IDENTITY
WOMEN POSING SEDUCTIVELY in erotic French postcards from the 1950s, Las Vegas dancers swaying gracefully as the lens captures them for adverts, fashion models gazing sensually at the camera: all these women are present in Irini Karayannopoulou’s work. She draws on the pages of vintage magazines and adverts, and then prints the images, enlarges them, combines them using collage and draws on their faces again, until they acquire a new identity of sorts. “The Greek artist negotiates the manipulation of women in her own non-apologetic way,” comments curator Efi Falida. * “Irini Karayannopoulou / Hotberg,” Antonopoulou Gallery, 20 Aristofanous, Psyrri, aaart.gr
10/02 To 05/06/2022
GREEK SURREALISM
“I DO NOT BELIEVE in the school of Surrealism. But it suits me. What I have tried to do is update it with Greek elements, add a hint of Greek metaphysics, and elevate it from the simple grimace [Western Europeans] have stopped at. I think Surrealism today means anything that people view with passion.” On the occasion of the 37th anniversary of the death of the great Surrealist painter and poet Nikos Engonopoulos, the Theocharakis Foundation is organizing a major exhibition of his works. * “Nikos Engonopoulos: Orpheus of Surrealism,” B & M Theocharakis Foundation for the Fine Arts and Music, 9 Vasilissis Sofias & 1 Merlin, thf.gr
16/12/2021 To 13/02/2022
MASTER OF ABSTRACTION
SEAN SCULLY, perhaps the most important representative of abstract painting today, returns to Athens ten years after his last exhibition. This retrospective includes 103 works – oils, aquarelles, acrylics, sketches and an imposing sculpture – from throughout his 60-year career. * “Sean Scully: Passenger. A Retrospective,” Benaki Museum–Pireos 138, 138 Pireos & Andronikou, benaki.org
20/12/2021
MELODIC MINIMALISM
THE PHILIP GLASS ENSEMBLE, the experimental orchestra the composer created in 1968 to perform his works, is coming to Athens to present “Music in Eight Parts” (1970), among others. Glass was forced to sell this particular work due to debts, and it had since been considered lost. * “Music in Eight Parts & Other Works,” Greek National Opera–Stavros Niarchos Hall, Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, 364 Syngrou, Kallithea, snfcc.org
17, 19, 24, 26, 29, 31/12/2020 & 02/01/2022
A NEW NUTCRACKER
“DREAMS AND REALITY are sweetly entangled in Klara’s fragile childhood universe. She’ll see the most wonderful dreams in the embrace of the Nutcracker, but also the most frightening nightmares,” says the director of the Greek National Opera, Konstantinos Rigos. Just as in other classic works such as “Swan Lake” and “Don Quixote,” the Greek choreographer finds fertile ground in this Christmas tale to showcase the darker – and less often explored – aspects while also connecting it to the present day. Costumes are designed by Greek fashion house Deux Hommes. * “The Nutcracker,” Greek National Opera–Stavros Niarchos Hall, Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, 364 Syngrou, Kallithea, nationalopera.gr
To 27/02/2022
A TASTE OF CHILDHOOD
LEAVING BEHIND Constantinople and the family bakery, and arriving in Piraeus in 1922, Evangelos Papadopoulos quickly realized that biscuits were not really well known in Greece. The history of a company that many Greeks associate with their childhood unfolds in this great anniversary exhibition. * “Papadopoulou 100: The Story of the Company, 1922-2022,” Benaki Museum–Pireos 138, 138 Pireos & Andronikou, benaki.org
16/12/2021 To 29/01/2022
DARK DAYS
IN 1939, just before the world entered one of the darkest periods in modern history, filmmaker Jean Renoir depicted in his “The Rules of the Game ” the moral degradation of the bourgeoisie as a harbinger of a new, painful era. Ten artists comment on this film through ten artworks, engaging in a dialogue with one of the greatest masterpieces of the Seventh Art. * “The Rules of the Game,” The Project Gallery, 3 Normanou, Monastiraki
Pendant olive branch, Museum of the Olive and Greek Olive Oil
TAKE A PIECE OF CULTURE HOME...
