Plásmata 3 | Talks

Within the framework of the Plásmata 3 exhibition, Onassis Stegi invites people in this discussion series to speak about the park, the neighborhood (as a key unit of coexistence), the city (which encompasses all the above), and about art and institutions in the public sphere. Plásmata is much more than an exhibition; it is a potential inscribed within public space, and for this reason, it is essential that it creates room for public discourse, free expression, and the convergence of diverse ideas that can turn possibility into reality.

Plásmata 3 aspires to be welcomed by Pedion tou Areos, its creatures, its infrastructure, and the institutions that shape it. The talks and presentations may help us understand the park better, as we attempt to map some of the stories that compose its present, its past, and even its future. This series invites those who have spent a (small or large) part of their lives in or near the park, those who care about it, study it, and look after it. Researchers, professionals, artists, activists, residents, casual passersby, and organized collectives are all welcome to join these conversations held in and about the park, the neighborhood, and the city that surrounds it.

Pedion tou Areos park as a point of social convergence, a site where desires and coexistence gather across all the ‘tribes’ of the city. As a passageway, ceaselessly crossed by residents, travelers, joggers, activists, and wanderers. Pedion tou Areos as a meeting place for forces, groups, people, animals, plants, infrastructure, aspirations, confrontations, conversations, and compositions. But also, as a space for pause and rest, tranquility, affection, love, and physical contact. A place that belongs to everyone, yet is deeply personal. Pedion as a mirror of the city and a miniature of Athenian society. The creatures of the park are the animals and plants that inhabit it, the people who pass through it, the stories and voices hidden within it.

Across time, Pedion tou Areos has projected the imaginaries of a nation, while also offering relief from them; either as a site of military concentration (e.g., the Athens Guard in the 1930s, busts, monuments to the heroes of the 1821 Greek War of Independence, etc.) or as a realm of urban leisure for Athenians, with its gardens and theaters hosting singers, actors, and artists of the music hall and the circus. It has served as refuge for the persecuted (a temporary encampment for refugees, among others) and as a pocket of ‘free greenery’ once for the aristocracy, then for the former middle classes of Kypseli, and now for the city’s present-day residents who, in their shared existence, defy class, political, linguistic, and cultural labels and divisions. Amid ongoing redevelopment, crises, and occasional decline, fencing and wondrous cohabitations and coexistences, but also encroachments and violations, the park remains a truly open public space, inviting each visitor to immerse themselves in it. Its urban and social significance continues to be vital.

We’ve met before, haven’t we? A quote borrowed from David Lynch becomes the spark that lights a journey through the flowerbeds of Pedion tou Areos park, in search of the Plásmata 3 creatures hiding in everyday beauty. Natural, analog, digital—real. In four panel discussions and one performance-lecture, fifteen artists present their work in this small celebration of art, the right to laziness, and the sustaining power of coexistence. An imaginary archaeology without hierarchies, a pseudo-archaeology that invites us to shape another past—and with it, another future. Creatures, small and large, familiar and strange, ask us how close or far our neighbor truly is, so different and so alike. Techno-shamans, magicians, and totems invite us to dream up a democracy of our own making—one where everything is possible.

Thursday, May 29

19:00–20:30 | We’ve met before, haven’t we?

Afroditi Panagiotakou, Artistic Director of the Onassis Foundation, Curator of Plásmata 3

In discussion with: Efi Gousi, Aias Kokkalis, Ziad Antar

20:30–21:30 | A Democracy of our Dreams

How would we like to eat, fall in love, and play in the future? What is the techno-shamanic spirit of the park, and what does its worship demand? How much room for truth is left in a constructed world, which is nevertheless the world we all believe in?

Pierre-Christophe Gam, Kalos&Klio, Martyna Marciniak

Moderator: Ioanna Zouli, researcher and curator, Communications Coordinator at Onassis AiR

21:30–22:00 | “What’s the river called? Kyklovoros”

Performance lecture by Leonidas Oikonomou

Saturday, May 31

19:00–20:00 | Anarchaeology and Working Souvenirs

What can a ‘Poof Column’ gazing over Exarcheia beneath a disco ball tell us? How do working souvenirs rest? Could even a punk Parthenon, made of sidewalks and city stories, interrupt the eternal Greek summer? What weight does a sculpture of a female body in public space carry, and how subversive can it be, either as an object or as documentation?

