I have never traveled to Australia | The Boy

It is not Australia, but a reading of it. A fictional country born in The Boy’s mind after a film scene in the red desert, a hangover inside a beige Ford Fairlane 500, the dream of green ants, a repressed journey.

Since 2013, this country has lived inside him: hyper-violent, free, and inexplicably familiar. In the Outback of his mind.

“I have never traveled to Australia,” he says, before unfolding, in every corner of the Onassis Stegi and with actress Flomaria Papadaki as the connecting thread, his own Australia.

And so it takes the form of a concert, a theater play, a film retrospective, a video installation, a photography exhibition, a journey through every stage, corridor, and foyer. A school classroom in the middle of the Tanami Desert. Desks and textbooks covered in sand. David Gulpilil explains a dream to us in the Yolngu language.

In the ground-floor foyer of the Onassis Stegi, a striking billboard featuring the poster for the Ozploitation film “Nightfall in the Ti-Tree” transports us to the provocative, raw, genre-driven cinema of 1970s and 1980s Australia, serving as an introduction to the narratives unfolding throughout the other spaces. From this starting point, a tour begins through the foyers of the other floors and the stages of the Onassis Stegi. Objects of indeterminate form seem to invite visitors to discover them, altering the perception of space as the route ascends.Sounds from imagined remote countrysides, childhood nightmares with the Hobyahs, creatures of Australian folklore, Mulkurul stones arriving from the rising sun, Everett De Roche’s typewriter, the remnants of Betty Crabtree’s strange violin, the scent of burnt rubber, and radio signals from nowhere. A score by Miss Trichromi runs through like a vein connecting all spaces and actions.

On the Main Stage, The Boy presents an eco-horror concert that transforms into a multi-layered scenic universe, through the eyes of visual artist Kostas Lambridis and animator Eirini Vianelli.

Motionless dancers, warnings coming from Australia, narratives from a post-apocalyptic world, and a cappella interludes by musicians and close collaborators of The Boy come together in a performance that is dark, immersive, and deeply poetic.

Miranda, Marion, Sarah, and Irma dreamed of a world where the rain would never stop. On vocals, Miss Trichromi performs haunting refrains, while musical instruments emerge from Kostas Lambridis’ “Shell,” as Eirini Vianelli’s animations flood the screen. An experience somewhere between dream, threat, and the allure of the stage.

On level –1, a cluster of rocks embraces a film screening. The Boy’s new feature film, “Maralinga Maningrida Mantamaru,” is paired with a photography exhibition by Myrto Tzima. An endless afternoon beneath Hanging Rock, with enigmatic narratives from Australian history.

On the Upper Stage, a farewell is staged to the Skyline Matraville Dead End Drive-In, which closed in 1984, with screenings of cinematic masterpieces of the Australian New Wave—the first retrospective of its kind ever held in Greece.

The Boy creates worlds. If you ask him what this “Australia” is, he will answer:

“A concert or maybe a performance or even a scribble.

A film retrospective.

A feature film.

A dream that welcomes you.

A song that feels familiar.

A portrait of Judy Davis and Jack Thompson.

I have never traveled to Australia.”

Main Stage

21:30 | Concert & Performance “The Shell”

Duration: 100 minutes

Upper Stage | Films and documentaries from the Australian New Wave

The short film "Night Fall in the Ti-Tree" by the Boy will be screened at the beginning of every slot.