Paper cut-out game, Environment Museum of Stymphalia In the heart of Athens, at City Link, you’ll find the MUSEUMSHOP of the Piraeus Bank Group Cultural Foundation, where there are unique gift ideas for you and your loved ones, all inspired by the Foundation’s nine Museums across Greece. You'll discover jewelry, decorative objects, office accessories, children’s games, and other amazing creations.
What's more, publications issued by the Foundation are also available here.
Marble platter, Museum of Marble Crafts Cufflinks, Silversmithing Museum
Candle with the scent of Chios mastic, Chios Mastic Museum
➺PIOP MUSEUMSHOP
21 Spyromiliou Arcade, Ground Floor Tel.(+30) 210.322.4923 www.piop.gr Opening Hours: Mon - Wed: 10:00-18:00 Tue - Thu - Fri: 10:00-21:00 Sat: 10:00-16:00
To 16/01/2022
THE ULTIMATE BEAUTY
“IN THE JOURNEY OF WORDS, some still shine faintly while others have taken on another identity – and so in modern Greek the word ‘kallos’ has been mistakenly replaced with beauty,” notes Professor Nicholas C. Stampolidis on an exhibition that presents all aspects of ancient Greek kallos, a notion that includes inner beauty as well as our outer appearance. Featuring 300 antiquities from Greece, Italy and the Vatican, it examines what we consider beautiful through this particular prism. * “Kallos: The Ultimate Beauty,” Museum of Cycladic Art, 4 Neofytou Douka / Vasilissis Sofias & 1 Irodotou, cycladic.gr
From 17/12/2021 To 27/02/2022
THE VISITOR
RENA PAPASPYROU, hailed as one of Greece's greatest postwar artists, continues to be fascinated by the wear of time on matter. On the ground floor of the Onassis Cultural Center, on a corner wall she designed especially for this show, she presents an installation made up of pieces detached from the wall of a derelict house in the Athens neighborhood of Pangrati. The building’s exterior walls reveal traces of graffiti, and otherwise unseen wall layers show stratification and other marks accumulated over time, as well as evidence of the process used to detach the sections. The result is an arbitrary new wall invading a “normal,” carefully designed space. * “Vryaxidos 11 and Aspasias: Images Behind Matter,” Onassis Cultural Center – Stegi, 107 Syngrou Avenue, www.onassis.org
To 03/02/2022
A PEOPLE’S TRADITION
“THEOFILOS IS THE TRADITION of a country and of a people,” states Takis Mavrotas, curator of a high-profile exhibition on the Greek folk artist Theophilos Hatzimichail. Approximately 95 precious artworks (on cloth, wood, pieces from wall paintings and metallic surfaces) reveal the visionary world of an artist who would have remained unknown had his work not been championed by publisher Stratis Eleftheriadis (Tériade). * “Theofilos: The Evzone of Painting,” B & M Theocharakis Foundation for the Fine Arts and Music, 9 Vasilissis Sofias & 1 Merlin, thf.gr
FOR THREE DECADES, TRITON ACT HAS BEEN A BYWORD FOR SUCCESS IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY.
“OUR WHOLE LIFE CAN BASICALLY be summed up in these three decades in the industry. We have evolved not only on a professional, but also on a personal level. We have many clients that have remained at our side for more than 25 years. Employees, as well. Our team is our most important asset. Reading history books turned me into a admirer of Theodoros Karaiskakis. He knew everything about his team, and was able to inspire them and achieve the best possible outcome. That's what I aspire to do. This is what the company’s great legacy to the next generation will be.”
Emmanouil Chatzimanolakis, founder of TRITON ACT, adheres to the company's founding values: reliability, consistency and honesty.
“We take pride in completing every project - no matter big or small - on time and on budget. Other aspects of our work we take pride in are introducing new products and innovative services, equal working conditions, presenting a team that consists of both sexes and various ages and ethnicities, being a reliable partner to client-vendors and banks, andrealizing the importance of our social footprint and the environmental responsibility we carry as a company,” says the founder.
TRITON ACT specialises in the study and construction of special-purpose buildings, mostly hospitals, clinics, rehabilitation centres, and hotels. They have worked on some of the country’s largest hospitals.
