for press release in English and Greek please click here
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“…the distinction between past, present and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion”. Albert Einstein
artefact athens is an independent non-profit arts organisation and the brainchild of dr Kostas Prapoglou, archaeologist-architect, contemporary art critic and curator. Having developed a keen interest in notions of transnational and transhistorical perspectives, his curatorial practice investigates the ongoing discourse of socio-political parameters that are embedded in continuously emerging paradigms of ancient and contemporary cross-cultural mythologies.
artefact athens engages with the work of artists based in every corner of the world, whose practice channels innovative ideas echoing the temporality of human consciousness and investigates the landscape of multifaceted soci0-cultural environments. Reflecting upon the world and our relation to it, each project is a survey of corporeality and ephemerality under the prism of our subjective perception of reality, the volatility of quotidian balances and information warfare.
We place emphasis on paramount issues that constantly reshape our present and future self such as ecology and climate change, technological transformation and advancement, economic meltdown and hardship, pandemic crises, food politics, interpersonal relationships, human mobility, facets of heritage and functional linguistic perspectives.
Site/time-specificity and context-responsiveness lie within the immediate interests of artefact athens. While we are interested in independent artistic practices, we simultaneously embrace the possibility to see these move forward, further develop and play a key part in a new-born concept; like an organ within a living organism, a single move in a choreography that redefines the architecture of life itself.
We believe that activating an abandoned building or a muted location progressively renders a gaze that focuses both backward and forward, inward and outward. It unfolds the ability to re-think beyond the boundaries of a conventional or institutional space and liberate the creative spirit. We also give a new pulse to those living entities and a second chance to breathe and speak about their history through the language of artistic praxis.
Our concepts and modus operandi surface and are defined in relation to the emergencies of our current time and the narrative each hosting venue conceals. Artists are invited to respond utilising their cross-disciplinary visual vocabulary through installations, video, soundscapes, sculpture, painting, photography and performance. We envisage their work as an agent giving birth to a taxonomy of possibilities with human existence as the protagonist, undergoing a constant battle with time and space.
Our mission is to acknowledge and address the significance of contemporary art in today’s culture and empower its presence as a tool for viewing, reimagining and experiencing life. We seek to collectively unpack its true meaning layer after layer, devise a mental territory for limitless and unconditional dreaming and mediate the dialectics of emotion and desire.
We support knowledge production and critical exchange that disrupt and expand the margins between disciplines. At the same time, we focus on diverse frameworks that interconnect the arts, humanities, technology and social sciences.
We are proud to share our projects with a network of over 40,000 art professionals worldwide, accelerating awareness, visibility, community engagement and accessibility through social media platforms, free exhibitions, educational and cultural programming, lectures, workshops, texts and guided tours. Building bridges and developing synergies with other organisational counterparts and initiatives across the globe will propel our vision and purpose to new heights.
For sponsorship, donations, partnerships and other enquiries please contact us here
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