Curator | Elina Kountouri, Director NEON.
Drama School of the National Theatre of Greece | School of Athens – Irene Papas
9 September – 20 October 2024
NEON presents the exhibition space of togetherness, at the Drama School of the National Theatre of Greece | School of Athens – Irene Papas from 9 September to 20 October 2024.
Curated by Elina Kountouri, Director NEON, the exhibition raises some of the most pressing issues facing Europe and the world today. Safety, wars, climate change, socio-political conditions but also global demographic and economic status push towards a movement of people, cultures and ideas and shape our world as a space of flows through the interaction and diversity of cultures. space of togetherness is an exhibition of stories from the intersection of race, politics, and the rights of individuals and communities.
The exhibition takes place in the premises of the Drama School of the National Theatre of Greece | School of Athens – Irene Papas. The School of Athens plays a vital role in the capital’s cultural life as it serves as a hub of artistic practices while being an organic space where students and performers of different origins and social and cultural backgrounds coexist. Since its foundation in 1930 together with the National Theatre of Greece, the School of Athens serves as workshop dedicated to the creative exploration of the art of acting and an artistic educational institution that promotes pedagogy and liberal ideas.
Elina Kountouri, NEON Director and curator of the exhibition said: “space of togetherness proposes how artists, in the present moment, use their distinctive voices to engage society in shaping, questioning and re-examining how past histories are told. The works in this exhibition urge us to come together in a public space and contemplate present injustices for a fairer future. Cultural interaction and diversity give us an understanding of what the future will look like in a world shaped by these routes.
space of togetherness is presented in an emblematic space of the capital’s cultural life, along with a public program, which will be an open, living laboratory that will bring together organizations, artists, academics, civil society activists and policy makers.”
space of togetherness
The exhibition explores the assumptions and prejudices of contemporary society woven into our daily lives, around racism, social mobility, and the rights of different communities and migrants. It suggests how, through greater awareness of class, race, and gender, we can learn to co-exist and find a sense of belonging.
20 artists and artistic collectives, representing 13 countries, will present various artistic practices. It features recent and past works of Taysir Batniji, Enri Canaj, Døcumatism, Mona Hatoum, patricia kaersenhout, Menelaos Karamaghiolis, Bouchra Khalili, Grada Kilomba, Tarik Kiswanson, Sophie Kovel, Kalliopi Lemos, Malgorzata Mirga-Tas, Stella Nastou, Roussakis, Georgia Sagri, VASKOS, including five new works by Marianna Christofides, Maria Loizidou, Igshaan Adams, Antrea Tzourovits and Kostas Roussakis, especially commissioned for the exhibition.
During the exhibition, space of togetherness creates a unique living laboratory from the cohabitation of the activities of the Drama School, the exhibition and a versatile public programme, open to the public. The programme will include talks and discussions, guided tours, educational programmes for children and families, concerts, readings and performances. Nonprofit organizations, local communities, artists, academics, civil society activists and policy makers will be active participants.
In the left building, in the School’s main auditorium, the scene is dominated by three works by the Moroccan-French artist Bouchra Khalili; a film, visual and sound work that captures her long-standing research on the movement of Arabs in Europe and in particular on the Arab Workers’ Movement (Mouvement des travailleurs arabes_MTA) and its theatrical groups, Al Assifa (‘The Tempest’ in Arabic) and Al Halaka (‘The Circle’ or ‘The Assembly’ in Arabic). Behind the amphitheater, a poem by the Portuguese artist Grada Kilomba, presented in a spatial and sound installation, draws on memory, trauma, gender, and postcolonialism, interrogating concepts of knowledge, power, and violence.
The area is dominated by the salt hill made by the Dutch artist Patricia Kaersenhout. Her work is a tribute to enslaved people. Polish Małgorzata Mirga-Tas’s vibrant textile collages draw from the perspective of her Roma roots and the rich cultural heritage of her community. Kalliopi Lemos‘ sculpture refers to gender equality, while Sophie Kovel‘s works considers the civic sphere and its current erosion by “ethno-nationalist” fascist politics.
