FFF5 | The Primary Fact
Hikaru Fujii
Dates
Tickets
Venue
Time & Date
Information
Cost
Free admission
At the entrance, visitors must present some proof of identity (ID card or driver's licence) and leave large bags for storage.
General
With English subtitles
Introduction
An Ancient Greek mass grave with 80 dead prisoners was discovered two years ago in Paleo Faliro. The Japanese visual artist Hikaru Fujii returns to the FFF and after extensive research, in collaboration with the choreographer Patricia Apergi and the people in charge of the excavation, he turns his eye to this astounding find, spotlighting the "dark" pre-Golden Age Athens of the 7th century BCE. The audiovisual installation that he mounts in an emblematic building of the academic community, the former Chemistry building, which is now the Law School library, includes interviews with those in charge of the excavation – from archaeologists to dentists – and the reenactment of the execution and the burial by a chorus of young Athenians.
Still from the film: Hikaru Fujii
Hikaru Fujii, who presented "Piraeus/Heterochronia" at the Fast Forward Festival 4 last year, examines the relation between the history and the contemporary society though his video installation, based on an extensive research. For FFF5, responding to the festival’s interest in archeology and history, he produced an artwork related to the ancient Greek mass grave of 80 captives found at the outskirts of Athens. It seems they were executed during the period that preceded the Democracy. In collaboration with choreographer Patricia Apergi, he tries to reproduce the scene as an artwork with physical expression which will take shape via young Athenians’ bodies.
Hikaru Fijii's note
“About 80 shackled skeletons which seem victims of execution were discovered in a mass grave in an ancient Greek cemetery, near the city harbour. According to the archaeologists, they might be young persons, neither enemies, nor thieves or slaves that escaped, as they were buried with their clothes which shows the respect by the executers.
The relic or artefacts show the “fact” of the execution, but do not shed light on the reasons.
This work examines the physical impact which led to the death, by observing each skeleton, while at the same time attempts a research through the art as physical experience. The execution which took place with no witnesses during the ancient Greece will be reproduced with the youth of today.”
Thursday 3 May | 19:00 | Will be held in Japanese with simultaneous translation into Greek
Talk with: Hikaru Fujii (Visual Artist and Cinematographer), Patricia Apergi (Choreographer), Stella Chryssoulaki (Archaeologist, Director of West Attica, Piraeus & Islands Ephorate of Antiquities)
Moderated by Katia Arfara, Artistic Director of the Theatre and Dance Department at the Onassis StegiTranslator: Panagiotis Evangelidis
Image1/4
Photo: Hikaru Fujii
Credits
Biography
Embedded media
If you want to enjoy embedded rich media, please customize your cookie settings to allow for Performance and Targeting cookies. Your data may be transferred to third-party services such as YouTube, Vimeo, SoundCloud and Issuu.
