AFTER confronting the pile of junk in the courtyard of documenta 14’s Athens Conservatoire venue (part of Daniel Knorr’s book-making process there), I found a whole lot more at documenta 14’s Athens School of Fine Arts (ASFA) venue. But truth be told, there’s a lot of ‘junk’ in contemporary art in general. And I mean … Continue reading
GOING to an art show, or even trying to practice art, isn’t really top on the list of ‘things to do’ for many people. And that’s a shame, because art has a lot to offer, for people of all ages and classes. In fact recent studies argue that the homo sapiens were more advanced than … Continue reading
Originally posted on Letters from Athens:
In a surprising move, Adam Szymczyk, Documenta’s Artistic Director, transplanted half this year’s exhibition to Athens, where it is sprawled over 40 venues, showing 160-odd artists, with the working title ‘Learning from Athens’. Documenta is an exhibition of contemporary art which takes place every five years in Kassel, Germany.…
WHERE TO START? I had to visit the National Museum of Contemporary Art (or EMST), twice in order peruse the works of around 80 artists that have taken over this museum – the main venue of documenta 14 in Athens. This is a show dense both in terms of the many meanings/philosophies and messages it … Continue reading
IT WAS RIGHT under the Acropolis, on the stone pathway of Dionisiou Aeropagitou, where a group of long riders set off on April 9, for their 100-day journey to Kassel on horseback. The event, part of an art project by Ross Birrell, realised for documenta 14, gathered tourists, journalists and the art crowd under the … Continue reading
“The whole world is indebted to Greece” stated the famed Argentinian artist Marta Minujin after her performance at the National Museum of Contemporary Art (or EMST), in Athens. Entitled ‘Payment of the Greek Debt to Germany with Olives and Art’, the performance took place at EMST on April 8, (the inauguration day of documenta 14), … Continue reading
THE FIRST STOP on my documenta 14 art adventure, was the Athens Conservatoire. Here are some of the highlights: The main action was taking place underground – in the basement. Turkish-born German artist Nevin Aladag’s ‘Music Room (Athens)’, created in 2017, predominated a section of the main hall there. The components of this installation (seemingly … Continue reading
MY OFFERING HERE, is a taste of the ‘documenta’ experience, starting from the press conference (April 6). Because one thing is for sure: we will be discussing ‘the documenta days’ in Athens for a long time. The programme is so packed with events, literature, theory, let alone art, that you definitely need your time to … Continue reading
FORGET ‘SURVIVOR’… How about surviving through April 8 in Athens, in an urban art jungle? Because here’s the ultimate challenge: to see all of the documenta 14 art events taking place that day (on its inauguration), plus the other ‘special’ events that have been planned independently in order to celebrate or even comment on documenta … Continue reading
THE ‘KEIMENA’ tv program of documenta 14 that has been airing on Mondays on ERT2 at midnight, since December 19, aims to reach out to a wider public. In fact documenta 14 has not only used television to reach out, but as the recently released main programme of events for documenta 14 shows, it will … Continue reading