The new commission to Kostas Roussakis dominates the courtyard of the Drama School of the National Theatre of Greece. It is a 27-metre-long table with 90 stools. Each stool bears a letter, and these all form four verses from the poem Touching this Youthfulness by the poet Nikos Karouzos. A symbol of coexistence, which will host the public talks within the public programme of the exhibition.
In the School’s corridor, the hand-woven installations by Cypriot artist Maria Loizidou emphasize collective, personal and diasporic histories. Døcumatism, a collective of filmmakers, artists, curators, historians, social workers, researchers and educators active in the neighborhood of Kypseli, present in the two opposite rooms the AfroGreeks, an ongoing community project about the African Diaspora in Greece.
On the first floor, the sound work by Marianna Christofides, Restory(ing) Waters -a new commission- is a collaboration with the Melissa Network, a non profit institution for Migrant Women in Athens, composer and performer Savina Giannatou and composer Stavros Gasparatos. Next to her second work, Rivers, Banks, a long curtain draws limits and borders.
On the wall, photographic diptychs by VASKOS test the limits of traditional identity, photographs by Enri Canaj follow the journey of the movement of refugees and immigrants, drawings and images by the Palestinian artist Taysir Batniji give visuals of reality, photographic snapshots by Stella Nastou capture the poetic dimension of water in transportation, works by Patricia Kaersenhout and Maria Loizidou focus on the female role in different survival conditions. Two carpets of different materials by Mona Hatoum depict the hardness and control systems within a society, while the sculptural installation by the Swedish artist Tarik Kiswanson refers to the transformation of nature and history.
In the adjacent room, South African artist Igshaan Adams creates an amalgam using his past works and a new commission where he blends hand-woven installations and tapestries with performances, which will take place in situ.
On the right side of the Drama School, Antrea Tzourovits, born in the former Yugoslavia, creates a new work combining sound and a wall installation. Next to him, Maria Loizidou, also on a new commission, extends the life of her family’s personal plants and creates a ‘migratory garden’, which will remain on site, in partnership with Papigion project.
In the interior, Georgia Sagri presents an ongoing research project based on breath and recovery, while Menelaos Karamanghiolis, member of the Døcumatism team, presents the video installation Singing in Athens, an ongoing project, in an unpredictable Athens in turmoil.
diaNEOsis, Melissa Network, Dipylon, Døcumatism, Drama School of the National Theatre of Greece | School of Athens – Irene Papas, Hellenic Children’s Museum, EIGHT / ΤΟ ΟΧΤΩ, Papigion project, TAVROS, Fulbright Greece participate in the exhibition’s public program.
The first week of the program is dedicated to the exhibiting artists, where the exhibition’s curator Elina Kountouri will discuss with artists Igshaan Adams, Bouchra Khalili, Grada Kilomba, Kalliopi Lemou and Maria Loizidou together with Achilleas Chariskos, representing the Papigion project.
The weekly program of events will be uploaded on neon.org.gr
In the context of space of togetherness NEON has renovated several spaces at the Drama School in accordance with its principle of creating and gifting infrastructure to all its selected venues and opening to the public unexpected spaces of cultural importance.
Images (left from top)
- Maria Loizidou: Volant Migrants, 2023 (detail). Handwoven metal thread 260 × 312 cm, 225 × 395 cm, 350 x 208 cm, 225 x 340 cm. Commissioned by the Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature, Paris 2023. Courtesy the artist and Kalfayan Galleries, Athens – Thessaloniki.
- Kostas Roussakis: Hell, 2024 (detail). Plywood. Dimensions variable. Courtesy the artist, commissioned by NEON with special thanks to the Greek National Opera.
