PRESS: Re-Build Refuge Europe in Athens

In the past years, Athens has been one of the places where the economic, political, social, and cultural dilemmas that Europe faces were expressed more broadly. While the city prepares for Documenta 14, and other cultural producers and art institutions open discussions and exhibitions to confront the social struggles the city is facing, on 7 April we are preparing together with our partners Perpetuum Mobile and AthenSYN, the opening of two exhibitions on the issue of migration and the role that art is playing, both in Athens, and at a transnational level, to tackle the so-called refugee crisis in the region.

ARTISTS at RISK (AR) – A Mondial Institution for Art Practitioners under Threat
by Perpetuum Mobile

ARTISTS at RISK (AR) is a new institution at the intersection of human rights and the arts. AR is dedicated to mapping the field of persecuted visual art practitioners, facilitating their safe passage from their countries of origin, hosting them at “AR-Safe Haven Residencies” and curating related projects.

The first PUBLIC CALL is now open. Rather than as asylum seekers or refugees, PM is welcoming AR-Residents as honored visiting art professionals. AR-Residencies enables practitioners to take a “breather” from their home country or to use the program as a “stepping stone” to re-orient their professional lives. Art practitioners at risk of grievous suppression of freedom of expression, persecution or politically motivated threats to their basic freedoms may apply here. An international jury will select AR-Residents to be granted short or long-term residencies.

The Public Launch of AR and introduction to AR-Safe Haven Athens is taking place in ATHENS, on 7 April from 14:00. Perpetuum Mobile (PM) will also open the AR PAVILION , an exhibition with AR-Resident artists Pinar Ögrenczi, Erkan Özgen and Issa Tuoma , curated by Marita Muukkonen and Ivor Stodolsky.

Where: Athinas 55 / Varvakios Square Pavilion
When: from 14:00
Web: www.ArtistsatRisk.org / The AR PAVILION
Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/100511843830508/

Talk Real – Art Real: Chapter I

In the context of Re-Build Refuge Europe, European Alternatives is presenting a new series of Talk Real episodes: Talk Real – Art Real that aims to give voice to the artists, politicians, philosophers, curators, institutions, writers and activists who are helping to shift the dominant discourses of «crisis» and «migration» by using culture and social innovative practices allowing all the people living or trying to live in Europe find their space and voice in our continent.

This first episode will explore the recent transformation in Europe’s migration movements and ask how can artists shift the narrative and conception on the so-called refugee crisis, in a city that has become the symbol and space of expression of the most significant contradictions Europe is facing.

Connecting the local struggles to the transnational, and discussing these social and political dilemmas, our first episode of the series will be filmed from 14:30 in the Varvakios Pavilion, and at the open public launch of the AthensSYN exhibition at 19:00.

The round table discussion will be open for the public and will count with the participation of Pinar Ögrenczi, Lauretta Macauley, iLiana Fokianaki, Navine G. Khan Dossos, and the moderation of Margarita Tsomou.

Where: Athinas 55 / Varvakios Square Pavilion
When: Round table discussion at 14:30

UNIVERSITAS, by AthenSYN in collaboration with the Avtonomi Akadimia and the Athens Biennale.

From 7 April to 7 May, AthenSYN mounts an exhibition on the subject of migration and learning in collaboration with the Avtonomi Akadimia and the Athens Biennale.

In the face of over 60 million people migrating today and given the current political situation in Europe with the rising of xenophobia and populist political movements, it becomes imperative to invent new means of bringing people together in a society, without however homogenising them or subjecting them to class hierarchies, social stereotypes and identity politics of all kind. In her essay We Refugees (1943) philosopher Hannah Arendt argues for the right of migrants to be politically active and to participate in social practices, while acknowledging in them “the vanguard of their peoples.” When we see the migrant as “the political subject of the 21st century” we necessarily call into question established political principles while challenging notions such as global citizenship, democratic way of living and collective self-mastery. How are we all in Europe to learn and develop from this novel situation?

The show will be hosted by Trii Art Hub. The exhibition presents works by Sebastian Bayse Schäfer (D),Vilelmini Vilma Andrioti (GR), Gudrun Barenbrock (DE), Manaf Halbouni (SY), Thomas Kilpper (DE), Georgia Kotretsos (GR), Joulia Strauss (DE), Dimitris Tzamouranis (GR), Dionisis Christofilogiannis (GR) and LiwaaYazji (SY), based on a series of artist workshops curated by Katja Ehrhardt. The formats of the UNIVERSITAS exhibition range from film, video, text, photography, to painting, installation, and object. The exhibition is curated by Sotirios Bahtsetzis.

The UNIVERSITAS exhibition is supported by the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Athens and co-founded by the Allianz Cultural Foundation for the project Universitas.

Where: Trii Art Hub, Drakou 9, Athens, Metro Station: Sygrou-Fix
When: From 19:00 (until 7 May)

Re-Build Refuge Europe is a project co-funded by The Creative Europe Pogramme of the European Union