Andreas Angelidakis, The Callas / Lakis & Aris Ionas, Katerina Komianou
Moderator: Yorgos Tzirzilakis, Professor, Department of Architecture, University of Thessaly

20:00–21:00 | Neighbors

Who are our neighbors, and how can we see them through someone else’s eyes? Can stories of love be told through surveillance cameras? Can there be love without dominance and dominance without eroticism?

Noemi Iglesias Barrios, Manousos Manousakis, Janis Rafa

Moderator: Daphne Dragona, exhibition curator and lecturer, Department of Audio & Visual Arts, Ionian University

Sunday, June 1

19:00–21:00 | Creatures of the Park

People, plants, and animals make up the park’s ecosystem, approached from a historical, cultural, and ecological perspective. Is Pedion tou Areos an island of social convergence, a model of urban coexistence, a battlefield of confrontations, or an artificial Garden of Eden made of natural materials? Discovering the park through its small and large stories, through the needs and dreams of the creatures that cross and inhabit it.

Featuring:

• Manolis Bachlitzanakis, President of the “Athina” association
• Angeliki Ilia, Principal of the 65th General Lyceum of Athens (Kato Patissia), former Principal of the 2nd General Lyceum of Athens “Theodoros Angelopoulos” (Heyden Street, Victoria)
• Dimitris Kalantzis, journalist, legal representative of the organization “Pedion tou Areos—Our Park”
• Kostas Karkanias, Vice President of the “We Insist on Pedion tou Areos” association, engineer, educator, and author
• Eleni Mougiakou, agronomist, member of “commonspace,” lead researcher of the project “URBAN HEAT WATCH”
• Lefteris Stavrakas, associate of the Hellenic Ornithological Society

Moderator: Stavros-Nikiforos Spyrellis, senior researcher at the National Centre for Social Research

Thursday, June 5

19:00–21:00 | The Neighborhoods and Neighbors of the Park

Residents, artists, researchers, activists, and workers of the area share their lived experiences of coexistence and daily life in the neighborhood. Civil society groups and organizations bring to the fore the knowledge gained through their social and research activities, mapping the neighborhoods around the park through their own unique lens, and highlighting the identity and vision of the communities they comprise.

Featuring:

• Konstantinos Doumpenidis, ESTO Association
• Menelaos Karamaghiolis, filmmaker, artist, member of Døcumatism
• Denia Nicolas, Social Impact and Curriculum Development Lead, Free Movement Skateboarding
• Grace Nwoke, researcher, performing artist, member of Døcumatism, co-founder of Afrosocially
• Nikos-Deji Odubitan, Founder & Managing Director, Generation 2.0 for Rights, Equality and Diversity
• Iris Polyzou, National Technical University of Athens / member of the “Athens Social Atlas” research team

Moderator: Precious Obediah, Digital Marketing Manager, Founder of Afrosocially, Community Engagement Strategist

Tuesday, June 10

19:00–21:00 | Deepfake: A Walk Along the Edge of the Fake

• Makis Malafekas, author
• Dimitris Maniatis, journalist

Thursday, June 12

19:00–21:00 | What Can Art Really Do? Coexisting in Athens

How do we approach the city’s public space through artistic and curatorial practices? What is our role and responsibility as art professionals in opening this dialogue with our fellow citizens? And how does all this shape the morphology of the urban and social landscape over time?

Featuring:

• Manolis Afolanio, musician, performer, member of Anasa Cultural Center
• Chrysanthi Koumianaki, visual artist, co-founder of 3 137 artist-run space
• Eirini Linardaki, visual artist, public art project developer, member of Onassis ONX
• Konstantinos Pittas, architect, author
• Prodromos Tsiavos, Head of Digital Development and Innovation, Onassis Foundation, General Manager of Plásmata 3

Moderator: Niovi Zarampouka-Chatzimanou, curator, co-director of Counterpoints Greece