Renowned Italian actress and beauty icon Monica Bellucci is coming to the Odeon of Herodes Atticus on September 28 - 30, 2020.  Having one of the most talented actresses in the world perform under the Acropolis is big news enough, even without mentioning the role she will be performing. Belucci will be incarnating opera singer Maria Callas and she will be doing so while struggling with her own fear of the stage.

"Going on stage is almost a kind of violence that I put myself through", says Belucci adding that as opposed to films, where scenes are shot one by one, in theatre one's concentration must last for the duration of the show.

Bellucci recently brought Maria Callas to life at the Studio Marigny in Paris, reading excerpts of Tom Volf’s “Lettres et Mémoire”, a monologue based on unpublished letters of the great soprano. These three unique performances in Athens will bring to light hidden and unknown aspects of the iconic singer, taking audiences on a journey into the life and career of the great diva. From her childhood in New York to the years of the war in Athens and from the first steps of her career to her marriage and her stormy love affair with Aristotle Onassis. 

Theorimata, the exhibition/institution by AICA Hellas, the Greek Section of the International Association of Art Critics, AICA International, is presented for the second time at the National Museum of Contemporary Art Athens (EMST), from October 1 until November 1, 2020, in the EMST Temporary Exhibitions Space.

The first exhibition was presented in 2018 with the aim to become a biennial event, providing the chance for curators, critics, art history scholars, and also artists to converse, collaborate and intervene in the artistic field; the theme of “Theorimata” will be differentiated each time, focusing on the characteristics and major issues of each period.

For the exhibition Theorimata 2: On History, 25 curators, scholars and art critics, members of the Greek Section of AICA, propose 56 artists who, with History as their axis, promote the function of art as an alternative educational tool and a means of dynamically intervening in the social fabric.

The idea that the knowledge of the past is an aid to the interpretation of the present and a guide to the future, asserted by Thucydides in his first book on the History of the Peloponnesian War, runs through the exhibition in which installations, constructions, sculptures, photographs, paintings, artists’ books, drawings, videos, and happenings are presented.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a bilingual catalog (in Greek and English) with introductory texts by Bia Papadopoulou and Emmanuel Mavrommatis, texts by the curators, photographs of the works, and biographies of both the curators and artists.

The collective volume Kritiki+Techni (Criticism+Art) Vol. 6: Contemporary Art and the Archive: Archival Collections, Artistic Practices, Reflections (edited by Charis Kanellopoulou) will also be published.

Flux Laboratory Athens supports Persa Stamatopoulou’s Contemporary Dance Company and the new dance production titled "Traces". 

The project is negotiating the mapping of the human imprint in space and time through a sound installation, drawing material from events of world history.

A collage of sound stimuli triggers the creation of bridges between the past and the present assembling a narrative of a world that seems to be progressing through its repetition.

Audio documents refer to moments that have defined our adulthood or have been recorded in us as narratives, redefining our relationship with memory.

Traces that are lost in the oblivion of History come back as short, standalone stories and give feedback to the acoustic installation along with kinetic action, thus complementing each other.

Through minimalistic and abstract aesthetics, two bodies scattered in space are in a continuous flow, searching and developing a dialogue with each other that allows them to interact and move along together, accompany their listening. The people present and absent, the audience and the protagonists, are setting the stage of their own story within History focusing on the echo that is left behind.

In the particular condition being build, the audience is called upon to activate first the sense of hearing, in an era when image as a medium occupies our perception of the world, the audience can bring back memories and compose their own personal images and thoughts.

Performances: 09 & 10.10.2020 at 19.00 and 20.30

Duration: 40 minutes

The Greek National Opera presents Madama Butterfly throughout October and November in Athens at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center’s main stage.

An opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, Madama Butterfly is set in Japan at the beginning of the 20th century. A young geisha girl falls in love with an American Lieutenant which ultimately leads to her demise.

Puccini’s Japanese tragedy sheds light on the stark differences between the two cultures of Japan and America through the tale of fatal love.

Directed by Hugo de Ana with Puccini’s melodic composition led by conductor Lukas Karytinos and world-class soprano’s Ermonelo Jaho, Tselia Kostea, and Kristine Opolais sharing the title role.

Madama Butterly will be performed in Italian with Greek and English subtitles.

Dates & Hours

10, 11, 14, 16, 18, 20, 23, 25, 30 October 2020

01, 08, 15 November 2020

Performances start at 20:00 (Sunday’s at 18:30pm)

Art Athina launches its digital programming through the platform Αrt Athina Virtual on 15th October 2020 and promises a uniquely different experience to the art-loving audience. Art Athina Virtual is under the patronage of H.E. The President of the Hellenic Republic Ms. Katerina Sakellaropoulou.