15:00–16:45 | “Storm Boy” by Henri Safran (1976), Duration: 88 minutes

17:00–19:00 | “Celia” by Ann Turner (1989), Duration: 103 minutes

19:15–21:00 | “Ten Years After, Ten Years Older” by Anna Kannava (1986), Duration: 34 minutes

“My Life Without Steve” by Gillian Leahy (1986), Duration: 55 minutes

21:30–23:00 | “The Second Journey (to Uluru)” by Arthur & Corinne Cantrill (1981), Duration: 74 minutes

23:30–02:00 | “Nice Coloured Girls” by Tracey Moffatt (1987), Duration: 16 minutes

“Night Cries: A Rural Tragedy” by Tracey Moffatt (1990), Duration: 19 minutes

“BeDevil” by Tracey Moffatt (1993), Duration: 90 minutes

-1

18:30, 19:50, 21:10, 22:30 | Screening of the new feature film, “Maralinga Maningrida Mantamaru” by The Boy, Duration: 75 minutes

18:00 – 23:45 | "INTO TEMPTATION SAFE IN THE WIDE OPEN ARMS OF HELL” | Photography exhibition by Myrto Tzima

Main Stage

21:30 | Concert & Performance “The Shell”

Duration: 100 minutes

Upper Stage | Films and documentaries from the Australian New Wave

The short film "Night Fall in the Ti-Tree" by the Boy will be screened at the beginning of every slot.

15:00–16:30 | “Dot and the Kangaroo” by Yoram Gross (1977), Duration: 75 minutes

16:40–17:50 | “Turnaround” by Michael Lee (1983), Duration: 60 minutes

18:00–21:00 | “Smoke ’Em If You Got ’Em” by Ray Boseley (1988), Duration: 48 minutes

“Dogs in Space” by Richard Lowenstein (1986), Duration: 105 minutes

21:30–23:15 | “Spirits of the Air, Gremlins of the Clouds” by Alex Proyas (1987), Duration: 96 minutes

23:30–01:30 | “Dead End Drive-In” by Brian Trenchard-Smith (1986), Duration: 92 minutes

-1

18:30, 19:50, 21:10, 22:30 | Screening of the new feature film, “Maralinga Maningrida Mantamaru” by The Boy, Duration: 75 minutes

18:00 – 23:45 | "INTO TEMPTATION SAFE IN THE WIDE OPEN ARMS OF HELL” | Photography exhibition by Myrto Tzima

Upper Stage | Films and documentaries from the Australian New Wave

The short film "Night Fall in the Ti-Tree" by the Boy will be screened at the beginning of every slot.

15:00–17:00 | “The Year My Voice Broke” by John Duigan (1987), Duration: 103 minutes

17:15–19:15 | “Breaker Morant” by Bruce Beresford (1980), Duration: 107 minutes

19:30–23:45 | “Picnic at Hanging Rock” by Peter Weir (1975), Duration: 115 minutes

“The Devil’s Playground” by Fred Schepisi (1976), Duration: 107 minutes

00:00–01:45 | “Next of Kin” by Tony Williams (1982), Duration: 89 minutes

Synopsis: An afternoon that never ends. A loop of secrets. Miranda, Marion, Sarah, Irma, and Joan. Time travelers, stuck in time. In the house where they grew up, they never showed their tears. They may just be the only living people on Earth. Testimonies, songs, and traumas from Australia.

Amid a cluster of rocks by the visual artist Kostas Lambridis reminiscent of Peter Weir’s “Picnic at Hanging Rock,” Onassis Stegi’s –1 level transports us to a parallel universe, to a continent thousands of miles away. In the background, a small cinema is hidden, while the exhibition walls evoke a classic exhibition space in disarray. Holes in the walls, cracks, and nature that has almost taken over. A series of photographs by Myrto Tzima, titled “INTO TEMPTATION SAFE IN THE WIDE OPEN ARMS OF HELL,” engages with the film screening on loop. Some frames are broken, some photos are half-cut. No one knows exactly what has happened.

"We no longer carry sleep in our heads, nor in our beds. Tonight, however, we hope we will sleep. We come from the desert. We kiss in the forest. We are sisters from other times and other places. We grew up drinking milk with cherry liqueur. Today is not our birthday. We want to remember. The children are playing with wire ropes, making circles to catch the sun, chasing ants with magnifying glasses. We pray for the animals and the insects. We photograph one another. We leave evidence behind. Today we ran away from home. Before leaving, we left milk and treats for the dog". – Myrto Tzima