Grant Supporting AthenSYN I: Homemade Exotic

Since the beginning of the European idea, Athens has been an exoticized utopia. Recently, as a result of the 2009 worldwide financial crisis, Athens has become the exotic scene of a global drama that has attracted many, including the curators of the recent documenta14. On November 14, 2019, at 7pm, the festival Athen SYN I will open its doors with the exhibition HOMEMADE EXOTICA, curated by Sotirios Bahtsetzis, at FREIRAUM in der Box, Boxhagener Str. 96, Berlin Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg. 16 contemporary Greek artists will present their positions and discuss questions that the documenta14 left open to further evaluation.

The artworks of the exhibition HOMEMADE EXOTICA induce an almost experiential immersion and invite viewers to become participant in the artworks’ area of research, the Athenian life and its fragile poetics -while at the same time inviting the viewer to dismantle narratives around a mythical place of ancient and contemporary times. Athens acts as a prime example for stereotyping images and utopias of "the other" which tend to getin the way of essential communication and exchange, no matter which whom or what.

Some artworks tend to surround the every day, mundane and almost invisible with mystique, fantasy and grace. This exotic re-enchantment of our world is often done by payingparticular attention to the small details of private interiors –as in the photographs of Yannis Theodoropoulos, the installations of Yorgos Maraziotis–or personal mementos as in the assemblages of James Lane.

Other works apply the visual rhetoric of the past, that being the techniques of Renaissance-like, chiaroscuro painting, as in the paintings of Dimitris Tzamouranis, the detailed observation of society as in the drawings of Dionysis Kavallieratos, or even the dismantling of abstract painting in the painterly installations by Yorgos Stamkopoulos.

Hidden facets of Athenian life are uncovered –in the photographs of Georgia Sagri, the paintings of Theodoris Zafeiropoulos, the videos of Stefanos Tzivopoulos as well as the witty actions of Georgia Kotretsos. Joulia Strauss unveils aspects of characters shaping the intellectual life of the city. Cultural stereotypes and biased points of view are discussed; as well as cultural cross-overs and entanglements –in the installations of Zafos Xagoraris, the photographs of Dionisis Christofilogiannis, the videos of George Drivas, the videos of Alexandros Kaklamanos and the video-installations of Vassilea Stylianidou.

The festival is organized by the non-profit initiative AthenSYN with the FREIRAUM in the box with the support of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF), the Schwarz Foundation and under the patronage of the Greek Ministry of Culture and the Greek Embassy Berlin. Further sponsors: Hellenic Cultural Foundation (Hellenic Foundation for Culture), Aegean Air / With the support of CeMoG of the Freie Universität Berlin, Greek Community Berlin.