During the digital premiere of the International Art Fair of Athens which is one of Europe’s oldest art fairs, the visitors will be able to navigate the art fair through their computers, tablets, or smartphones and meet the artists and their artworks without time limitations, since Art Athina Virtual will be accessible 24 hours every day -with different day and night mode- 7 days per week, until the end of October.

Art Athina Virtual features the parallel programming that has always been surrounding Art Athina and has established its own audience, with sections such as Talks, Performances, Video, and independent art spaces under the title Projects.

The transfer of the largest annual art institution in Greece to a digital environment due to the unprecedented conditions that emerged with the advent of the coronavirus epidemic and forced the cancellation of Art Athina 2020 at Zappeion Megaron as originally planned, will not limit the public’s contact with visual creation exclusively in the digital world.

Art Athina Virtual organizes Art Athina Week that will last from 13 to 20 October, during which the Athenian galleries will be able to exhibit in their natural spaces the works that will be presented in the viewing rooms.

As every year, the organization of the event belongs to the Hellenic Art Galleries Association and to the Art Athina team, with Artistic Director Stamatia Dimitrakopoulos. The implementation of the platform is carried out with the support of the Ministry of Culture and Sports.

Artistic Programming Art Athina

Virtual Viewing Rooms

The art galleries will present their digital booths through an easy-to-use platform, which will allow them to communicate the works of their artists with the public, locally and internationally. The platform will also support video art, audio installations, and digital artworks.

Projects

Independent art spaces from Greece and the United States are being invited to present their online projects exclusively for Art Athina Virtual. The participating spaces are Aetopoulos, Andreas Melas, Arch, Intermission, Radio Athènes, Serapis, and Vernon Gardens.

Talks

The Talks program of Art Athina Virtual has its own platform connected to the main website, offering the possibility of reproduction in all the communication channels of the exhibition. The program, curated by art critic and curator Marina Fokidis, will be based on subjects focusing on artists, collectors, galleries, and institutions. The discussions will include reflections on contemporary art in the context of the new reality. The Talks section will also present the Educational Program implemented for the third year by the Hellenic Association of Art Galleries and the Ioannou F. Costopoulos Foundation in the context of Art Athina. The program, designed by the artistic director of Art Athina, Stamatia Dimitrakopoulos, is addressed to students of the School of Fine Arts and aims to inform, inspire and prepare them for their introduction to the art world.

Performance

The Performance program of Art Athina is curated by Marina Fokidis under the title “Signs of proximity” is "Signs of proximity”. The program aspires to present new productions along with historical performances. A total of 24 artists from Greece and abroad - including Lida Papakonstantinou, Thalia Chioti, Panos Charalambous, Nikos Tranos, Nikos Navridis, Mary Zygouri, Angelos Skourtis, George Sapountzis, Georgia Sagri, Liliane Lijn, Jannis Varelas, Vassilis Karoul covers a time range of 21 years.

Video

In the digital realm, the Video program returns to its roots. It includes videos of artists such as Marina Abramovic and Ulay, Menelaos Karamaghiolis, Loukia Alavanou, Leto Kattou, and George Drivas - selected in collaboration with organizations and collections such as Daata Editions, DESTE Foundation, Daskalopoulos Collection, POLYECO Contemporary Art Initiative, along with independent artists and project spaces, such as Enterprise projects. The Video program is curated by Art Athina Artistic Director, Stamatia Dimitrakopoulos.

Visual identity of Art Athina Virtual

The visual identity of Art Athina Virtual refers to the pandemic and its consequences in our daily lives. Each letter of the new typeface is made out of shapes that do not stick together, referring to the social distance that is required for the safety of all of us due to the pandemic. Just as we are called to be together without physical contact, the elements that form each letter try to form a cohesive image so that the text is legible. Among the words, the visitors can see red doodles that humorously capture situations we all experienced every day during the lockdown and try to add a note of optimism to the new reality.

Art Athina’s visual identity is signed for another year by G Design Studio.

 

Feydeau’s farces, characterized by ingenious staging devices, inspired satire and a frenzy of anxiety combined with outrageous coincidence, lead with mathematical precision to an explosion that is constantly forestalled. Georges Feydeau, an heir to Moliere who rejuvenated French vaudeville theatre, was an acute observer of the manners and mores of his time and a sardonic commentator on society’s ills. The lady from Maxim’s, written in 1899, was such a success that it allowed Feydeau to take some time off from the theatre and devote himself to his other passion, painting.

A strait-laced doctor, Petypon, wakes up at home after being dragged out to paint the town red by his young friend Montgicourt. He remembers nothing of the night before but discovers a young dancer from Maxim’s in his bed. In an instant, his life is turned upside down. However, his new acquaintance refuses to leave his house, even when his extremely religious wife shows up. What ensues is absolute panic…

FokiaNou Art Space is pleased to present a two-person show of new work from Catherine Suen and Giorgos Spyropoulos. The two artists are good friends who discovered that they both operate on the same level of fantasy, are engaged with similar themes, and use similar palettes.

