A varied programme involving over 800 artists from four continents and sending out a resounding message despite the hard times the county is facing. This 18th edition of the fair comes with important parallel events as round-table discussions, presentations and exhibitions by both young and established artists.
Twenty years after the first Greek art fair was organized by the Hellenic Art Galleries Association in 1993, Art-Athina remains the most prominent annual artistic event in Greece—the unique International Contemporary Art Fair! This year’s eighteenth event will be held at the TaeKwonDo Stadium in Paleo Faliro from the 16th to the 19th of May, 2013.
True to its original concept of promoting the contemporary Greek art scene and establishing a constructive dialogue with international art, Art-Athina continuous on an upward course through a process of constant development in terms of both structure and content.
For Art-Athina 2013 the Hellenic Art Galleries Association, which instituted and established the art fair, and EuroΜare, the company which is in charge of organising the event, have put together a varied programme involving over 800 artists from four continents and sending out a resounding message despite the hard times the county is facing.
The concurrent presence of Greek and foreign art galleries, artists, museums, foundations and art publishers gives a unique opportunity for bringing together the entire spectrum of the art world and providing visitors with its most comprehensive picture.
The participating galleries from Greece and abroad are: a.antonopoulou.art (Athens), A.D. (Athens), Angathi-Kartalos (Athens), alma contemporary art gallery (Trikala), Alpha Gallery (Nicosia, Cyprus), Anna Pappas Gallery (Melbourne, Australia), Αργώ (Athens), Art Zone 42 (Athens), ARTcore | contemporary art project (Bari, Italy), Artis Causa (Thessaloniki), Artower Agora (Athens), Astrolavos (Athens), Athens House of Photography (Athens), CAN Christina Androulidaki gallery (Athens), cheapart (Athens), Donopoulos (Thessaloniki), ekfrassi – yanna gramatopoulou (Athens), Eleni Koroneou (Athens), Elika (Athens), Françoise Heitsch (Munich, Germany), Galeri Binyil (Istanbul, Turkey), Galerie Laureen Thomas (Cagnes sur Mer, France), Ersie’s Gallery (Athens), Eikastikos Kyklos (Athens), Zena Athanassiadou (Thessaloniki), Joey Ramone (Rotterdam, Netherlands), Kalfayan (Athens-Thessaloniki), Kaplanon 5 (Athens), Kappatos (Athens), Lola Nikolaou (Thessaloniki), Medusa (Athens), Mihalarias Art (Athens), Mirko Mayer (Cologne, Germany), Mulier Mulier (Knokke-Zoute, Belgium), Papatzikou (Veria), Penindalinena (Limassol, Cyprus), Peritechnon (Athens), Rebecca Camhi (Athens), Skoufa (Athens), Technochoros (Athens), The Breeder (Athens), Titanium Yiayiannos (Athens), Tsatsis Projects / Artforum (Thessaloniki), Ufofabrik Contemporary Art Gallery (Moena, Italy), Vamiali’s gallery (Athens).
The 18th Art-Athina comes with a major VIP programme and such important parallel events as round-table discussions, presentations and exhibitions by both young and established artists.
Marina Fokidis is in charge of the Symposia and has invited international figures from the world of art, curators and art critics, most of whom present their work in Greece for the first time; they will discuss the methodology and the challenges of their profession with a focus on today’s Biennales and “museums”. What is the “object” of curating today? What are the new, different conditions under which they are called upon to work?
The list of speakers includes the following distinguished names:
Chiara Bertola (Contemporary art curator—Querini Stampalia, Venice; Furla Prize, Bologna, Italy); Kimberly Bradley (freelance contributor—Μonocle, Art Review, Art Agenda, NY Times, etc.); Florence Derieux (Director of FRAC Champagne-Ardenne, Rheims, France); Galit Eilat (Researcher/Curator, Van Abbemuseum, Einthoven, Netherlands; President of the Akademie der Kunste der Welt, Cologne, Germany); Juan A. Gaitán (Curator, Berlin Biennale 2014); Jens Maier-Rothe (Co-founder and director of Beirut, Cairo, Egypt); Ricardo Nicolau (Deputy Director, Serralves Museum, Porto, Portugal); Filipa Ramos (art critic based in London and Milan); Alya Sebti (Art Director, 5th Biennale of Marrakesh, Morocco), Marieke van Hal (founder and director of the Biennial Foundation); Kaelen Wilson-Goldie (writer and critic based in Beirut, Lebanon); and Adnan Yildiz (Art Director, Künstlerhaus Stuttgart, Germany).
Over 550 artists from 17 countries and 4 continents participate in the Platforms Project @ Art Athina. Curated by Artemis Potamianou, the event charts the various artist groups, collectives, platforms and independent art venues of non-commercial (non-profit) character that operate in Greece or abroad in unconventional ways, establishing unexpected dialogues, symbioses and collaborations. The project attempts to map the independent art scene.
On the lower floor of Art-Athina Marina Fokidis curates the Open Form, an open-structure exhibition where galleries from abroad participate with one work or series of works with the aim of establishing an international exchange of views, ideas and propositions around art.
In Art-Athina Contemporaries Artemis Potamianou attempts to capture a picture of the contemporary art scene and the multitude of expressions as they are shaped today; this is a happening/exhibition under the title “Paradise Lost”, featuring artists from the galleries represented in the core programme of Art-Athina.
As part of the parallel events, Art-Athina 2013 pays tribute to Desmos Gallery. Manos Stefanidis will present the panorama of Desmos using images and archive material and point out its absence in an age dominated by commercialism and the market, while Dimitris Alithinos, a historical member of the Desmos family, will participate with a surprise contribution.
Since its inception, Art-Athina has had moral and material support from the Ministry of Culture. It is a priority 2 project —"Sustainable Development and Quality of Life"— of the NSRF (National Strategic Reference Framework) for the years 2013, 2014. Art-Athina operates under the aegis of the Ministry of Culture and the City of Athens.
Sponsor: Karavias & Associates
Communication sponsors: Alpha TV, EΡΤ (Hellenic Radio & Television), Alpha FM 98.9, En Lefko FM 87.7, Kathimerini, Naftemboriki, Athens Voice, Athinorama, Art News, Insider, Click@Life, Culturenow.gr, ελculture.gr.
Image: Maria Parianou, Untitled, 2013, Indian ink on canvas, 100 X 100 cm, courtesy: a.antonopoulou.art
Press Officer:
Ms Dossy Iordanidou tel. 210 92 46 815, email: press@art-athina.gr
Opening (by invitation only) Thursday 16, 19:00 – 22:30
Faliro Pavilion (TaeKwonDo), Hellenic Olympic Properties
2 Moraitini str., 17561 P. Faliro (Faliron Delta)
(Opposite the P. Faliro Village Cinemas complex)
OPENING HOURS
Friday 17, 14:00 – 21:00
Saturday 18, 12:00 – 21:00
Sunday 19, 12:00 – 21:00
TICKETS
Full price: €7
Concessions: €5 (children under 12, students, people over the age of 65)