“It is an honour for our company to have been able to work with almost the entirety of the Health sector of the country,” Chatzimanolakis says. “It is a great challenge to deliver practical, functional yet aesthetically pleasing spaces that are to be used by both patients and the medical staff. We have incorporated various international trends in our constructions, emphasising not only ergonomics but also aesthetics.” Looking forward to many more decades ahead, the founder is resolute in steering TRITON ACT in the same direction, honoring the same vision. “Our company values have remained the same ever since we first started,” he explains, “but we‘ve also quickly adjusted to the technological developments and environmental issues of our time.” Info: Tritonact.gr
To 20/01/2022
STREET ART
THE BERNIER-ELIADES Gallery in Athens presents a new solo exhibition by the German photographer and painter Philip A. Zimmermann. With clear influences from urban art and graffiti, Zimmermann conveys our rapidly changing world through his artworks. For many years graffiti and tagging were considered vandalism, though today it has become more accepted as an honest reflection of social trends. “Street art is a significant criticism of the system and the status quo. This struggle must be guided by the younger generation, instead of having them waste their years away in front of a screen.” * Bernier-Eliades Gallery, 11 Eptachalkou, bernier-eliades.com
22/12/2021 To 16/01/2022
HUMAN MOTHS
A CHOREOGRAPHER who's not really sure what he wants to say when he arrives for rehearsals begins with an idea, and the performance begins to deviate from that initial concept. “I reserve the right to change everything at the last minute. If I speak to you, I will most definitely mislead you or give away spoilers. What can we really say about intentions? Art is doing,” says Dimitris Papaioannou, one of the most visionary storytellers in the performing arts. The new performance is inspired by the way in which moths use a distant source of light for orientation. * “Transverse Orientation,” Onassis Stegi, 107 Syngrou, onassis.org
HAVE YOU EVER EXPLORED THE HISTORY OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS VIA AR AND VR TECHNOLOGY?
Visit the OteGroup telecommunications museum!
The OTE Group Telecommunications Museum was founded in 1990 as a museum of technology with the aim of rescuing, preserving, documenting, researching and digitizing material concerning the historical evolution of Greek communications, and of presenting them to the public. One of the most important undertakings of the museum is the complete documentation and digitization of its collections, creating a legacy for future generations in the form of a scientific record of the history of telecommunications in the country. Its collections are constantly being enriched and include over 4000 artifacts and a vast archive of more than 33,000 documents, maps, telephotographs, photographs and audiovisual items.
For museum visitors, this journey through time begins on the first floor with exhibits on the preelectrical and electrical eras, narrating the history of communication from ancient times to the era satellite telecommunications through objects such as telephones and Morse telegraph machines, as well as via interactive applications of new technology (Augmented and Virtual Reality), with audiovisual material that brings the experience to life. The trip through the museum and through the ages finishes on the second floor with an exhibit on the development of networks (analog to digital), the history of the internet, the evolution of cell phone technology and Greece's first television studio, dating from 1967.
Looking outward as always, the museum has filed and digitized 70% of its collections so that they are easily accessible to the public and to members of the research and scientific community; the website, too, is readily accessible, allowing for virtual tours of five different sections of the permanent exhibition, among other virtual capabilities. At the same time, the museum remains open to the community through events, innovative educational programs and initiatives involving more than 13,000 visitors a year.
As for educational programs, the Telecommunications Museum has planned, for the first time this year, two different virtual art workshops for schools in remote areas of Greece, on topical issues that included recycling and other forms of environmental protection. In the first workshop, for students in kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade (6-9 years old) and entitled “Musical Instruments From Recycled Materials,” children will create musical instruments (small drums, maracas, bells, etc.) using recycled materials to learn about the importance of recycling and reusing objects in our everyday lives. The second workshop, “The Museum In Our Suitcase,” for students in third, fourth, fifth and six grade (10-12 years old) is inspired by the work “Suitcases” by Alexis Akrithakis, one of the most important representatives of European Modernism. Children will select recycled materials from their “suitcase” to shape their own model of the telecommunication cable-laying ship, Thales of Miletus, and the iconic Tamura telephone on display at the museum.
Participation in both workshops is free —online booking at www.otegroupmuseum.gr is required. “Musical Instruments From Recycled Materials” will take place on Sunday, December 12th, 10:30-11:30 and “The Museum In Our Suitcase” will take place a half-hour later on the same day at 12:00-13:00.
Stay updated on all the activities of the museum via the website www.otegroupmuseum.gr and on Instagram: @otegroupmuseum
➺INFO 25 Proteos, Nea Kifissia,