Not at ease with the real world, Catherine Suen finds refuge in a fantasy world where she can let her imagination run free. Using whatever recycled materials (paper, cardboard, fabrics, plastic, cans, etc.) she can collect, she cuts, assembles, and paints flamboyantly costumed Creatures, in order to create a whole universe more to her liking. These costumes are both inspired by the various cultures she has encountered while traveling and a reflection of her inner world which aspires to a better real world. Born in France, Suen studied Chinese at the Institute of Oriental Languages and Civilization in Paris, then traveled to many countries before settling in Aegina 20 years ago, where she lives and works as an independent visual artist. She has shown her work regularly in Athens and Aegina, and also works as a costume and set designer for various theater companies.

Giorgos Spyropoulos is primarily a musician who has turned to making visual images as another means of artistic self-expression. As co-founder of the psychedelic 60s band Nirvana UK, he lived in England for 30 years, working in the recording industry. He returned to Greece on a permanent basis in the late 1990s and began working with digital images. He continues to make music while also creating collaged “pictures within pictures”, finding another way to say something that he cannot express with words or music.

The use of masks and social distancing are required in all areas of the space, including the roof terrace, halls, and elevator.

FokiaNou Art Space is an artist-run project space in the intimacy of a small apartment in an old building in the center of Athens. The space encourages collaborative creative efforts between Greek and foreign artists, thereby promoting and supporting the local art community. The space hosts exhibitions, workshops, and projects under the direction of two artists, Mary Cox and Panagiotis Voulgaris.

Dates & Hours

The show opens Thursday, 22 October, 16.00-21.00
Tuesday to Saturday 17.00 - 20.00.

Michalis Reppas and Thanasis Papathanasiou return to the Rex Theatre with a new musical commissioned by the NTG. With a score by Nikos Kypourgos and lyrics by Aphrodite Manou, Paper Moon is about all that is beyond words and comprehension; about a secret land where opposites embrace and pain and pleasure complement and complete one another; where suffering and happiness become one in the utopia of love: that inaccessible cloud cuckoo land that only poets can visit without paying a price.

It is the 1960s on Astydamantos Street in the Athenian neighborhood of Pangrati. In a neoclassical house - one of the thousands that will soon be torn down and replaced by apartment blocks - our young protagonist narrates a year of his life. He talks about himself, his family, his friends, and Greece itself, in a coming-of-age story set against the dramatic events of the time.

Note: With supertitles in English on Wednesdays & Fridays (from 28/10 - 27/11)
Note 2: Wearing a mask is obligatory

 

YES to Shipping Forum 2020 will be part of Posidonia Web Forums Week through YES FORUM Facebook page on Thursday 29th October 2020, from 18.00 to 21.00 hrs, in the Greek language. Young people studying, willing to pursue a career or already working in shipping / traveling onboard, distinguished executives from the whole spectrum of the maritime cluster, prestigious academics, representatives of Μinistries, Μerchant Μarine Academies and Shipping Organisations will be there to exchange their views and opinions about the future the challenges of the Greek Shipping Industry.

Since the 1st YES to Shipping Forum 2016 more than 1,000 questions have been answered by shipping stakeholders participating in YES FORUM physical and virtual events. This year, they will not be the only ones answering the concerns of the young generation. The next generation of the Greek Shipping Industry will receive questions from the distinguished speakers that will be invited! Stay tuned and watch the dialogue…. the other way around!

- Can history be an active participant in entrepreneurship?
- Which digital applications can highlight the cultural heritage of a place?
- How does history affect international politics and relations between states and communities?
- Does the digital world contribute to the shaping of public history?
- What is environmental history and how it can propel sustainable growth?

Applied public history comes together with the fields of business, culture, international relations, technology and environment in a new online workshop open to all, regardless of academic studies or career. History+ Lab highlights the modern face of History, its primary sources and its potential uses through hourly webinars by renowned professionals, online discourse platforms with distinguished speakers and 2-hour workshops. It consists of five-course units that are divided in two cycles. History+ Lab is organized by the Hellenic American Union and held under the scientific supervision of the Hellenic American College/Hellenic American University and the University of Peloponnese Center for Greek and International History (KEDIS). It is coordinated by Maria Sampatakaki and scientifically supervised by Konstantina Botsiou.

The program is addressed to anyone with a general interest in history, and particularly to students and graduates in the humanities, social sciences, and economics. It would also be of interest to professionals in tourism, cultural programming, and marketing and to teachers who wish to expand their knowledge and use of historical science in their fields.