- Antrea Tzourovits: You know you can see your nose all the time, but your brain decides to ignore it somehow, 2024. Mixed media installation (surround audio installation and reclaimed basketball wooden floor). Dimensions variable. Impulse Response and Location Recording: Panagiotis Papagiannopoulos. Sound assistant: Yorgos Alexandropoulos. Installation mixing engineer: Stavros Georgiopoulos. Courtesy of the artist, commissioned by NEON.
- (left to right) Sophie Kovel: Untitled (Sometimes it is not a question of what the visible hides but how it is that we have failed to see certain things on the surface), 2024. Floral wrapping paper, sconce replicas of fixtures at the Metropolitan Republican Club, New York 2.33 × 13.74 m. Courtesy the artist and Petrine, Paris. patricia kaersenhout: The Soul of Salt, 2016/2025 – an ongoing installation. 8000 kilos of sea salt derived from the Mediterranean. Dimensions variable. Courtesy the artists. Małgorzata Mirga-Tas: Maria’s Romani Family, 2022. Textile, acrylic. 240 × 460 cm. Courtesy the artist and Frith Street Gallery, London, Foksal Gallery Foundation, Warsaw and Karma International, Zurich.
- Małgorzata Mirga-Tas: Maria’s Romani Family, 2022. Textile, acrylic. 240 × 460 cm. Courtesy the artist and Frith Street Gallery, London, Foksal Gallery Foundation, Warsaw and Karma International, Zurich.
- (front to back) Kalliopi Lemos: Necklace, 2016. Stainless steel. 29 × 230 × 230 cm. Courtesy the artist and Gazelli Art House. Małgorzata Mirga-Tas: Kie Serina / The Card Players, 2018. Textile, acrylic, mixed media. 120 × 140 × 4 cm. Courtesy the artist and Frith Street Gallery, London, Foksal Gallery Foundation, Warsaw and Karma International, Zurich.
- Døcumatism: the AfroGreeks. Courtesy Døcumatism.
- Bouchra Khalili: The Circle: Timeline for a Constellation, 2023. Mural poster. Dimensions 317 × 123 cm. Courtesy the artist and mor Charpentier. Co-commissioned by Sharjah Art Foundation; Luma Foundation; and MACBA, Barcelona.
- Grada Kilomba: 18 Verses, 2022 (detail). Carbonised wood, engraved poem, hand painted with gold leaf, fabric, 8 channel sound installation. Dimensions variable. Duration 7:00 minutes in loop. Private Collection, London. Courtesy Pace Gallery and Goodman Gallery.
- (left to right) Bouchra Khalili: The Circle: The Circle, 2023. Dual synchronized channel. Video and 16mm black and white film transferred to video, sound, color and black and white. Dimensions variable. Duration 56:33. Courtesy the artist and mor Charpentier. Co-commissioned by Sharjah Art Foundation; Luma Foundation; and MACBA, Barcelona. Małgorzata Mirga-Tas: Sofia Taikon, 2023. Textile, acrylic on canvas 276.9 × 194.6 × 3 cm. Courtesy the artist and Foksal Gallery Foundation. Małgorzata Mirga-Tas: Kie Serina / The Card Players, 2018. Textile, acrylic, mixed media. 120 × 140 × 4 cm. Courtesy the artist and Frith Street Gallery, London, Foksal Gallery Foundation, Warsaw and Karma International, Zurich. Małgorzata Mirga-Tas: Zinet Galushi (z cyklu Herstorie), 2022. Textile, acrylic, mixed media. 387 × 219 cm. Courtesy Leinemann Kunststiftung Nikolassee, Hamburg, Germany. Sophie Kovel: Untitled (Sometimes it is not a question of what the visible hides but how it is that we have failed to see certain things on the surface), 2024. Floral wrapping paper, sconce replicas of fixtures at the Metropolitan Republican Club, New York. 2.33 × 13.74 m. Courtesy the artist and Petrine, Paris. patricia kaersenhout: The Soul of Salt, 2016/2025 – an ongoing installation. 8000 kilos of sea salt derived from the Mediterranean. Dimensions variable. Courtesy the artists.
- Taysir Batniji: Untitled [Delayed Reality], 2015-ongoing. Series of framed drawings. Watercolour and pencil on paper. 34 × 41.5 cm and 28,7 × 35, 7 cm (framed). Courtesy the artist and Sfeir-Semler Gallery Beirut/Hamburg.
- (left to right) Maria Loizidou: Migrant, La femme qui porte sa maison, 2023. Silk paper 100 × 65 × 27 cm. Courtesy the artist and Kalfayan Galleries, Athens – Thessaloniki. patricia kaersenhout: Of Palimpsests & Erasure, 2021. Woven tapestry. 341 × 520 cm. In collaboration with master weaver Stef Miero, Textile lab Tilburg, Netherlands. Courtesy the artists. Taysir Batniji: Untitled [Delayed Reality], 2015-ongoing . Series of framed drawings. Watercolour and pencil on paper. 34 × 41.5 cm and 28,7 × 35, 7 cm (framed). Courtesy the artist and Sfeir-Semler Gallery Beirut/Hamburg.
- Grada Kilomba: 18 Verses, 2022 (detail). Carbonised wood, engraved poem, hand painted with gold leaf, fabric, 8 channel sound installation. Dimensions variable. Duration 7:00 minutes in loop. Private Collection, London. Courtesy Pace Gallery and Goodman Gallery.
- Igshaan Adams: When Dust Settles: The Body’s Archive, 2024. Mixed media performance Dimensions variable. Dancers: Jaime-Lee Hine, Lewellyn Regardt Afrika, Savannah Ashley Petrus, Zandile Salukazana, Zanele Salukazana, Candy Karra, Elton Petri, Sofia Pouchtou. Courtesy the artist, Thomas Dane Gallery and blank projects, Cape Town. Commissioned by NEON with special thanks to Garage Dance Ensemble. Igshaan Adams: Klip Gooi (Stone Throw) Iv, 2021. Wooden, glass, shell and stone beads, metal charms, springs, and variety of metal wires (galvanized, stainless steel and copper). 279 × 100 × 114 cm © Igshaan Adams Private Collection. Igshaan Adams: Carry, 2018. Garden fencing, cotton twine, fringe and candelabra stand. 117 × 120 × 195 cm © Igshaan Adams. Courtesy the artist, Thomas Dane Gallery and blank projects, Cape Town. Igshaan Adams: Fall, 2018. Beads, galvanised wire, cotton twine and mixed rope, fringe. 230 × 160 × 40 cm © Igshaan Adams. Courtesy the artist, Thomas Dane Gallery and blank projects, Cape Town. Igshaan Adams: Crawl, 2018. Garden fencing, cotton twine, insulation tape and fabric dye 162 × 95 × 170 cm © Igshaan Adams. Courtesy the artist, Thomas Dane Gallery and blank projects, Cape Town. Igshaan Adams: Hang, 2018. Garden fencing and cotton twine, wire. 160 × 160 × 200 cm © Igshaan Adams. Courtesy the artist, Thomas Dane Gallery and blank projects, Cape Town. Igshaan Adams: Linoleum flooring © Igshaan Adams. Courtesy the artist, Thomas Dane Gallery and blank projects, Cape Town. Igshaan Adams: Ondergedompel, 2022. Glass, metal and plastic beads, sea shells, braided mixed rope and cotton twine. 225 x 284 cm. © Igshaan Adams Harry G. David Collection. Igshaan Adams: Untitled, 2018. Nylon rope, cotton twine, polyester and plastic, wooden and glass beads 300 × 270 cm. Harry G. David Collection
Installation View space of togetherness NEON at the National Theatre of Greece Drama School | School of Athens – Irene Papas | Photography © Natalia Tsoukala, Courtesy NEON
